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The moral dilemma in hamlet
Hamlet ambivalence
The moral dilemma in hamlet
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In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare several themes were carried out through out the story. The some of those were ___,____ and ____. A theme that maybe readers might have not noticed was responsibility. Many characters through out the play had great responsibilities such as being a king, queen or prince or even just a loyal friend. A well as many characters having their morals challenged which could disrupt their original responsibilities. Some of the characters that closely relate to this theme is Gertrude, Hamlet and ________.
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.
One single moment or event during the course of an individual’s life can effectively alter their priorities and transform their identity drastically. In The play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare introduces the readers to the protagonist Hamlet who is draped in anger and emotions and has a new-found mission in life. Initially, Hamlet is portrayed as an individual in mourning over his father's death and his mother's haste in remarrying to her brother-in-law and Hamlet's uncle, Claudius. However, Hamlet’s character and personality were drastically altered after meeting the Ghost and discovering the true nature of his Father’s death. Hamlet is now a man with a lust for revenge and a willingness to do anything that will enable him to accomplish this goal. When burdened with the task of killing Claudius, Hamlet chooses to sacrifice all he holds dear by transforming his identity in a noble effort to avenge his father’s death.
Assignment 1: Explication from Hamlet (1.3.111-137) (“My lord, he hath importuned me with love” … [end of scene].
Shakespeare’s plays show the complexity of human beings. Everyone is different in reactions, actions, and thought. Shakespeare explores various themes throughout his writing career. Each play is unique, and their themes are handled in a very distinct way as Shakespeare writes each work with great care. Two major themes are appearance versus reality and relationship between motive and will; Othello, Hamlet, and Henry IV, Part 1 all portray these two themes in similar and different ways.
In the play, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the protagonist Hamlet is in a persistent mental battle between his religious, moral values and his desire to take revenge on the one who murdered his innocent father. Throughout the play, the actions that are taken by characters in Hamlet 's life ultimately lead to the demise and dismissal of each person who not only get in the way of Hamlet but go against the actions he takes. As the ghost of the late dead king appears to Hamlet and informs him of the truth behind what occurred that night Denmark lost a king and Hamlet lost a father, you see him embark on a journey of devotion to the father who was murdered by his uncle and everyone who has been caught up in the uncle’s web of lies. The philosophy of commitment and beauty are shown throughout the play through Hamlets vengeful task of revenge and deceit, King Claudius’s task to keep his murder a secret, Laertes commitment to murdering Hamlet, and the failed preservation of God made beauty.
Hamlet is a firm believer that he can control all of his action and his own destiny. Later on he realizes this is not the case as one person says, “Hamlet acknowledges that not everything is in his control, and that ultimately God determines what the outcome will be” (Hamletvsfate, Quotes) Hamlet is extremely religious more so than is portrayed in the lines of the play. Despite this he still thinks that he can control what happens to him or the people around him. As the play progresses Hamlet realizes that he cannot control everything that happens to him. This revelation occurs right after the person that Hamlet was supposed to be in love with, Ophelia, died. It was as if the death of that love was something that caused the rapid deterioration of hamlets psyche and to deal with that deterioration he had to believe that there was something bigger than him in the world. The acceptance of fate being bigger than
Are you too quick to make important decisions? Do you act before you think? These quick decisions are common in the play Hamlet. Hamlet was written by William Shakespeare in 1589. The play takes place in Denmark. The protagonist is a prince named Hamlet. Hamlet’s father suddenly dies, and Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude, decides to marry Hamlet’s uncle, King Claudius. Hamlet slowly goes insane, and he wants revenge on the murderer of his father. Laertes, the son of the king’s associate, makes a bad decision in the play. When Laertes’ father, Polonius, is killed, Laertes is outraged and seeks vengeance. Laertes made a bad decision in the play, but he could have tried using the decision-making process, weighing possible alternatives, and he could have changed the outcome of the play if he had made careful decisions.
“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”.
One particular human emotion can cripple humans mentally and physically. It can cause people to do things they do not want to do. It can lead them to twist the truth and lie not only to themselves, but people around them as well. It is something that they cannot hide. It is more like a disease, however, it is better known as guilt. Along with guilt, comes dishonesty, shamefulness, peculiar behavior, and even suicidal thoughts. Guilt is a recurring theme in both Robertson Davies’ Fifth Business and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Every individual will experience guilt sometime in their life, but it is how they cope and handle it that defines who they are. Humans must face the feeling of guilt, accept
"To be, or not to be, that is the question."(Hamlet) This is the question that plagues Hamlet through the entire play. Should I live or should I die, should I take revenge for my father's death? These are all issues that Hamlet battles within himself. Hamlet's indecision is followed by inaction. The reason for this struggle with indecision can be based on many factors or on a combination of a few.
The way we see ourselves is often reflected in the way we act. Hamlet views himself as different to those young nobles around him such as Fortinbras and Laertes. This reality leads us to believe that over time he has become even more motivated to revenge his father's death, and find out who his true friends are. How can you be honest in a world full of deceit and hate? His seven soliloquies tell us that while the days go by he grows more cunning as he falls deeper into his madness. This fact might have lead Hamlet to believe that suicide is what he really wants for his life's course.
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet the king of Denmark is murdered by his brother, Claudius, and as a ghost tells his son, Hamlet the prince of Denmark, to avenge him by killing his brother. The price Hamlet does agree to his late father’s wishes, and undertakes the responsibility of killing his uncle, Claudius. However even after swearing to his late father, and former king that he would avenge him; Hamlet for the bulk of the play takes almost no action against Claudius. Prince Hamlet in nature is a man of thought throughout the entirety of the play; even while playing mad that is obvious, and although this does seem to keep him alive, it is that same trait that also keeps him from fulfilling his father’s wish for vengeance
In Act I, Hamlet returns to the death of his father and the “hasty marriage” of his mother and Claudius which breaks him up inside but only show signs of sorrow and anger, not lunacy which is demonstrated when he states: “The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables,” and “Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, that can denote me truly.” After time passes Hamlet is visited by the ghost of his father, who instructs Hamlet that he must “[r]evenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” At this moment his sanity is questioned, because can a person who sees the ghost of their father be sane and believe what it says. This is possible if they portray lunacy.
play would not have come if it were not the murder. The crime itself is,
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.