Hamlet Impulsive Character Analysis

855 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Emotions experienced in hamlet

Throughout the play Hamlet, we follow the main character, Hamlet, on a stressful and eventful journey as the prince and heir to the throne of Denmark. Even though Hamlet is impulsive, we share multiple characteristics and attitudes that reveal we are more alike than we are unalike.

To begin with, Hamlet is emotional and is a character who is in tune with his emotions, even though he might fight with them sometimes. He expects everyone around him to mourn his father’s death as long as he does. “How is it that the clouds still hang on you?” (I:ii:66). Hamlet finds it extremely hard to believe that people are celebrating and having parties when the king had so recently passed. Claudius and Gertrude try their best to get Hamlet out of mourning …show more content…

In the beginning of the play, Hamlet’s mother Gertrude marries Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle. Hamlet thinks it is very wrong of his mother to marry her dead husband’s brother less than two months from his death “Would have mourn’d longer-married with my uncle, / My father’s brother” (I:ii:151-152). He is tremendously disappointed in his mother and develops strong feelings of hate towards her “O most pernicious woman! / O villain, villain, smiling damned villain!” (I:v:105-106). He is unable to forgive his mother for her horrendous act until the ghost of his father makes him promise to not be upset with her. Hamlet and I are the same in the sense that when someone does something that we believe to be truly horrible, it takes a very dear and special person to us to convince us to forgive. In Hamlet’s case, it is the ghost and spirit of his late father. When a situation with similar implications happens to me, it is usually my best friend that is the voice of …show more content…

[Behind] O, I am slain.
QUEEN. O me, what hast thou done?
HAMLET Nay, I know not. (III:iv:23-26)
Hamlet makes the impromptu decision to stab whoever is hiding behind the arras. He hopes it to be Claudius but it is Polonius instead. Since Hamlet made a hasty decision, he ended up killing the wrong man. Hamlet and I are alike because there are moments when I act hastily and spontaneously. However, for most of the time, Hamlet and I think and act consciously. Personally, I like to think about exactly what I am doing and what will happen as a result of my actions. Throughout the play, the readers learn more and more about Hamlet and why he acts the way he does. From reading the play, and learning about traits and characteristics Hamlet has, it was very easy to see how similar Hamlet and I are. We share many common traits such as being very emotional, having similar reactions and thoughts as well as taking or not taking time to think about our actions and the consequences they bring. Due to the connections and the similarities between Hamlet and myself, I found the play to be more enjoyable because I could really understand where he was coming from and why he acted the way he

Show More
Related

  • Stages of Grief in Hamlet, The Descendants, and Broken April

    1244 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Free Hamlet Essays: Lonely Hamlet

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gertrude’s blindness to the whole situation is sickening. How she marries the brother of her former husband right after he kills him and never knows the truth is beyond me. She never cared about how her son felt before or after she married Claudius. She didn’t even wait very long after her husband died to get married again ( I; ii; 180-181. "Thrift, thrift, Horatio. The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables".). Therefore she is either a very slow, naïve woman or a very evil, coldhearted one. For someone to side with a person even after their own son has told them that the person they’re with has murdered their former lover is absolute lunacy ( III; iv; 29-30. "A bloody deed- almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry his brother".). Not knowing the truth in the first place is one thing, but turning your back on your own flesh and blood is another. Therefore without his mother on his side, Hamlet has lost all the family in his life that could have helped him get through his terrible time and he sinks lower than ever before.

    Read More

  • Crawling Inside the Mind of Shakespeare's Hamlet

    1720 Words  | 4 Pages

    Much of the dramatic action of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet is within the head of the main character, Hamlet.   His wordplay represents the amazing, contradictory, unsettled, mocking, nature of his mind, as it is torn by disappointment and positive love, as Hamlet seeks both acceptance and punishment, action and stillness, and wishes for consummation and annihilation. He can be abruptly silent or vicious; he is capable of wild laughter and tears, and also polite badinage.

    Read More

  • Father and Son Relationship in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet, of the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, is a young man with many distinctive characteristics. He is the loving and beloved son of Hamlet, the deceased King of Denmark. He is talented in many ways, as actor, athlete, and scholar.  Prince Hamlet draws upon many of his talents as he goes through a remarkable metamorphosis, changing from an average, responsible, young Prince to an apparently mad, raging son intent upon avenging his father’s untimely death.

    Read More

  • Production History of Hamlet

    1879 Words  | 4 Pages

    The story is brilliant. A brooding young prince, scorned by those he loves, betrayed by his Uncle, and yet “too much in the Sun” to accept defeat. Revenge, sexual tension, bloodshed, and tears—Hamlet has it all. Hamlet is a relatable character to an audience on a multitude of levels. Whether one is coming into their own, accepting major changes in their lives, feeling betrayed by loved ones, or merely experiencing a lover’s quarrel, they can certainly relate to Hamlet. Above all, Hamlet exudes the one element inherent to all human beings—a strong sense of pride, perhaps excessively so.

    Read More

  • Misogynistic Relationships In Hamlet

    1632 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hamlet’s characterization have had an apparent fluctuation ever since he encountered his father’s ghost. His relationship with the male figures in his life seemed to be the most significant in the play. For example, Hamlet’s hateful relationship with Claudius over the years is the

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Immaturity in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, is an immature child who craves attention. Throughout the play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, Hamlet creates difficulty for himself because of his inability to handle the situations life throws at him. There are many aspects of life that become easier with maturity. Hamlet’s lack of maturity makes his entire life that much more difficult and, in the end, his immaturity kills him.

    Read More

  • Free Essays - Hamlet as a Tragic Hero

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the play’s tragic hero, Hamlet exhibits a combination of good and bad traits.  A complex character, he displays a variety of characteristics throughout the play’s development.  When he is first introduced in Act I- Scene 2, one sees Hamlet as a sensitive young prince who is mourning the death of his father, the King.  In addition, his mother’s immediate marriage to his uncle has left him in even greater despair.   Mixed in with this immense sense of grief, are obvious feelings of anger and frustration.  The combination of these emotions leaves one feeling sympathetic to Hamlet; he becomes a very “human” character.  One sees from the very beginning that he is a very complex and conflicted man, and that his tragedy has already begun.

    Read More

  • Free Hamlet Essays: Role of Women in Hamlet

    612 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gertrude influenced Hamlet significantly throughout the course of the play. Hamlet was very angered by his mother's remarriage. A few months after his father's death, Gertrude married Claudius, Hamlet's uncle. He was driven mad when his father's ghost appeared to him and revealed that Claudius was responsible for the death of Old Hamlet. Hamlet even termed the marriage as incest. Hamlet's fury is displayed when he throws his mother on the bed and says, "Frailty, thy name is woman" (Act #. Scene #. Line #). This shows his extent of anger because he makes a generalization that all women are weak. As a result of his mother's actions, Hamlet strives to seek revenge against Claudius for the death of his father. In order to marry Gertrude, Claudius kills his brother. Therefore, Gertrude is the driving factor for the whole setup of the play.

    Read More

  • Sanity In Hamlet

    2032 Words  | 5 Pages

    One of the most popular characters in Shakespearean literature, Hamlet endures difficult situations within the castle he lives in. The fatal death of his father, and urge for revenge leads Hamlet into making unreasonable decisions. In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet’s sanity diminishes as the story progresses, impacting the people around him as well as the timing and outcome of his revenge against Claudius.

    Read More

  • Essay On Passion And Passion In Hamlet

    1248 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Complex Character of Shakespeare's Hamlet

    399 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Hamlet and Gertrude's Relationship

    822 Words  | 2 Pages

    The relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude is strained at first. From the beginning of the play to act III, Hamlet is bitter with his mother. He feels this way because it has been less than four months since the death of his biological father, yet she is already remarried to Claudius. He feels his father is being betrayed from her lack of mourning. She tells her son to "cast thy nighted color off" (I.ii.68) and "all that lives must die" (I.ii.72). Clearly, she isn't grieving over her late husband's death and instead puts forth an optimistic attitude to her new husband and life. Gertrude's concern with Hamlet's odd behaviour after his encounter with Ophelia in act II scene i also shows the strain in their relationship. For example, she agrees with Claudius' words that "of Hamlet's transformation" (II.ii.5) and suggests Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy and find out the underlying cause of her son's problems. In addition to that, she consents Polonius to hide behind the tapestry in act III scene iv without Hamlet knowing. These two decisions suggest their inability to communicate. Instead, spying is required for Gertrude to find out about her son's inner mentality. The mother and ...

    Read More

  • Hamlet as the Tragic Hero

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet is the best known tragedy in literature today. Here, Shakespeare exposes Hamlet’s flaws as a heroic character. The tragedy in this play is the result of the main character’s unrealistic ideals and his inability to overcome his weakness of indecisiveness. This fatal attribute led to the death of several people which included his mother and the King of Denmark. Although he is described as being a brave and intelligent person, his tendency to procrastinate prevented him from acting on his father’s murder, his mother’s marriage, and his uncle’s ascension to the throne.

    Read More

  • Inconsistency in The Character of Hamlet

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    The perfection of Hamlet’s character has been called in question - perhaps by those who do not understand it. The character of Hamlet stands by itself. It is not a character marked by strength of will or even of passion, but by refinement of thought and sentiment. Hamlet is as little of the hero as a man can be.  He is a young and princely novice, full of high enthusiasm and quick sensibility - the sport of circumstances, questioning with fortune and refining on his own feelings, and forced from his natural disposition by the strangeness of his situation.

    Read More

More about Hamlet Impulsive Character Analysis

Open Document