Power And Dominance In Hamlet

560 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Hamlet power and authority

As human a person can’t survive by himself. He need to interact with another person at some point and these interaction leads to development of different relationship. The play Hamlet shows these different relationships throughout its plot. The play is about a prince, who tries to take revenge on the king after losing everything when his father dies and he uncle and his mom marries leading the uncle to become the new king. In this play Shakespeare elicits the power and dominance one can have over another in relationship through the use of pun and double language. First example of the power and dominance that a person can have over another in relationship is show in the conversation between Polonius and Hamlet. In this conversation Hamlet states “You are fishmonger” which Polonius takes to crazy drivel, but Hamlet actually use “fishmonger” to insult Polonius. The double meaning of “fishmonger” is that it can mean to a fisherman and it could also mean to the lowest of the low. By using double language hamlet is able to insult Polonius without him knowing. Another example is when Hamlet says “Let her not walk i' th' sun. Conception is a blessing, but, as your daughter may conceive—Friend, look to ’t.” This quote tells how Hamlet might get Ophelia pregnant so Polonius should keep her away from him. Though the use of pun of
This can be seen in the interaction between Hamlet and Polonius in which hamlet continuously insults and makes fun of Polonius. In the conversation Hamlet tells Polonius how he should keep Ophelia away from hamlet before he gets her pregnant. He also states how he is a “fishmonger” or the lowest of the low and he is lacking in intelligence because he doesn’t understand the true meaning of Hamlet’s words. In this Puns and double language makes the words take a whole different meaning then

Show More
Related

  • An Analytical Essay on the Humor in Hamlet

    756 Words  | 2 Pages

    The scene between Hamlet and Polonius took place in Act II Scene 2. In Hamlet's first encounter with Polonius, he immediately insulted the old man by calling him a "fishmonger". He then quickly changed his opinion and complemented Polonius by calling him an honest man. Hamlet said, "to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand". As we know Polonius definitely was not such a man. Hamlet was portrayed as a clever lad, who was playing a psychological game with an old fool. He asked Polonius whether or not he had a daughter, pretending he did not know that Ophelia was Polonius's daughter. When Hamlet was asked about what he was reading, he replied by saying, "words, words, words". Throughout this scene, Hamlet revealed himself to Polonius as a mentally unstable man. He was playing a fool himself, while ingeniously using this to make Polonius look like an even bigger fool. He cleverly insulted Polonius' appearances indirectly, by referring to the book he was reading. According to that book old men had grey beards, their faces were wrinkled, they had a plentiful lack of wit, and so on. He was describing Polonius exactly. Perhaps the most humorous part took place when Hamlet, while saying, "for yourself, sir, shall grow old as I am, if like a crab you could go backward",  he advanced towards Polonius, causing him to walk backwards. Those words and the actions on the stage  revealed Hamlet to be a daring young man. When Polonius finally left, Hamlet dropped his pretense and yelled, "These tedious old fools!". In Act III Scene 2, Hamlet used a recorder, the musical instrument, as a telescope when Polonius entered the scene. He asked Polonius, "Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in shape of a camel?". Hamlet always pretended to be the madman in front of Polonius, while he actually made him look like an old fool.

    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- Truly Mad, for Freigned Madness?

    1234 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... Hamlet is merely a young man, looking for revenge for the death of his father. A young man that has gone through hell and back since his fathers death, losing his love, his mother marrying another man, best friends betraying him, all of which finally lead to his demise. Hamlet shows that he understands real from fake, right from wrong and his enemies from his friends.

    Read More

  • Abuse Of Power In Hamlet Character Analysis

    1227 Words  | 3 Pages

    ‘Man is not what he thinks; he is what he hides’ Andre Malraux was a 20th century French novelist in the 1900’s who constructed this simple quotation that simply explains how characters hide things in Hamlet. Characters in Hamlet hide the truth through their actions and words. Good morning and welcome to the Shakespearean conference, I am honoured to be here to speak about such an intriguing play. Four hundred years ago William Shakespeare created another one of his famous tragedies. This was the time before democracies when people believed in witchcraft and supernatural powers. The ironic thing about these beliefs is even though we have developed into a modern democracy we still have the same moral dilemmas. The royalty were abusing their

    Read More

  • Hamlet and his battle with depression

    1756 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hamlet, a young prince preparing to become King of Denmark, cannot understand or cope with the catastrophes in his life. After his father dies, Hamlet is filled with confusion. However, when his father's ghost appears, the ghost explains that his brother, Hamlet's Uncle Claudius, murdered him. In awe of the supposed truth, Hamlet decides he must seek revenge and kill his uncle. This becomes his goal and sole purpose in life. However, it is more awkward for Hamlet because his uncle has now become his stepfather. He is in shock by his mother's hurried remarriage and is very confused and hurt by these circumstances. Along with these familial dysfunctions, Hamlet's love life is diminishing. It is an "emotional overload" for Hamlet (Fallon 40). The encounter with the ghost also understandably causes Hamlet great distress. From then on, his behavior is extremely out of context (Fallon 39). In Hamlet's first scene of the play, he does not like his mother's remarriage and even mentions his loss of interest in l...

    Read More

  • Hamlet Acts Morally, Harms Others by his Actions, and Realizes his Tragic Limits

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous work of tragedy. Throughout the play the title character, Hamlet, tends to seek revenge for his father’s death. Shakespeare achieved his work in Hamlet through his brilliant depiction of the hero’s struggle with two opposing forces that hunt Hamlet throughout the play: moral integrity and the need to avenge his father’s murder. When Hamlet sets his mind to revenge his fathers’ death, he is faced with many challenges that delay him from committing murder to his uncle Claudius, who killed Hamlets’ father, the former king. During this delay, he harms others with his actions by acting irrationally, threatening Gertrude, his mother, and by killing Polonius which led into the madness and death of Ophelia. Hamlet ends up deceiving everyone around him, and also himself, by putting on a mask of insanity. In spite of the fact that Hamlet attempts to act morally in order to kill his uncle, he delays his revenge of his fathers’ death, harming others by his irritating actions. Despite Hamlets’ decisive character, he comes to a point where he realizes his tragic limits.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Leadership In Hamlet

    1320 Words  | 3 Pages

    “A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action.” (Jawaharlal Nehru) Leaders throughout history have been idolized as the magnificent humans with the ability to sway the heart of man with both silent and thunderous footsteps. One such man being Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Shakespeare dictates that a leader is cunning, sharp minded, and a caring person who is prepared to dedicate their life to a goal and to the people they care for; the reason be “right” or “wrong”.

    Read More

  • Abuse Of Power In Hamlet

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    At first, Hamlet is successful, and society is convinced Ophelia is the reason for his madness, thus granting Hamlet more time to plot Claudius’s murder. This is achieved in Hamlet’s “to be or not to be speech” [3,1,57] when Claudius and Polonius spy on the conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia. During the Act, Ophelia displays traits of dishonesty and Hamlet uses this to his benefit and appears to go insane to convince Ophelia, Claudius and Polonius that Ophelia is responsible for his madness. Hamlet insists his madness is an “antic disposition” [1,5,179] and that “Thou this be madness, yet there is method in it”. [2,2,204] In the play, Hamlet uses his “antic disposition” [1,5,179] to refuse Ophelia’s affections, which is powerfully portrayed when he exclaims to her “get thee to a nunnery.” [3,1,138] By denying Ophelia’s love, Hamlet’s power in the relationship is effectively demonstrated, and it is shown he is in control of their relationship. In addition, this is reflected in Ophelia’s self-destruction, as she has no purpose to live a life without Hamlet or a man. Overall, Hamlet is successful in using his power over Ophelia for the sake of his

    Read More

  • Hamlet-identity Crisis

    1845 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Hamlet is arguably one of the best plays known to English literature. It presents the protagonist, Hamlet, and his increasingly complex path through self discovery. His character is of an abnormally complex nature, the likes of which not often found in plays, and many different theses have been put forward about Hamlet's dynamic disposition. One such thesis is that Hamlet is a young man with an identity crisis living in a world of conflicting values.

    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

  • The Importance Of Power In Shakespeare's Hamlet

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lord Action’s words, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” undoubtedly would have William Shakespeare in agreement. Based upon Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, one sees the correspondence between Lord Action’s quote and the plot of the play. The play, in its entirety, is centered around the corruptness of the royal court of Denmark. The king, Claudius, and queen, Gertrude, evidently have absolute power over the entire country; yet, the actions of Claudius spread corruptness throughout the royal court, as if a ramped virus spreads across the nation. In the midst of the chaos is Hamlet. The means by which Claudius is willing to discover Hamlet’s true intentions proves his scheming skills. The corruption of the royal court

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Oedipus Complex

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Hamlet, A Noble Prince

    1585 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hamlet’s mourning about the death of his father and the remarriage of his mother drives him to madness. This is the main characters inner tragedy that Shakespeare expresses in the play. First he considers suicide but the ghost of King Hamlet sends him on a different path, directing him to revenge his death. Shakespeare uses Hamlet to articulate his thoughts about life, death and revenge. Being a moral character he must decide if revenge is the right thing to do. Shakespeare relays many scenarios of reasoning to the audience about mankind His hero sets the wrongs on mankind right again.

    Read More

  • Hamlet, The Protagonist

    1280 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hamlet is a tale of tragedy by Shakespeare which tells the story of the prince of Denmark who is on a quest to avenge the death of his father at the hands of his uncle whom subsequently becomes king of Denmark. This is what fuels the fire in the play as Hamlet feels the responsibility to avenge his father’s death by his uncle Claudius; however, Claudius assumed the throne following the death of hamlets father. It is in this context that we see the evolution of hamlets character from a student and young prince of Denmark to the protagonist and tragic hero in the play.

    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

More about Power And Dominance In Hamlet

Open Document