Character Analysis Of Hamlet

The final way that Laertes acts as a foil to Hamlet occurs once again when Claudius and Laertes are discussing Laertes’ actions to achieve his vengeance. Claudius gives Laertes advice saying, “That we would do/ we should do when we would; for this ‘would’/ changes” (4.7.134-136). Claudius is warning Laertes that if he waits long enough, he will probably end up not doing anything at all and will not achieve his goal of vengeance. This quote spoken by Claudius is quite similar to when King Hamlet’s ghost meets with Hamlet earlier in the play to warn him about how he was killed by Claudius and that he must get revenge. King Hamlet’s ghost also warns Hamlet saying, “Taint not thy mind” (1.5.92), telling him to not over think his plan because otherwise he will not pursue his vengeance. After Claudius warns Laertes to not get side tracked, the audience is reminded of King Hamlet’s ghost telling Hamlet to not over think because then their plans will not be pursued. This scene acts as a foil towards Hamlet because soon after the conversation, Laertes does pursue his plan of seeking vengeance, whereas Hamlet has been working on his plan the whole play, and has still not started to execute it.

“To be, or not to be, that is the question,” (3.1.64). This famous line in William Shakespeare's Hamlet perfectly encapsulates Hamlet’s internal struggle throughout the play. Hamlet tells the story of the young prince of Denmark and his desire for revenge on the uncle, Claudius, who murdered his father. As is the case in many works of literature, Hamlet changes greatly throughout the play. However, because of his attempts to act insane, it can be difficult to precisely map the changes in Hamlet’s character. By carefully investigating his seven soliloquies, where he is alone and has no need to “put on an antic disposition,” one can understand and interpret how Hamlet’s character develops throughout the play.

Hamlet proves himself a temperamental, twisted character in William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. The Prince of Denmark conveys his facetious demeanor with his behavior and sharp tongue, especially in scenes with Ophelia and Gertrude. Although Hamlet’s situation is difficult and easily sympathized by viewers, his aggression should ultimately be focused on his murderous uncle.

In the excerpt taken from Hamlet, Shakespeare uses a hostile tone to depict the relationship between Hamlet and the people he is speaking to. The author uses figurative syntax, descriptive detail, and vexed diction to show the sanity of Hamlet based on the relationships with those he interacts with. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are trying to uncover Hamlet’s mental state thinking that Hamlet has no idea but Hamlet is always one step ahead of those in the house.

In the conclusion of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the audience gains an understanding of the importance of Justice to each character. In the final act both Hamlet and Laertes seek to find justice for the wrongs committed against them and their families. This leaves both men trying to identify how to right these misdeeds

“Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift. As meditation or the thoughts of love,May sweep to my revenge” (Shakespeare 1603). Hamlet in this Act is talking to his father’s ghost. This is the very first time that Hamlet decides that his father's death can not go unpunished. He vows that his Uncle Claudius or step father will pay for poisoning and killing his father and marrying his mother so quickly. However, being part of the royal family makes him prone to negative and stressful situations and thus his engagement with words to level in which he is almost crippled is absolutely tragic, even if it is not because of anything he had overtly done (Smith, 2016). His exchanges with Ophelia are just one example of his use of language to lead

Throughout Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, Hamlet’s emotions, actions, and thoughts cause much trouble during the play. Hamlet encounters stages of sarcasm, inanity, suicidal tendencies/self-deprecation, and procreation/indecision which develop not only his personality but the play itself. Hamlet uses sarcasm to express his emotions, pretends to be insane (ultimately leading him to become truly insane), self-deprecates throughout the play due to family events, and procrastinates because he is indecisive. Hamlet encounters many life-altering events throughout the play such as his uncle poisoning his father and quickly remarrying Hamlet’s mother, to accidentally killing Polonius thinking it was Claudius, all the way to debating upon: his own

To begin, Hamlet’s complex environment plays a key role in demonstrating his flaws, as they alter his purpose in life and disclose a gloomier aspect of Hamlet’s persona. Hamlet’s miserable surroundings demand crucial decisions, through which Hamlet chooses his own fall in order to fulfill his desire for vengeance from Claudius. Marcellus introduces Hamlet’s surrounding environment as he declares, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (1.4.99), which foreshadows the upcoming misfortunate events that result from a disruption of the Elizabethan chain of beings. Marcellus also foretells the critical effects that these unusual events might have on Hamlet’s character as eventually his surroundings lead him to make decisions that expose

In the tragedy of Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses minor characters like Polonius and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to emphasize Hamlet’s character and demonstrate the consequences of deception. Hamlet, the son of a fallen King tasked to avenge his father, uses deception in acting mad to justify his actions. Additionally, Polonius, the advisor to the King, deceives others by his selective use of language that is seemingly knowledgeable but in actuality without meaning and confusing. Furthermore, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, childhood friends of Hamlet, deceive Hamlet by using their relationship to gain their selfish ends. Ultimately, Shakespeare uses foils of Hamlet to Polonius, and Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to reveal that deception of trust and loyalty, as demonstrated through the symbol of the crown and friendship, leads to rash actions and eventually disconnection among members of society.

Hamlet’s personality, while hinted at by other characters and his own actions, remains something of an enigma throughout the play. His soliloquies are necessary, therefore, to gain a fuller understanding of it. One of two main aspects of his personality revealed this way can be found in the most iconic lines of the play. Hamlet is shown to be depressed before the “to be or not to be” soliloquy, but it is this speech in which he shows the depth of his grapple with life. He contemplates killing himself outright, questioning “[w]hether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer [t]he slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, [o]r to take arms against a sea of troubles, [a]nd, by opposing, end them?” (Act 3, Sn. 1, ln. 58-61). This soliloquy exposes the depressed mood he has had throughout the play up to this point and shows it for what it really is. Another key point of Hamlet’s personality emphasized through soliloquy is his devout loyalty to his father, the king. When Hamlet speaks to the ghost of his father, his suspicions seem to be true: Claudius, the king’s brother, murdered the king in order to gain his crown. Upon learning this, Hamlet is initially shocked, but then flies into a rage, cursing his uncle and calling him a “smiling, damned villain” (Act 1, Sn. 5, ln. 25-112). The fact that Hamlet is willing to kill his own uncle in order to avenge his father goes great lengths to show his devotion. It is clear from this that loyalty is a crucial element of Hamlet’s character. As well as allowing the audience a much better understanding of what type of person Hamlet is, this insight into his personality gives a glimpse of his

Throughout the play, Shakespeare utilizes sarcasm to communicate Hamlet’s distaste for his uncle, Claudius. In the character’s very first words, Shakespeare gives Hamlet two great and rather sneaky jabs at the king. Claudius is trying to be friendly with Hamlet, calling him “my cousin Hamlet, and my son” (I.ii.64), but

Hamlet realizes he must avenge his fallen father, but also realizes he cannot just go hang a sword over his uncle’s throat; he proceeds to put up a facade with his different peers to ensure nobody will suspect that is his plan. Simone Augustine Blackmore writes in The Real or Assumed Madness of Hamlet, “Hence, at once confiding his purpose to his two trusted friends and swearing them to secrecy, he begins to play the part and to impress upon the court the notion of his lunacy.” With Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he sweeps his mopey mood under the rug and makes jokes, such as vulgar remarks, to quote, “Ha, ha, so you’ve gotten into her private parts. Of course-- Lady Luck is such a slut.” (Act II, Scene 2 of The Tragedy of Hamlet). They hark about genitals and women, when not even five minutes beforehand, he was talking to Polonius, speaking in gibberish, calling him a fishmonger (perhaps a pimp), and replying with “words words words” when asked what he was reading. Polonius remarks that there is a method to his madness, noting that he is probably not actually insane but just manipulating

In the play Hamlet, by playwright William Shakespeare, witty lines were included to reveal different elements throughout the play. Hamlet uses puns to reveal different elements throughout the play. For example, Hamlet uses puns to insult and confuse Polonius and Ophelia, so they continue to believe he is not mentally stable. Hamlet also used puns to reveal his anger towards multiple characters throughout the play, while trying to fulfill the Ghost’s instructions, which were to kill Claudius without causing unnecessary pain on Gertrude.

Hamlet is obscure and surprising, and, therefore, confounding because he subverts others’ expectations and never reacts with a predictable response to his own emotions or the expectations of other characters. In addition, it is worth noting that it is not only Hamlet’s curious speech that alienates others. Hamlet’s obsessive pessimism also begins to affect all of his relationships and becomes a large part of who he is as a character. In an otherwise superficial conversation with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet insists that the world has become a prison with “Denmark being one o’ th’ worst” (2.2.265), and he presses the men to explain why they would want to visit him in the place that torments him. Hamlet’s relationship with his mother is also troubling. While he is justified in questioning her decision to marry Claudius before her husband’s corpse has even cooled, Hamlet is sarcastic and demeaning towards her, provoking her to ask “What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue/In noise so rude against me?” (3.4.47-48) These brief and often sarcastic interactions with other characters help define Hamlet as a pessimistic character and cause the reader to anticipate that his perceptions of events will be, almost always, clouded with this characteristic darkness of

For many of us, our parents are our role models and the people we look up to. They take care of us and know what is best for us. For that reason, we should obey them and listen to their advice. We all have heard that before, but what if that is not true? What if our parent's decisions are not for the best of us? That is what Shakespeare proposes in the play Hamlet. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, parents' flaws lead to the destruction of their loyal children. Ophelia, Laertes, and Hamlet's lives are hijacked by their filial piety.