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Examples Of Attitudes In Hamlet

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In “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, the main character, Hamlet, expresses his conflicting emotions through soliloquies that often times capture the shifts in Hamlet’s attitude towards his father’s death. In Act 2 scene 2, Hamlet struggles to decide whether to avenge his father’s death by killing Claudius or to leave the situation as it is. After seeing one player bursting in tears as he acts out a character from a story, Hamlet starts his monologue by questioning his lack of courage to take any actions against Claudius. The contrast between the player and Hamlet is clearly illustrated by words with opposing connotations. When describing the acting of the player, the words “dream”, “passion” and “wanned”suggest that the player is wholeheartedly …show more content…

This shift from a weak person to a man that seeks revenge is illustrated by the repetition of sentence structures that emphasize Hamlet’s determination. When he devises a plan to see the reaction of Claudius on a specific play, Hamlet describes his plan in short phrases that all start with “I’ll”; “I’ll have these players play”, “I’ll observe his looks”, and “I’ll tent him to the quick”. The repeated use of “I’ll” strongly emphasizes the change in Hamlet’s attitude. Instead of grieving for his unfortunate outcome, Hamlet actively plans out a scheme to avenge his father. During this soliloquy his willingness to carry out the murder dramatically changes as shown by the contrasting word choice and the repeating sentence structures. The sudden change in his mind suggests that Hamlet is not fully committed to the murder plan. As the opposing description of the player and Hamlet shows, Hamlet came up with the plan because he thinks he should be avenging his father, not because he wants to kill Claudius. The repeating sentences that seems like it is showing Hamlet’s determination to kill his stepfather can also be seen as statements that were made to convince himself that he needs to commit the murder. Overall, the soliloquy employs word choice and repetition to illustrate Hamlet’s internal struggle between his loyalty to his father and his own

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