Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Character development in Shakespeare
Character analysis essays
Character analysis essays
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
What are Claudius’s chief concerns about Hamlet? How does this contribute to character development? Claudius’s chief concerns about Hamlet are that his life would have been in danger; his safety. Claudius is concerned that Hamlet would have killed him instead of Polonius, if he was there at that time. He was scared when he heard the news of Hamlet killing Polonius thinking it was him behind the tapestry. With relief and fear, Claudius tells Gertrude, “O heavy deed! It had been so with us, had we been there” (4.1.13-14). Claudius is relieved that he was not murdered by Hamlet. This contributed to character development because this shows us that Hamlet is ready to take revenge, since in the beginning he was confused and afraid, but now has taken the steps to take revenge. Character development can be seen in Claudius too because now we know that Claudius is afraid of the consequences, he will be receiving for the crime he has done. Has Gertrude reformed after her confrontation with Hamlet in Act III? Gertrude has not reformed after her confrontation with Hamlet in Act III. She is still shocked about the killing of Polonius and is worried for Hamlet about his actions and behavior. When she was talking to Claudius about the incident, she says, “Mad as the sea and wind when both contend/Which is the mightier. In his lawless …show more content…
This can be proven by the change in Ophelia’s actions and behavior. Ophelia starts to sing strange songs in front of Gertrude about her father’s death and Hamlet’s madness. Ophelia sings to Gertrude and sings, “He is dead and gone, lady, he is dead and gone, at his head a grass-green turf, at his heels a stone” (4.5.26-29).This tells us that Ophelia is a very soft and is a very weak character and can easily get heart broken. She cares about her family and the death of her father has shattered her into pieces, it may cause problems for her to
...sulted her when he knew that her father and his uncle were watching and taking notes. In addition, I do not understand why Hamlet waited until now to reveal his true feelings about Ophelia. Her death was probably what caused him to realize that he was unable to save her by telling her to leave the castle, instead he unhinged her sanity.
In Ophelia’s last scene, she walks around singing bizarre songs and handing out flowers. This scene is essentially Ophelia’s last cry for help as she is pregnant and alone without parents. In addition, her brother, Laertes, would disapprove as he warned her about Hamlet and Hamlet is responsible for killing their father. Furthermore, she sings: “Quoth she “Before you tumbled me,/You promised me to wed./So would I ha’ done, by yonder sun,/An thou hadst not come to my bed” (Shakespeare 4.5.106). Ophelia sings about
Ophelia is portrayed as a sensitive, fragile woman. Easily overpowered and controlled by her brother and father, Ophelia is destined to be weak. Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, warns and pushes Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet and is further supported by their father Polonius. “Polonius enters and adds his warning to those of Laertes. He orders Ophelia not to spend time with Hamlet or even talk to him. Ophelia promises to obey” (“Hamlet” 95). Ophelia’s obedience to her father’s directions prove the side she
Ophelia’s obedience towards her untrusting father is indescribable ( I; iii; 101-103. "Affection? Pooh! You speak like a green girl, unsifted in such perilous circumstance. Do you believe his tenders, as you call them"?). Why a grown woman would listen to her father and not help the man of her dreams in his time of need is disheartening. A man’s girlfriend should be there for him when a family member passes away, no matter what. If she had been with him on the plan to kill Claudius and knew about his fathers ghost who told Hamlet that Claudius was the one that murdered him, than neither one of them would have went crazy.
Ophelia was driven mad by the death of her father Polonius and how Hamlet betrayed her love with his own wave of madness which was just an act. In her madness, Ophelia talks about her father and his death and about the “Tricks in the world” (terrible things that happen to people). Ophelia’s madness was also the extent of her being used by her father so he could spy on Hamlet to see if he was truly crazy and then by Hamlet when he claimed he no longer loved her and that he didn’t send her any letters (remembrances). Ophelia’s speech and her fragments of songs are unsensible. Her song was about her father’s death “He is gone, He is gone” (4.5.220), and a maiden who is tricked into losing her virginity with a false promise of love and the possibility of marriage. “To be your valentine, then up he rose and donned his clothes and duped the chamber door” (4.5.56-58)
Claudius is very paranoid towards Hamlet. While Claudius and Gertrude are introducing themselves to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Claudius has an idea how to find out what is causing Hamlet’s behavior, so he asks them to spy on Hamlet. Claudius tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern “And to gather/ So much as from occasion you may glean,/ Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus” (Shakespeare II.ii.15-17). Claudius is so paranoid that he has to resort to asking Hamlet’s friends to get information on him so he can know if Hamlet know the truth about him. Claudius constantly thinks of Hamlet as a threat and wants to keep an eye out for him constantly, so Claudius is paranoid that Hamlet will do something eventually.
The story of Hamlet is a morbid tale of tragedy, commitment, and manipulation; this is especially evident within the character of Ophelia. Throughout the play, Ophelia is torn between obeying and following the different commitments that she has to men in her life. She is constantly torn between the choice of obeying the decisions and wishes of her family or that of Hamlet. She is a constant subject of manipulation and brain washing from both her father and brother. Ophelia is not only subject to the torture of others using her for their intentions but she is also susceptible to abuse from Hamlet. Both her father and her brother believe that Hamlet is using her to achieve his own personal goals.
Apart from the ambiguity surrounding her death and her love for Hamlet, Ophelia is described by all as an innocent child, grappling with situations her youth is unprepared for. Even if she had consummated her love for Hamlet, I can still picture Ophelia as a vulnerable and innocent child who has to cope with situations beyond her control in a world where the role of the female is passive. It is this helplessness which Gertrude wants to look after as she “hoped thou should’st have been my Hamlet’s wife” and her madness which Gertrude wants to save her form by allowing Ophelia to make the decision over life and death.
Many believe that Ophelia genuinely lost her mind and became suicidal towards the end of the play. This is very self explanatory due to the fact that both her father and brother died and they seemed to play a big part in her life. Ophelia’s genuine madness exposes Hamlet’s counterfeit madness because Ophelia shows signs. In Act 4, Scene 5, Ophelia is constantly singing songs about death and basically ignores anything that anyone says to her. For example, in Act 4, Scene 5, she sings, “He is dead and gone, lady, he is dead and gone. At his head is a patch of green grass, and at his feet there is a tombstone.” This continues on and on until one day she is in a meadow and she ends up drowning. She ends up dying before she can even see her brother, Laertes ever again. When Laertes finally returns, he wants to say his final goodbyes to his younger sister and while he’s doing this, Hamlet is hiding in the bushes listening and he begins to cry. This is another way that Hamlet exposes that he isn’t truly mad the way he made himself seem. He forced himself to treat Ophelia poorly so many times throughout the play and it was all just a part of his madness act. Him releasing his emotions for Ophelia in this moment showed everyone that he truly did care for her. Even if he wasn’t madly in love, he definitely cared for her. This is the last main event that shows that Hamlet wasn’t truly a mad, emotionless, heartless
The reader is left guessing on Hamlet’s true feelings for Ophelia through his various insults, sexual innuendos, and admitted desire. Hamlet’s claim, “God hath given you one face, and you / Make yourselves another.” (3.1.155-156) is laced with irony and hypocrisy given Hamlet’s own deception regarding true feelings. This proclamation comes at the end of a lengthy tirade against Ophelia and womankind in general for their conniving deceit leading men astray. The fact that Hamlet cannot see this duplicity in his very own actions shows the double standard he holds for females. Ophelia’s immediate reaction is one of shock and defense due to the aggressive nature of Hamlet’s attack. She calls out “O, woe is me!” (3.1.174) in distress to the ferocity of Hamlet and is unable to form a particularly coherent response akin to the ones seen against Laertes and Polonius. She does show her intelligence and rebellion from this assumption of power by Hamlet in her songs while Hamlet is gone. While many attribute her madness to the death of her father, a large portion of her instability should be attributed to Hamlet and his earlier actions. In her first introduction as insane she sings, “And I a maid at your window, / To be your Valentine. / Then up he rose and donned his clothes / And dropped the chamber door, / Let in the maid, that out a maid / Never departed more.” (4.5.55-60). Due to her references to sexuality and deceit the
Ophelia’s madness is because of what she encounters throughout the play by everyone around her. Her character is often looked past, people really don’t give her a second thought, and her emotions and wellbeing are almost entirely forgotten about. When her father and brother are telling her to stay away from Hamlet, she tries to speak up and tell them that she knows that Hamlet truly loves her. She tells them her feelings, but they say no, she is not to speak to Hamlet again and must obey. They didn’t take a second to try and look things over from her perspective. After Polonius and Claudius plan for Ophelia and Hamlet to meet and talk while they hid to listened, Ophelia is verbally abused by Hamlet and her father is too caught up with Hamlet’s
Claudius messed up Hamlet's life terribly, but by doing that he became a worthy opponent. He showed all the skills that he had to use against Hamlet at every chance he got.
Hamlet’s characterization of Claudius isn’t fair and is biased as a result of his grief and the image he holds up in his mind of his dead father. He seems to be caught up in the differences between Claudius and Old Hamlet; he doesn’t see that for all his damning of Claudius, he is much more like the new King in personality and character than he ever was like his dead father who he elevated to status of god on earth. In Hamlet’s failing to see Claudius as anything but an underhanded, murderous tyrant, Shakespeare gives the audience an opportunity to see all sides of the new King through other characters and lets the audience make up their mind as to whether Hamlet is right or wrong. In a way, Shakespeare ends up showing the stark humanity in Claudius, both his capacity for good and evil.
Claudius is seen in Hamlets eyes as a horrible person because he convicted murder and incest. Claudius had killed the king of Denmark, Old Hamlet, to obtain the position of the throne. He had been jealous of Old Hamlet’s wife Gertrude and wanted to marry her for her power. Although, such an act would be called incest and considered unnatural he did not care, all he had cared about was the power that he would be stealing from Hamlet and Old Hamlet, Gertrude’s son and husband (R). When Hamlet had talked to his f...
...ed her horribly and degraded her by saying she was unfit and promiscuous. The confusing relationship she had with Hamlet and death of her father led to Ophelia’s madness and soon after suicide. He was the cause of the murder this is the deterioration of his character and see it when he confesses his love for Ophelia at her funeral that its too late.