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No one has the enjoyment of dealing with their stepfather. Not only are they not one’s actual father, but one that has entranced their mother. Considering these details, the two must somehow form a father-son bond that simply will not happen. In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, a mutual hatred is evidently seen from the Hamlet and Claudius. In addition, Claudius is now the King, adding more complexity to it. To make matters worse, Hamlet is also barred from seeing Ophelia, his love, due to his crazy ambitions. It isn’t until Hamlet learns of Claudius murdering his father that he may change the nature of his family relations. This new piece of information could lead Hamlet to removing his mother from an unlawful person, and later …show more content…
One prime reason was Laertes. Not only was he Ophelia’s sister, Hamlet was highly jealous of his fencing skills. When at Ophelia’s funeral, Hamlet did not want to love Ophelia less than Laertes did, where he exclaimed “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?” (V.i.270-273). The extension of rivalry between the two shows Hamlet’s renewed passion for Ophelia, including it in his goals as if he always believed in creating a new family on top of simply restoring it through revenge. In addition to beating out Laertes over his sister, he had another opportunity to overpower him in fencing. Despite being an obvious plot of the King, Hamlet wants to better Laertes and potentially end his struggles once and for all. Hamlet mentions that whatever may happen, “the readiness is all” (V.ii.212-214). Whether the result is his death, Laertes, the King, whoever, it will happen soon and the conflict will be over. He has accepted his failure in Ophelia and removing the King the way he originally planed. Before the fight, he declares to everyone that he was mad concerning his conflict with Laertes earlier and that his “madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy” (V.ii.230). Not only does this play into his cover up from earlier, it alludes to the fact that he is still mad in general, foreshadowing events such as him murdering the King and achieving his goal. In the end, Hamlet ruined his entire family and future, his mother died, he died himself, and his potential wife and brother in law died as
Even though Hamlet is a prince, he has little control over the course of his life. In that time many things were decided for the princes and princesses such as their education and even who they married. This was more or less the normal way of life for a child of the monarch. But in the case of Hamlet, any of the control he thought he had, fell away with the murder of his father. Having his father, the king, be killed by his own brother, sent Hamlet into a state of feeling helpless and out of control. Cooped up in a palace with no real outlet, he tries to control at least one aspect of his life. Hamlet deliberately toys with Ophelia's emotions in order to feel in control of something since he cannot control the situation with Claudius.
The life of Hamlet is without a doubt very interesting, he suffers from unfortunate events in his time that are often major blows to his ego. His father dies while he’s away at college, Hamlet is next in line to be king until his “uncle-father” steals it from him; but it is to be known his “uncle-father” would not have stolen it if his “aunt-mother” hadn’t allowed it. It’s very apparent from the beginning of the play that he is very well obsessed with his mother and her doings. He harasses, humiliates, and abuses her because she has done such an unforgivable act by marrying Claudius. His thoughts and feelings towards his mother are very strong and well known, he even describes the odd pair as “little more than kin and less than kind.” That’s not all with Hamlet; his mother remarrying is just the tip of the iceberg so deeply rooted in the ocean of his emotions. His relationship with Ophelia is twisted, Hamlet goes through episodes of
At first Hamlet is weary to kill Claudius, but he soon realizes that in order for his father to be avenged he needs to kill Claudius. “Let not the royal bed of Denmark be/ A couch for luxury and damned incest/ But howsomever thou pursues this act” (Shakespeare I.v.82-84). In this scene Hamlet is talking to his father’s ghost, he does not know whether he should trust the ghost or not because it could be representing the devil. After Hamlet sees the ghost, he is fearful that the ghost is not his father, because he has a stable relationship with his father we is willing to try. “They (boys without a father figure) call attention to their pain, getting into trouble, getting hurt, doing things that are bad for them, as if they are calling for a father to come take them in hand and straighten them out or at least tell them how a grown men would handle the pain” (Pittman). Family therapist, Frank Pittman proposes that kids who do not have fathers present in their life tend to get out of control. When Hamlet no longer has a father, he starts to act crazy, he is very rude to Ophelia and his mother, he starts to talk to himself, and have suicidal thoughts. Many emotional problems come into play when a stepfather does not have a relationship with his stepson. “That it should come to thus:/ But two months dead-nay, not so much, not two-/ So excellent a king, that was to this/ Hyperion to a satyr” (Shakespeare I.ii.137-141). Hamlet describes his father as a Hyperion, which is the ancient Greek sun god, Hamlet had a sound relationship with is deceased father, but now that he is gone Hamlet has to deal with his stepfather Claudius; who Hamlet calls a Satyr, which is a mythological creature, associated with drunken lust. Hamlet has an unsteady relationship with his stepfather, he
Ophelia ignored him when he would’ve really needed some one to talk to about his future actions on a personal level; she later committed suicide which made him feel more emotional. Claudius was really the reason for everything happening; he killed his brother, King Hamlet Sr. in a plot to marry Gertrude quickly enough that he could steal the throne from Hamlet and become king. When Hamlet finds this out it causes him to become more emotionally distressed and many people are killed in the end. Although his mother and father were mostly the reason why he became emotional and a vengeful killer, there were other people that play a smaller part in his actions as well.
In the beginning of Hamlet, the Prince behaves as any normal person would following the death of a loved one. Not only is this a loved one, but an extra special someone; it is his loving father whom he adored. Hamlet is grief stricken, depressed, and even angry that his mother remarried so soon after his father’s death. Having witnessed how his father had treated his mother with great love and respect, Hamlet cannot understand how his mother could shorten the grieving period so greatly to marry someone like Uncle Claudius. He is incapable of rationalizing her deeds and he is obsessed by her actions.
Hamlet truly loved Ophelia, In my eyes, and I do believe that if his mind was not clouded with anger, he would’ve done nothing to ever harm her. Hamlet without even realizing, because of his insanity used Ophelia as a release for his anger, and eventually drove her mad. He basically tortured Ophelia without even knowing, not only by the progression of anger and rejection towards her, but also by killing her own father.
The role parents play in a child’s development is critical. They are the people who have the most influence on them, effecting most aspects of even their adult life. When too controlling, the role of a parent can have lasting negative consequences for the child. In the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the author shows that loss of an authoritative parent leaves people trying to replace the loss of that control in unhealthy ways that destroy the person. This can be seen in the lives of Ophelia, Hamlet and Laertes, who all loose a controlling father.
Hamlet has a strong love for his parents and is hurt to see them either die, or fall into the scheme of Old Hamlet’s brother-in-law. Without love in our lives, we would feel almost neglected by the world. After Hamlet’s father dies, he desires his father’s love and comfort that he is unable to get. He turns to his mother after his father’s death and is turned away by her because she has other things to focus on rather than the grieving of Hamlet. Hamlet feels hurt by his mother’s actions and is jealous that she appears to love Claudius and not her own son.
Throughout Shakespeare 's Hamlet, the protagonist, Hamlet himself, is determined to achieve his ultimate goal by seeing that Claudius is put to justice for the crime of murdering the king of Denmark, Claudius 's very brother and Hamlet 's father, and figures that he must pretend to have been driven insane by his father 's death in order to gather the evidence needed on Claudius without anyone figuring out his true intent. However, this ultimately becomes the undoing of Hamlet and causes harm to everyone that comes in contact with him. The suffering of others in the story, inflicted by Hamlet, are examples of the motifs of misogyny (evoked by his mother), incest and incestuous desires (occurring between Ophelia and Laertes, Claudius and Gertrude, and even Hamlet and Gertrude), which compliments and help develop the main themes, such as, the impossibility of certainty,
Hamlet’s attachment to his mother was 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 is unnatural for his uncle to also be his father, and eagerly jumps at an opportunity to offend Claudius. However, Hamlet acts entirely different towards his mother, despite his poor attitude....
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 many of his plays, especially tragedies, William Shakespeare examines the relationships people have with one another. Of these relationships, he is particularly interested in those between family members, above all, those between parents and their children. In his play Hamlet, Shakespeare examines Prince Hamlet's relationships with his dead father, mother and step-father. His relationship with Gertrude, one of the only two women in the play, provides Hamlet with a deep sense of anger and pain. Hamlet feels that Gertrude has betrayed his father by marrying with his brother. Throughout the play, he is consumed with avenging his father's death and all the mistreatment the former King had suffered and still suffers after his life is over. Gertrude adds to the dead King's tarnished memory by not mourning and instead rejoicing in her new marriage. Hamlet is thus extremely angry with Gertrude and expresses this anger towards her directly and indirectly through his words, both to himself and to other characters.
In the play Hamlet, the moral issues that get explore are revenge, incest, and murders within a family. Revenge is the major theme of this play and it causes Hamlet to destroy himself to get it. Without revenge pushing forward the plot to create the conflict this play would not be known for what it is. The spirit of Hamlet’s fathers asked Hamlet to get revenge. “Hamlet (the man) is dominated by an emotion which is inexpressible, because it is in excess of the facts as they appear” (Eliot, 1921, par 13). Hamlet has difficulties expressing himself and this leads to him taking more lives than was necessary for his revenge. The way Shakespeare portray this moral issues make the reader question what they would do if their father was killed by his brother and the spirit of their father asks to be revenge. Incest is also explored and Shakespeare uses the word many times to refer to the relationship between Hamlet’s mother and his uncle. Claudius is considered Hamlet’s mother, brother by marriage and to marry her during the time of his brother’s funnel is unnatural. The relationship between Hamlet and his mother is not considered to be physical incest, but since Hamlet care more about his mother love life than his own is a form of incest. Laertes and Ophelia seem to be closer than a brother and sister should be and there are times when Laertes speak to Ophelia in a sexual tone. In the beginning Laertes persists in telling Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet and even tells his father about Ophelia’s relationship to Hamlet to get their father to join his side. When Ophelia was being buried Laertes jumps down into the grave to hold her in his arms, “Hold off the earth awhile, till I have caught her once more in mine arm” (Shakespeare, Act V, scene i, lines 246-247). Shakespeare portrays different forms of incest to get the reader to question
...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.
A tragedy, in terms of literature, is when the main character is not seen as indestructible. The main character has flaws and a tragic ending. One of the most famous writer of tragedies is William Shakespeare. Shakespeare, author of Hamlet, (biography.com) was alive between the years 1564 and 1616. His occupations were playwriting and poetry and he was brilliant. William, being the poet and play writer he his, wrote almost 400 different pieces. Some of his most famous plays include: Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. Hamlet is considered a tragedy because Hamlet, the main character, has a character flaw which is being very reluctant. Also throughout the play nothing really seems to go the way that Hamlet plans. Finally, the end of the play ends expectantly with a death from just about every main character except Horatio, Hamlets best friend.