Hamlet – A Psychological Play
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a psychological drama for the basic reasons that it treats the mind of the protagonist as the critical force in the play, and it displays one dimension of that mind – the melancholy dimension – as the overarching concern of just about everyone in the play.
Helen Gardner in “Hamlet and the Tragedy of Revenge” explains how Hamlet’s psyche is the basis for his victory over the antagonist Claudius:
Hamlet’s agony of mind and indecision are precisely the things which differentiate him from that smooth, swift plotter Claudius, and from the coarse, unthinking Laertes, ready to "dare damnation" and cut his enemy's thr’at in a churchyard. He quickly learns from Claudius how to entrap the unwary and the generous, and betters the instruction. (222)
The psychological aspect of Hamlet which is most prominently displayed is his melancholy. Lily B. Campbell in “Grief That Leads to Tragedy” explains:
If my analysis is correct, then, Hamlet becomes a study in the passion of grief. In Hamlet himself it is passion which is not moderated by reason, a passion which will not yield to the consolations of philosophy. And being intemperate and excessive grief, Hamlet’s grief is, therefore, the grief that makes memory fade, that makes reason fail in directing the will, that makes him guilty of sloth. . . . (95-96)
At the outset of the play, the prince is dejected by the “o’erhasty marriage” of his mother to his uncle. His first words say that Claudius is "A little more than kin and less than kind," indicating a disapproval of the new king’s values – another cause of his melancholy. Hamlet’s first soliloquy, about his mother, is quite depre...
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... “The World of Hamlet.” Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Rev. ed. Ed. Leonard F. Dean. New York: Oxford University P., 1967.
Rosenberg, Marvin. “Laertes: An Impulsive but Earnest Young Aristocrat.” Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Masks of Hamlet. Newark, NJ: Univ. of Delaware P., 1992.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.
Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. “Hamlet: A Man Who Thinks Before He Acts.” Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar. N. p.: Pocket Books, 1958.
The ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt developed into successful civilizations. One civilization the Egyptians developed was in the Nile River valley. Based off the "Mesopotamia and Egypt DBQ" packet, "Ancient Egypt was an advanced civilization in many areas including religion, architecture, transportation, and trade. Ancient Mesopotamia was one of the first civilizations that developed a form of government as well as organized people in political states." Based on the documents, Egypt and Mesopotamia developed into successful and advanced civilizations by effectively using the resources that surrounded them to solve problems and live happily.
The first mention of 'seeing' is on page 315, everyone except Madame Pernelle realizes that Tartuffe is a hypocrite. Even though Mariane, Elmire, Cleante, and Damis tell her that he is a fraud, Pernelle defends Tartuffe and criticises them.
After demolishing the theories of other critics, Bradley concluded that the essence of Hamlet’s character is contained in a three-fold analysis of it. First, that rather than being melancholy by temperament, in the usual sense of “profoundly sad,” he is a person of unusual nervous instability, one liable to extreme and profound alterations of mood, a potential manic-depressive type. Romantic, we might say. Second, this Hamlet is also a person of “exquisite moral sensibility, “ hypersensitive to goodness, a m...
In Moliere's comedy, Tartuffe, the main focus of the play is not of Tartuffe, but of Orgon's blind infatuation with Tartuffe. It just so happens that the title character is the villain rather than the hero. Orgon is Moliere's representation of how a man can be so blind in his devotion to a belief that he cannot make accurate judgment as to the sincerity of others who would use that belief to deceive him. Tartuffe easily achieves total power over Orgon's actions because of his gullibility. However, as the play progresses, Orgon's view of Tartuffe changes and results in Tartuffes removal.
The cultures of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia developed into successful civilizations because they had rivers for mandatory needs like food and transportation, they had their own ruler, laws of civilization for the people, jobs for people, and temples for jobs and shelter for some.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.
In Tartuffe, Orgon illustrates what happens when we allow society's image of our lives to dictate our own self-image. In the 1600's a society existed in which social conventions held individuals more responsible for their public images than for their private lives. Individuals were deemed worthy or unworthy by the image they projected in their public lives. Orgon had shown himself to be worthy to society by having supported the kingdom in a civil war, "By these decrees, our Prince rewards you for / Your loyal deeds in the late civil war,". (5.7.79 -- 80) However, Orgon recognized that he had tarnished his public image and made questionable his loyalty to the kingdom by accepting and secretly hidden private papers of a friend that had been exiled. "My poor friend Argas brought that box to me / With his own hands, in utmost secrecy; / 'Twas on the very morning of his flight. / It's full of papers which, if they came to light, / Would ruin him -- or such is my impression." (5.1.7 -- 11) Orgon felt great guilt due to this presumed indiscretion, "Those papers vexed my conscience." (5.1.13) His image of how society viewed him had lessened and his self image followed suit. Image being everything the damage must be repaired.
Morrison’s descriptions of Cholly Breedlove’s past creates justification for his evil persona. Throughout the story, Cholly represents a broken man, who involves himself in many inappropriate events. His abuse towards his wife and children, as well as the incidents of rape, gives the reader the idea than an underlying cause is beneath the surface. Such events are revealed in Cholly’s life, including the abandonment from his mother, the death of his great aunt, humiliation by two white men, and the lack of growing up with a father figure. Soon after his birth, Cholly’s mother deserted him on a trash heap and his Aunt Jimmy rescues him. Growing up and not knowing his biological mother le...
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html
The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt began to develop circa 3,000 B.C. Located near rivers, the lands offered fertile soil and an excess of crops that drew in many people. As more people arrived, the small settlements flourished into large, thriving civilizations. Many aspects of Mesopotamia and Egypt, such as their cities, their strongly organized government, and their religion, greatly contributed to the success of these two civilizations.
Hamlet is a man with an identity crisis because of the conflicting emotions he is feeling and expectations being thrust upon him. His eventual plunge into a state of insanity was a direct consequence of stress. The stress between worlds destroyed his moral base, the actions of his mother and his consequential treatment of Ophelia left him with no 'north point' to follow and his constant changing of moods either caused his crisis or were as a result of losing his way. Hamlet to this day remains a complex character in the centre of perhaps the finest play in the history of the English language.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html
Hamlet’s attachment to his mother is quickly made evident within the first act of the famous tragedy. Hamlet, who sulks around wearing black clothing to mourn the death of his father, first speaks in the play to insult his stepfather. He voices his distaste at his new relationship with his uncle by criticizing that they are, “A little more than kin and less than kind” (I.ii.65). He believes that it...
Hamlet is one of the most often-performed and studied plays in the English language. The story might have been merely a melodramatic play about murder and revenge, butWilliam Shakespeare imbued his drama with a sensitivity and reflectivity that still fascinates audiences four hundred years after it was first performed. Hamlet is no ordinary young man, raging at the death of his father and the hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. Hamlet is cursed with an introspective nature; he cannot decide whether to turn his anger outward or in on himself. The audience sees a young man who would be happiest back at his university, contemplating remote philosophical matters of life and death. Instead, Hamlet is forced to engage death on a visceral level, as an unwelcome and unfathomable figure in his life. He cannot ignore thoughts of death, nor can he grieve and get on with his life, as most people do. He is a melancholy man, and he can see only darkness in his future—if, indeed, he is to have a future at all. Throughout the play, and particularly in his two most famous soliloquies, Hamlet struggles with the competing compulsions to avenge his father’s death or to embrace his own. Hamlet is a man caught in a moral dilemma, and his inability to reach a resolution condemns himself and nearly everyone close to him.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.