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The Character of Hamlet
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The Character of Hamlet
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Finally, Hamlet’s sexual interests towards his mother causes him to postpone getting revenge. This factor causes Hamlet to avoid killing Claudius in prayer. He ends up going to his mother’s quarters instead of killing Claudius in a moment when no one is around. Hamlet says to himself, “My mother stays / This physic but prolongs thy sickly days” (3.4.95-96). During this time, Hamlet is unsure if Claudius has repented or not. Instead of taking action when Claudius is all alone, Hamlet decides that he should go to his mother. Hamlet immediately goes to his mother after passing up Claudius. As he enters the room that his mother is in, Hamlet begins talking to her about Claudius: Not this, by no means, that I bid you do— Let the bloat king tempt …show more content…
Also, Hamlet insults Claudius by calling him “the bloat king”. This seems as if Hamlet is jealous of Claudius, and he is trying to get his mother to see how terrible Claudius truly is. In the moment, the detail Hamlet uses is extreme and elaborate. He is telling his mother to refuse to go to bed with him, even if he pinches her cheeks, calls her pet names, kisses her and massages her. Overall, this amount of detail makes Hamlet seems if he wants to be in the scenario instead of Claudius. In his film adaptation of the play, Director Franco Zeffirelli plays off of this moment by having Hamlet get on top of his mother in her bedroom. He lays his head on her chest as he is on an angered rampage. In this scene, Gertrude kisses Hamlet passionately, and Hamlet kisses her back. During this time, Hamlet could have been focusing on his revenge. Unfortunately, that is not the only time Gertrude kisses Hamlet in the film. Earlier in the film, Zeffirelli has Gertrude give Hamlet a swift and soft kiss to further this point. This factor distacts Hamlet from his plan of revenge. He is too busy thinking about his mother in a romantic way. Many people would not expect this disturbing aspect; however, it still causes Hamlet it
Hamlet lets you see his dark side by not letting you see what will happen next with him. “A bloody deed- almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry his brother” (Wright, 1959). This shows that Hamlet is mad at his mother for killing his father and marrying his uncle. After this, he threatens his mother while in her room which was not really expected when he went to go talk to his mother in the first place.
After the death of Old Hamlet and Gertrude’s remarriage to Claudius, Hamlet feels extremely angry and bitter. “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world!” (1.2.133-134). Due to the death of his father, he is already in a state of despair and the lack of sympathy that his mother has towards his sorrow does not aid him in recovering from this stage of grief. “Good Hamlet, cast thy knighted colour off, / And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark” (1.2.68-69). Hamlet is struggling to accept the fashion in which Gertrude is responding to the death of Old Hamlet; she seems quite content with her new life with Claudius, which is a difficult concept for him to accept as after the d...
middle of paper ... ... Gertrude betrays Hamlet as a mother, she does not believe in him or trust him, she goes behind his back and blocks out Hamlet and his feelings and marries Claudius which really hurts Hamlet. Gertrude as a wife and mother, hurts the people she most loved, her family. The Shakespearean play of Hamlet captures the audience with many suspenseful and devastating themes, including betrayal. Some of the most loved characters get betrayed by those who they thought loved them most.
Queen Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, is in some ways the epicentre around which Hamlet's emotions revolve. Her role is difficult to determine; she can be seen, like Desdemona, as the passive victim of male ambition and strife, or she can be placed amongst the likes of Lady Macbeth as privy to her husband's misdeeds, and as sharing his guilt to an equal, if not greater extent. Her attitude to Ophelia seems positive ('Scattering flowers. Sweets to the sweet. Farewell. I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife'; V.1.236). Her most vital scene is III.4, in which Hamlet attempts to extract a confession from her, and to persuade her to renounce Claudius. Modern productions regularly home in on the Freudian potential by locating this key encounter between mother and son in the former's bedroom. It takes place in her closet.
Hamlet’s relationship with his mother Gertrude is one of mostly rage, hatred, and possibly jealousy that could have been from loving her in a romantic sense. Hamlet finds out that Gertrude marries his father’s brother soon after his father’s death and goes in a fury. He yells at her and he calls her an incestuous beast. Whether or not this is from hatred for Claudius, Gertrude, or even out of jealousy are all cases that can be very well argued. The fluctuating emotions that Hamlet shows throughout is what makes the play so easy to relate to as a human and also what makes the possibility of there being multiple interpretations on how he really feels. Gertrude is also a strange character in that it seems as
Oddly, it appears that Gertrude possess more significance to Hamlet than one first anticipates. Her swift call to matrimony leads Hamlet into a spiraling quarry of depression and grieving. This mirrors the Oedipus complex. Gertrude sexually commits herself to Claudius causing Hamlet to feel a sense of jealousy and disappointment. In retaliation, he expresses his repressed desire of love through his unruly comments. He even goes as far as to say that the love is incestuous. Furthermore, in Act 3 scene 4, Hamlet confronts his mother directly in a closet. Addressing concern over her sexual actions, he exclaims “In the rank sweat of an enseamèd bed, / Stewed in corruption, honeying and making love / Over the nasty sty” (III.iv.104-106). Not only does this quote show that Hamlet disapproves his mother’s marriage, but also that he believes Claudius is a wicked criminal. Aligning with the Oedipus complex, Hamlet strangely obsesses over his mother’s love life while viewing his uncle in
Gertrude was Hamlet’s mother. She was a selfish and evil woman. She cheated on Hamlet’s father with Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle. She married Claudius a month after her husband’s death. Gertrude wanted Hamlet to stop his grieving. She told Hamlet, “thou know’st ‘tis common, all that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity” (I.2.72-73). When Hamlet was depressed and grieving, it reminded Gertrude of the terrible sin she had committed. She wanted Hamlet to be happy just so she could feel better about herself. Throughout the play Gertrude’s motives do not waiver; she looks out for her own well being.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows a unique mother and son relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet. Stemming from the death of King Hamlet, Hamlet’s depiction of his mother signals a heinous relationship amongst the two. Hamlets and Gertrude relationship looks complicated, but Gertrude still considers Hamlet as her son. After the marriage of Gertrude and Claudius, her affection towards Hamlet is not encountered, excluding for when she questioned his dark demeanor, “Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark” (I, II, 68-69). Initially in the plot, Hamlet realizes that his mother is completely oblivious and naïve to her relationship with King Hamlet. Her questioning Hamlet’s character indicates that she
As illustrated through his speeches and soliloquies Hamlet has the mind of a true thinker. Reinacting the death of his father in front of Claudius was in itself a wonderful idea. Although he may have conceived shcemes such as this, his mind was holding him back at the same time. His need to analyze and prove everythin certain drew his time of action farther and farther away. Hamlet continuously doubted himself and whether or not the action that he wanted to take was justifiable. The visit that Hamlet recieves from his dead father makes the reader think that it is Hamlet's time to go and seek revenge. This is notthe case. Hamlet does seem eager to try and take the life of Claudius in the name of his father, but before he can do so he has a notion, what if that was not my father, but an evil apparition sending me on the wrong path? This shows that even with substantial evidence of Claudius' deeds, Hamlet's mind is not content.
Hamlet was told by the ghost of king hamlet to get back at Claudius for his death, or his soul will travel on earth forever. Even before hamlet knew about Claudius killing his father he had problems. It made hamlet mad that his mother would marry so fast and with his uncle. What Claudius did was an outrageous, back stabbing, and unbelievable thing. It was clearly an act of jealousy for his brother's throne and the wife. Claudius did pay back for his actions. Claudius lost his wife, his messenger, and died and even after his death kept loosing because he lost his castle to Fortinbras.
In addition to this internal struggle, Hamlet feels it is his duty to dethrone Claudius and become the King of Denmark. This revenge, he believes, would settle the score for his mother’s incestuous relationship and would reinstate his family’s honor. These thoughts are solidified in Act I, Scene 5, when his father’s ghost appears and informs Hamlet that is was Claudius who murdered him, and that Claudius deprived him “of life, of crown, and queen” (line 75). This information leads to Hamlet’s promise to kill Claudius, while not punishing his mother for their incestuous marriage. His statement, “thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain” (lines 102-103), demonstrates his adamant decision to let nothing stand in the way of his promise for revenge.
In this scene, Hamlet argues with his mother, Gertrude. He belittles her, and insults her “incestuous” relationship with Claudius. Hamlet accuses his mother of helping Claudius kill his father. Hamlet even tells his mother that “(would it were not so) you are my mother” (3.4.21.). Basically, Hamlet tells his mother that he wishes that she wasn’t his mother. During this scene, Hamlet is actually contemplating whether or not he is to kill his mother. While Hamlet has no concrete proof that Gertrude actually had any place in the plot to kill Hamlet Senior, he believes that her relationship, and loyalty, to Claudius is proof enough. Then, however, the ghost intervenes and informs Hamlet of his mothers’ innocence. The passion behind Hamlet in this scene is his resentment of his mothers’ marriage to Claudius, and his belief that his mother had a part in the murder of Hamlet Senior. This caused him to be enraged at his mother, and even wish for her death. However, if Hamlet thought logically, he could have discussed Claudius’ crime with his mother and determined whether or not she was guilty for himself, instead of relying solely on the
While Claudius is praying, Hamlet has an opportunity to slay him but doesn’t because if he kills him in his prayers he will make him go to heaven instead of hell. Another minor reason for Hamlet’s revenge against his uncle is his affection towards his mother. As the play progresses, we are able to determine that Hamlet’s relationship with his mom is close to incest status. With this information, we are able to imply that Hamlet is jealous of his Uncle Claudius for marrying his mother.... ... middle of paper ...
In conclusion, Hamlet and Gertrude's relationship change from strained to disrespectful and mistrustful and end in a bittersweet manner. In the beginning, Hamlet is bitter at her mother for her betrayal to the late King Hamlet. The need for Gertrude to send spies to find out her son's mentally shows further strain in the relationship. In act III scene iv, he shows Gertrude disrespect by threatening her and insulting her. On the mother's part, she mistrusts her son and thinks he's treacherous and insane. Finally, in act V scene v, the mother realizes that her son is right all along and calls out to him with love before she dies. Unfortunately, throughout the loops and turns, the sweet moment does not last as both fall to death.
.... Away" and Hamlet was sure of his uncle?s guilt. This was the perfect time for Hamlet to face Claudius. The king was in a difficult state and could have been easily dethroned. Unfortunately, Hamlet decides to speak to his mother instead, thus putting Hamlet in an emotional state of mind and giving Claudius time to re-think his options. Hamlet should have never allowed this for Claudius. He could have stopped all of the pain he caused himself if he would have just acted out his revenge as soon as he could.