Hamlet: A Man of Many Qualities
Hamlet is a man of many different qualities and he reveals only certain
qualities to certain people. Hamlet draws his audience, the reader, into
noticing the different qualities that he has. His qualities are shown through
his conversations with other characters as well as through his soliloquies.
These words of wisdom and revealance help to distinguish how Hamlet feels about
each other character that he encounters. The phrases and speeches that Hamlet
addresses are both poetic and piercing. So when Hamlet is speaking, he is
constantly revealing his qualities which range from love, to respect, to hate.
Hamlet's most powerful qualities seem to be revealed through his conversation
with the people that he cares about, namely his family and friends.
The queen, Gertrude, is hamlet's mother and she is probably the living being
that he cares about the most. Unfortunately, one of Hamlet's qualities, which
is revealed in conversation with his mother, is a negative one and that is anger.
His quality is displayed through Hamlet's soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 2, Lines
131© 161. Hamlet is angry at his mother for marrying a new husband, his uncle,
Claudius, so quickly after his father's death. This anger shines through in
such phrases such as "Frailty, thy name is woman!"(Act 1,Sc 2, L148) and "Like
Niobe, all tears."(Act 1, Sc 2, L151). At the end of his soliloquy, Hamlet
switches qualities from one of anger to one of fear. This is evident when
Hamlet states, "With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!", and "It is not, nor
it cannot come to good", and finally "But break my heart, for I must hold my
tongue"(Act 1, Sc 2 L157© 161). Hamlet expresses his fear for his mother's
hasty marriage. Hamlet realizes that his mother marrying his uncle can have no
good result. Respect is another quality that Hamlet displays in conversation
with his mother. This occurs when his mother asks him to remain at home rather
than return to school(Act 1, Sc 2, L120©121), which he agrees to do. This shows
that although he disagrees with his mother and her marriage, after such little
mourning for her husband, Hamlet Sr.'s, death, he still respects his mother and
will do what she asks.
Later in the act, Hamlet encounters another character who goes by the name of
Horatio. Horatio is a good friend, as stated in Act 1, Sc 2, L163, and the
first quality which Hamlet reveals is his respect for Horatio. In line 176 of
Act 1, Sc 2, Hamlet states "I know you are no truant.
For a novel to be considered a Great American Novel, it must contain a theme that is uniquely American, a hero that is the essence of a great American, or relevance to the American people. Others argue, however, that the Great American Novel may never exist. They say that America and her image are constantly changing and therefore, there will never be a novel that can represent the country in its entirety. In his novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut writes about war and its destructiveness. Vonnegut tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, an unlikely hero, mentally scarred by World War Two. Kurt Vonnegut explains how war is so devastating it can ruin a person forever. These are topics that are reoccurring in American history and have a relevance to the American people thus making Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five a Great American Novel.
Raskolnikov is obsessed with his “superman theory”. He is constantly trying to prove that he is part of the 10% of extraordinary people in the world. He wants to become an eminent figure such as Napoleon. At first he believed that the murders he committed would make him part of this elite class. Once he realized that he had made mistakes during the crime he began to question his theory. After much frustration he decided to go to the scene of the crime. This gave him a rush that made him feel invincible. He believed that this would prove if, or if not he was “super”. Once he realized that he wasn’t part of this class, he suffered a mental breakdown. This pushed him to confess his crime to Sonya. She helped him rationalize his crime and admit his guilt. The outcome of this conversation was that it helped him admit his fate.
Throughout literature, there a character who provides a moral compass for other characters. In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Horatio’s character seems fairly simple: somewhat of a “yes-man” to Hamlet, often agreeing with anything Hamlet says. However, at the end of the play we understand his significance, as he is one of the last survivors. This transition is unexpected because for most of the play, Horatio is a reserved character and doesn’t speak very often. Despite this, it is clear that Horatio and Hamlet’s friendship is extremely deep, and Hamlet trusts Horatio more than anybody. At first, the relationship is one of a prince and an advisor, but as the play goes on we realize they are in fact close friends. Horatio is much more than a “yes-man” to Hamlet, even though this may not be visible for most of the play. This friendship is due to three of Horatio’s characteristics: trustworthiness, loyalty, and admiration, which make him an ideal friend to Hamlet. These traits also inspire confidence in Horatio from other characters in the play. Even Shakespeare shows that he values Horatio by allowing him to survive at the end of the play.
From the moment when Raskalnikov murders the old woman, his personality begins to change drastically. Dostoevsky challenges the reader to understand the madness which ensues by first demonstrating that the ideas and convictions to which Raskalnikov clung died along with the women. While the reader struggles with this realization, Dostoevsky incorporates the Biblical legend of Lazarus as a symbolic mirror for Raskalnikov's mind. By connecting the two, the reader encounters the foreshadowing of a rebirth of morals and beliefs, though what form this may assume remains cryptic. As references to Lazarus continue to occur, the feeling of parallelism increases in intensity. Just as Raskalnikov slowly struggled through madness, Lazarus lay dying of a terrible disease. When Lazarus eventually dies, Raskalnikov mimes this by teetering on the edge of insanity, the death of the mind. Eventually Sonya begins to pull Raskalnikov back to reality by relieving a portion of his guilt. As his Christ figure, she accomplishes this by providing the moral and spiritual sturdiness which Raskalnikov lost after his debasement during the murders. Sonya affects him not by active manipulation, but via her basic character, just as Christ personified his beliefs through the manner in which he lived his life. No matter what Raskalnikov says or does to her, she accepts it and looks to God to forgive him, just as Jesus does in the Bible. This eventually convinces Raskalnikov that what he did was in fact a crime and that he must repent for it and"seek atonement".
In life, one goes through different experiences which makes and shapes us into the person who we become. Whether something as little as a "hello" by a crush or a death in a family, they contribute to the difference, as they are all equal in importance. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the protagonist Hamlet struggles throughout his life as he is in search of his true identity. The Webster's dictionary, under the second definition, defines identity as "The set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group." As life only moves forward for Hamlet, he struggles to find his place in life, nonetheless to revenge the murder of his father.
surrounding it. After Hamlet learns of his father’s death he finds out that his mother has married
Sleep deprivation (SD) is a common phenomenon encountered by many individuals with different professions. [3] These professions include healthcare, security and drivers working at night. [1] The average length of sleep that an individual needs is between 7 and 8.5h per day. [quoted in 1] However, this varies between individuals with different age and gender. Pilcher and Huffcutt found that both total and partial SD give adverse effects on human functioning. [2] Researchers have concluded that sleep deprivation affects cognitive performance [1,2], motor performance and mood of an individual. [2]
In the play Hamlet, Hamlet has many different personality traits. Three of these characteristics are that Hamlet is depressed, clever, and hesitant. Throughout the play you can see these characteristics in Hamlet many times.
Hamlet's problem is not exact; it cannot be pinpointed. In fact, Hamlet has numerous problems that contribute to his dilemma. The first of these problems is the appearance of King Hamlet's ghost to his son, Hamlet. Hamlet's morality adds a great deal to his delay in murdering the current king, Claudius. One of Hamlet's biggest drawbacks is that he tends to think things out too much. Hamlet does not act on instinct; however, he makes certain that every action is premeditated. Hamlet suffers a great deal from melancholy; this in turn causes him to constantly second guess himself. The Ghost is the main cause of Hamlet's melancholy. Also, Hamlet's melancholy helps to clear up certain aspects of the play. These are just a few of the problems that Hamlet encounters throughout his ordeal.
Societal failures during the time the book was written had a tremendous affect on the character development in the novel, Crime and Punishment. At the time, which Crime and Punishment was written, in the mid 1860s, Siberia, Russia was in poverty-stricken conditions. Under the rule of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, many outrageous reforms were passed on. Alexander issued a reform with the hope of emancipating millions of Russian peasants who were owned by landowners. However, what was meant to benefit the peasants, it rather constituted a major restructure of the Russian Society, thus causing much of chaos and turmoil. Through Raskolinokov’s perspective, we are able to see how poor and desolate the conditions are. Especially in the Capitol of Russia, where Raskolinokov lives in, there are many people who live on the streets, and seems as if poverty is inevitably unavo...
Horatio is a good friend to Hamlet, he is also the only character to not only stay true to himself but all of the other characters as well.
Huffcutt AI, Pilcher JJ. Effects of sleep deprivation on performance: a meta-analysis. Sleep. 1996; 19(4):318-326.
The Complex Character of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Upon examining Shakespeare's characters in this play, Hamlet proves to be a very complex character, and functions as the key element to the development of the play. Throughout the play we see the many different aspects of Hamlet's personality by observing his actions and responses to certain situations. Hamlet takes on the role of a strong character, but through his internal weaknesses we witness his destruction.
In writing Hamlet, William Shakespeare plumbed the depths of the mind of the protagonist, Prince Hamlet, to such an extent that this play can rightfully be considered a psychological drama.