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<< In the play Hamlet by William Shakesphere, the main character, Hamlet, has a high level of intelligence. In Denmark, Hamlet is the son of the king who had recently passed away, and the queen who betrayed her husband to marry Hamlet's uncle soon after his death. Hamlet is hurt and uproared by his mother's betrayal and his uncle's rise to become king. He has an extraordinary understanding and comprehension of others and himself.
Hamlet understands himself and uses this as a strength for his revenge. He feels very strongly about his father's murder and hopes to seek a confession from King Claudius. "i'll wipe away all trivial fond records, all saw books, all forms, all pressures past that youth and observation copied there" <act one, scene five> this is when hamlet becomes determined to carry out the revenge after he speaks to the ghost. He shows strong signs of a studious nature and plans to carry them out against claudius. which he does, but not by blantent confrontation. He's wise enough to know claudius would never admit his sin that "is rank, it smeels to heaven", so he divises the mousetrap play. This plan shows he thinks straight but will not act too quickly on this. He gives this plan great thought and makes careful decisions. Hamlet's understanding of others helps discover the murderer of his father. His quick instincts tell him that the childhood friends Claudius wanted him to reunite with were spies. By asking them simple questions, Hamlet found Rosencrantz and Guildenstein weren't who they said they were.
William Shakespeare was a Stratford Grammar School boy, who was a member of the Church of England, similar to just about everyone else in Stratford. However, due to some events that occurred in the Shakespeare family home, there is some evidence that could prove that the family may have had some Roman Catholic connections. When William Shakespeare was 10 years old, legal issues and debt took a toll on his family’s life. Shakespeare’s father’s stopped attending alderman meetings which resulted in the removal of his name to become an alderman, and he was also forced to sell his beautiful home. The cause of this crisis is unknown, however the records can be used to throw together the idea that there were peculiar religious events going on (Fox). Due to these mishaps, William Shakespeare’s religion is a bit of a mystery. The play, Hamlet, was written by William Shakespeare during the Elizabethan era, which happened to be a time when religious conflicts were a big deal (Alsaif). The protagonist in the story, Hamlet, is a character who seems to make his choices through his religious beliefs. Hamlet is a very indecisive person, but his thoughts on religion tend to persuade him. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses the character of Hamlet to show the flaws in all religions. Hamlet does his best to follow the rules of Christianity, but he often questions the morality involved. Although Shakespeare belonged to the Church of England, he didn’t find any particular religion to be perfect.
However, one must consider carefully the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern before passing judgment on Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent for by the King and Queen to spy on Hamlet and learn why he "puts on this confusion" (III, i.2). While some are fooled by Hamlet's act of insanity, the king is not. He is convinced that it is an act and, being a sly man himself, he suspects that Hamlet is up to something. Having obtained the throne through deceit and murder, he believes Hamlet capable of the same.
Claudius has managed to deceive everyone by hiding the fact that he actually murdered King Hamlet. For instance, the ghost of Hamlet’s reveals to Hamlet the truth about his murder. He tells him, “Everyone was told that a poisonous snake bit me when I was sleeping in the orchard. But in fact, that’s a lie that’s fooled everyone in Denmark. You should know, my noble son, the real snake that stung your father is now wearing his crown” (Crowther, Act I, Scene 5). Despite murdering his brother, Claudius doesn’t regret his actions very much. In fact, he only begs God for forgiveness after watching his sins acted out in “The Mousetrap” (Shakespeare, Act III, Scene 3). However, Claudius is caught between not wanting to give up all that he gained through his duplicity and the guilt borne from his sins (Goddard, “On Hamlet”). After he finishes praying for forgiveness, Claudius gives up on repenting, saying “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below” (Crowther, Act III, Scene 3). Claudius also deceives Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Claudius asks the two to find out the reason for Hamlet’s moodiness, saying, “Since you both grew up with him and are so familiar with his personality and behavior, I’m asking you to stay a while at court and spend some time with him. See if you can get Hamlet to have some fun, and find out if there’s anything in particular that’s bothering him, so
Hamlet, after conversing with the ghost of his dead father, learns that Claudius killed his father and swears revenge on Claudius. By Hamlet putting on his antic disposition he is able to get closer to Claudius so he can be sure of the tragic murder of his father was done by Claudius, and when given the perfect opportunity he can take his vengeance. Hamlet was able to find out that it was Claudius by setting up a trap for him involving a play.... ... middle of paper ...
As shown through textual evidence, Hamlet attempts to act morally. That he does not take action unless he is assured that it will accomplish what he desires. Additionally, during the delay to gain revenge for his father, he not only deceives himself, but also the people around him. Hamlet is a man of many discoveries. The tragic hero in Shakespeare's Hamlet undergoes many changes throughout the play. His mindset is set deep and far away from the physical world that both helps him and hinders him in his plight for revenge against his uncle, Claudius.
Everyone has lied at one point or another in their life. Whether it is a small white lie about an outfit’s mishaps or something that ruined a relationship, lying or hiding the truth is a universal theme that everyone could relate to. In Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses the theme of deception to develop characters and cause their ultimate downfall in the play. Deception is not only woven in the plot but also portrays through the characters’ action and personality, such as Claudius, Polonius, and Hamlet.
One of the main arguments surrounding the famous play, Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, is focused on whether the main character Hamlet was actually insane, or just pretending to be. Shakespeare does not directly state Hamlet’s madness but rather he hints at it throughout the play and this lets the reader decide on their own interpretation. Hamlet’s insanity can be seen in his reckless decisions, extreme mood swings, and daring manner in which he speaks to the king. However it can be judged reasonable because being mad temporarily satisfies his conscience, gives him some protection from Claudius, and it buys some time for Hamlet to prove Claudius’s guilt. In the play as a whole, Hamlet’s choice to be mad characterizes him as intelligent and reveals the inner turmoil surrounding his mission to avenge his father’s death.
William Shakespeare's Hamlet Perhaps the greatest uncertainty in William Shakespeare's Hamlet is the character of Queen Gertrude. Undoubtedly a major player with regard to number of lines and contribution to the action of the play. her personality is nonetheless basically undeveloped. It is also notable that Gertrude is perhaps the only character besides Hamlet. with enough power over all of the characters to stop the play's tragic.
What is the appropriate time of mourning for a lost loved one? In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlets mother, Gertrude, mourned the passing of her husband for less than two months. She then decided to marry King Hamlet's brother, Claudius. Hamlets mother's new marriage is what bothers him the most. Hamlet believes Claudius will never live up to the legacy left by his father as the King of Denmark. The social context that is being revealed to the reader through Hamlets soliloquy describes three character traits he possesses: suicidal thoughts, concern for the well-being of his country, confusion towards his father's ghost and whether or not it’s in the countries best interest for him to get revenge. This also portrays how Queen Gertrude’s hasty nuptials after not having a proper time of mourning, goes against society in this era. Furthermore, this foreshadows the vast effect this will have on Hamlet.
The complexity and effect of father-son relationships seems to be a theme that Shakespeare loved to explore in his writings. In Hamlet, the subject is used as a mechanism to identify the similarities between three very different characters: Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet. They have each lost their fathers to violent deaths, which leads them to seek vengeance. As different as they may seem, they all share the common desire to avenge their father’s deaths. The method they each approach this is what differentiates each of their characters, and allows the audience to discern their individual characteristics. Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet’s intense loyalty to their fathers drives them to individual extreme measures of revenge, exemplifying Shakespeare’s masterful use of describing the human psyche during Elizabethan times.
When in the course of human events, something’s are made self-evident, like having to read Hamlet and write about three soliloquies. These soliloquies tend to be very lengthy and have very sub surface meanings to them that require some enabled humanoids to use the frontal cortex of their neurological brains in order to understand these meanings. In other words, they are hard to understand, especially with them being written in the Shakespearean era of influence in the island Kingdoms that are Untied. However, they offer meanings unimaginable and crucial to the outcome of the play Hamlet. As I have just explained, the three soliloquies of Act I, II, III, of the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare have very deep important meanings and messages to them.
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 is unlike the other two characters in the way that he uses reason and logic before he acts and decides to kill his uncle, Claudius, because he is aware of the consequences. For example, when Hamlet is trying to determine how he can prove Claudius the murderer, after conversing with the players about the play, following Hamlet’s reasoning that the ghost could be a devil trying to deceive him, in his soliloquy he states, “I’ll observe his looks… If he do blench, / I know my course… I’ll catch the conscience of the King.” (II, ii, 625-634). He reattaches himself to his revenge based on the logic of Claudius’ guilt. If Claudius does not feel guilty and has no reaction to the play, Hamlet will not act because logically Claudius was not to blame. Subsequently, Hamlet discovers that Claudius is guilty and commits himself to taking his life, but when Hamlet approaches Claudius and sees him praying he thinks to himself, he shouldn’t kill him there saying, “That would be scanned:/ A villain kills my father, and for that, / I, his sole son, do this same villain send/ to heaven… this is… not revenge.” (III, iii, 80-84). As Hamlet over thinks his actions he reasons himself out of killing Claudius because he compares how Claudius would die, to his father’s death. By over thinking this he stalls and has more time to think about w...
Hamlet is made to do some detective work in this melodrama. His first order of business was to figure out if the ghost of his father that he thought he saw, was in fact real and if it was, was it unfeigned or a demon. Then, he must decide if the ghost of his father was truthful about Claudius, his father's brother, Hamlet's uncle who was also the reigning King, committing fratricide against his father. To find evidence of Claudius' involvement, Hamlet uses the players, to bring about his uncles deep seated feelings hopefully lodged in his conscience.
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.