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The development of hamlet character
The development of hamlet character
Revenge as motive in Shakespeare
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The mixture of the sins Wrath and Pride, can make a jerk, one such as Hamlet, but not only is he a jerk, he is also murderous, which means he is a murderous jerk. Wrath means to have anger towards something or someone and to have unquenchable desire to exact revenge on that object or person and they will not stop until their revenge is complete. Pride means to over exaggerate one’s own ability or accomplishments to make themselves feel high and mighty, also to show others that they are better than everyone. Out of wrath for many reasons, Hamlet will insult people, then he will try to be the good guy because that is what a jerk does. Soon Hamlet starts to take pride in his actions and will try to show people what he did by dropping hints or …show more content…
The play states, “Ophelia: Good my lord,/ How does your Honor for this many a day?... Hamlet: To a nunnery, go.” ( Act3, Scene 1, Lines 99-162). This is where Hamlet calls Ophelia a liar and a cheat, he also mocks her dad by calling him a fool, and this is when he says he never loved her but he says it in the meanest way possible. His reasoning for calling Ophelia a liar and a cheat is because he is taking out his problems on her. Which is also why he says he does not love her anymore because he feels love does not exist due to what is happening to his mother. Although this may be his way to vent out his anger, it is wrong to do this to naive little Ophelia. A person who is not a jerk, would find a healthy way to release their anger, but since Hamlet is a jerk, he will take his anger out at someone else.
As wrath just makes his actions bad, it is pride that makes him a jerk and in this case a murderous jerk. He starts off his prideful vengeance by saying he is going to kill the king, but he proves that he will by accidently killing Polonius first, “ Queen: What wilt thou do?... Hamlet: Ay, lady, it was my word.” (Act 2, Scene 4, Lines 26-37). In this part of the scene, Hamlet kills Polonius thinking it was the king to show that he is serious about killing the king and he is prideful about it. He is prideful because he is able to show that he can kill someone, which in his mind it makes him feel all high and
Hamlet shows much anger and disrespect to the women in his life. Ophelia’s believing her father’s words breaks Hamlets heart, being the reason for his treatment towards not just her but his mother. Ophelia
Whether dead set on a xenophobic destruction of a race of people or trying to dole out a personal brand of justice, tragedy set in place by arrogance plays out the same. Robbed of peripheral vision, the victims of this pretension often act selfishly, failing to see the wrongs they commit around them and causing collateral grief. Hamlet’s faith in his divine quest to exact revenge made him mad with anger,
Ophelia is a character in Hamlet that is chronically faithful to everyone else but herself. Ophelia is deeply in love with Hamlet, and she is certain that he loves her as well. This is clear from the assertions she makes in Hamlet’s defense: “My lord, he hath importuned me with love in honest fashion. And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord, with almost all the holy vows of heaven” (1795). Ophelia’s downfall emerges when she doubts her own feelings and beliefs about Hamlet, upon instruction and advice from her brother and father. Ophelia, a confident and intelligent woman, begins to rely on others to tell her what to think and how to act. “I do not know, my lord, what I should think” (1795). Upon Polonius request, and going against her own hearts desires, she starts to avoid Hamlet. “No, my good lord, but, as you did command, I did repel his letters and denied his access to me” (1806). By doing what her father advises and wishes Ophelia is no longer capable of making decisions for herself. The loss of Hamlet’s love and the death of her father leave her with confusion and doubts about her future. “Well, Go...
At the opening of the play Hamlet is portrayed as a stable individual . He expresses disappointment in his mother for her seeming disregard for his father's death. His feelings are justified and his actions are rational at this point, he describes himself as being genuine. As this scene progresses it is revealed that Hamlet views himself as being weak: "My father's brother, but no more like my father/ than I to Hercules" (1.2.153) The doubts that Hamlet has concerning his heroism become particularly evident in his actions as the story progresses. These doubts are a major hindrance to his thoughts of revenge.
Hamlet displays aggressive behavior towards others because he had no remorse for murdering his girlfriend’s father, and forcefully attacks all women in his life with words. The moment Hamlet realized that it was Polonius he killed, he reacted with “ Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell. I took thee for thy better. Take thy fortune. Thou find’st to be too busy is some danger.” This quote proves that Hamlet did not care about murdering Polonius, even though Polonius was his girlfriend’s father. He did not know who he murdered, which meant he was okay with murdering anybody. Also, Hamlet did not think twice about his actions which proves that he is impulsive and doesn’t know what he is doing. Another instance when Hamlet aggressively
Upon learning that Ophelia has allied herself with Polonius and Claudius, he loses his head and has an incredibly dramatic episode. He is initially honest and open with Ophelia, but his mood quickly changes when he learns they are being spied on. He questioned Ophelia’s motives by asking whether she was honest and fair. He breaks her heart upon the realization she is not on his side. He tells her that he once loved her, then their conversation spirals into nothing more than Hamlet hurling insults at his former love before storming out.
When reading the text, one can comprehend that Ophelia is caught in the middle between two opposite sides. Her family (father and brother) believe that Hamlet is a womanizer rather then the philosopher that he is. They also believe that he will use her in order to achieve his own purposes, and that he would take her precious virginity only to discard it because he would never be her husband. But, Ophelia's heart mesmerized by Hamlets cunning linguistics is set on the fact that Hamlet truly loves her or loved her, even though he swears he never did. In the eye of her father and brother, she will always be a pure, wholesome girl, an eternal virgin in a sense, (due to a parents nature to always see their offspring as a child) they want her to ascend into her stereotypical role in life as a vessel of morality whose sole purpose of existence is to be a obedient wife and a committed mother. However, to Hamlet she is simply an object used to satisfy and fulfill his sexual needs. He also seems to hold her at a distant which suggests that he may...
Why Hamlet is Too Smart for Himself Hamlet only kills Claudius when he has also murdered the queen, Laertes, and has also poisoned himself. It takes a threat of death to do what his own dead father orders him to do. A largely held opinion is that he is too emotional to do it, but it is when his emotions all come together that he murders Polonius. Another opinion is that he is too full of morals to kill, but how then can he alter a note and literally sentence two old friends who were just following orders to death. It is also believed that he is too cowardly to go through with it, but if a man is bold enough to face a ghost, confront a queen and kill an eavesdropper, than what should stop him from avenging his father and ridding Denmark of the disease that infests its royal line.
The reader is left guessing on Hamlet’s true feelings for Ophelia through his various insults, sexual innuendos, and admitted desire. Hamlet’s claim, “God hath given you one face, and you / Make yourselves another.” (3.1.155-156) is laced with irony and hypocrisy given Hamlet’s own deception regarding true feelings. This proclamation comes at the end of a lengthy tirade against Ophelia and womankind in general for their conniving deceit leading men astray. The fact that Hamlet cannot see this duplicity in his very own actions shows the double standard he holds for females. Ophelia’s immediate reaction is one of shock and defense due to the aggressive nature of Hamlet’s attack. She calls out “O, woe is me!” (3.1.174) in distress to the ferocity of Hamlet and is unable to form a particularly coherent response akin to the ones seen against Laertes and Polonius. She does show her intelligence and rebellion from this assumption of power by Hamlet in her songs while Hamlet is gone. While many attribute her madness to the death of her father, a large portion of her instability should be attributed to Hamlet and his earlier actions. In her first introduction as insane she sings, “And I a maid at your window, / To be your Valentine. / Then up he rose and donned his clothes / And dropped the chamber door, / Let in the maid, that out a maid / Never departed more.” (4.5.55-60). Due to her references to sexuality and deceit the
Two of Ophelia’s difficulties arise from her father and brother. They believe that Hamlet is using her to take her virginity and throw it away because Ophelia will never be his wife. Her heart believes that Hamlet loves her although he promises he never has (“Hamlet” 1). Hamlet: “Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness. This was sometime a paradox, but not the time gives it proof. I did love you once.” Ophelia: “Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so.” Hamlet: “You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock ...
The character feels the need to get even with whoever or whatever caused traumatic damage to them. Wrath is the only sin that does not always come with selfishness or the character's self-gain. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and his best friend Mercutio are killed in a battle with a man known as Tybalt. This had enraged him and caused him to pursue Tybalt. The wrath had unleashed itself from Romeo, causing him to lash out and eventually kill Tybalt.
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.
In the end, their many forms of madness get the best of them, and results in their own deaths whether by another, or by their own hand. One example of Hamlet’s madness is how he mocks Polonius. He would not do so normally because Polonius is older than he is so he would normally treat him with a certain amount of respect which he does not do following the sighting of the ghost of Old Hamlet. The Ghost tells Hamlet of his murder, and to test the truth of what he is told, Hamlet puts on “an antic disposition”. Hamlet manages to convince Polonius that he is inconsiderate of others, knowing that with seeing this odd change in behavior, Polonius will go to the king to tell him of it....
The death of Polonius does not even seem to bother Hamlet the slightest bit. Soon after he commits the unforgivable act of murder against Polonius Hamlet says, “Thou wretched rash, intruding fool, farewell. I took thee for thy better” (3.4.32-33). The violent nature of his killing reveals Hamlet’s hysteria because he was unable to stop himself. The act of overkill displayed during this scene shows his inability to control his own emotions. Therefore, such behavior depicts that of a madman. This very incident was the beginning of Hamlet’s unmasked madness. It is obvious that Claudius’s murder of the King drives Hamlet to despair. At first, Hamlet feigns his madness; however after his first kill he pushes aside any rationale he has left and becomes bloodthirsty for revenge.
“Those who plot the destruction of others often fall themselves” (Phaedrus). This quote was said by a Roman fabulist and it depicts the entire concept of revenge in Hamlet. The nature of revenge causes someone to act upon anger rather than reason. Hamlet takes place in Denmark and is about Hamlet’s uncle who kills his dad to gain power of Denmark. After the killing, Hamlet seeks revenge on his uncle. In the play, there are several characters wanting vengeance like that of Hamlet. Throughout the play, Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras all had a tragic death of a family member which caused their decision for revenge. Consequentially, these revenges caused the demise of two characters and the rise of power of another. The retaliation shown by the Prince of Denmark, as well as Laertes led to the downfall of their government.