The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by Shakespeare
Character development is essential to any literary endeavor. The character of Hamlet is quite dynamic—morphing from a composed but emotionally driven young man to an unstable wreck, completely possessed by the same emotions that drove him to such lengths at the outset.
The main protagonist, Hamlet, undergoes a sequence of incidents that radically alter his character. When the audience is introduced Hamlet, he is clothed in all black—portrayed as a morose, dejected prince. The audience’s initial impression of Hamlet sets the attitude for the entire play. Even without Shakespeare delivering an intricate sketch of Hamlet's features, readers can visualize his pallid face, disheveled hair, and severe, ominous eyes. Clothed completely in black, Hamlet exhibits all the forms, moods and shapes of distress. Throughout the progression of the play however, it is exposed that Hamlet as a character has more than one side to him: he is as menacing as he is imprudent, and he is as unforgiving as he is inconclusive. The audience relates Hamlet’s internal troubles with the demise of his father, and the emotional tax of discovering the truth of his death but being incapable of extorting revenge. This is what principally transforms Hamlet. His struggle to suppress his anger towards King Claudius, his father’s murderer, is then transmitted onto Ophelia, which causes Hamlet to become a remarkably different character by the end of Act V. Revenge has a way of seizing a character’s integrity. Michael Price of the American Psychological Association wrote, “If you're a power seeker, revenge can serve to remind others you're not to be trifled with. If you live in a society where the rule of law i...
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...ring Claudius. Hamlet has grasped the summit of his moralizing; he has prepared himself for death. Hamlet transforms from being passionately driven to being entirely controlled by his emotions. At first he is resolute to honor his father's integrity, and then he starts taking vengeance on his uncle and mother. He ultimately runs mad, inciting him to his own demise.
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Works Cited
"Analysis." William Shakespeare Biography. Auburn University, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Price, Michael. "Revenge and The People Who Seek It." American Psychological Association. 2009. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar v. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 5th compact ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 1096. Print. 21 April. 2014.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Literature. 5th ed. Ed. Robert Di Yanni. New York. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2002. 1395-1496.
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.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William. The Tradegy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992
Hamlet. The son of a king. A man who could have had it all, but instead he chose the much more painful route of revenge and a life of bloodshed. The downfall of Hamlet is comparable to trying to hide a lie one has told. The deeper we try to cover the lie, the worse it gets and harder it becomes to do the right thing. The deeper the reader explores into Hamlets life, the messier and messier it becomes. With a mind full of suicidal thoughts and insanity with no effort to contain it can only lead one thing, and Hamlets downfall is the ultimate example. Pain, suffering, and extreme
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William. The New Cambridge Shakespeare: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Philip Edwards. Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1985.
Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The. “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Eds. X. J. Kennedy, Dana. Gioia.
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.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2012. Print.
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.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Washington Square Press new Folger ed. New York: Washington Square, 2002. Print.
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.