Timothy Sharps
D.E. English
December 7, 2015
Hamlet Analysis
Prince Hamlet is a man who enjoys contemplating difficult philosophical questions. When his father the king of Denmark, was killed by his uncle. when Hamlet returns he sees his ghost after he returns home to find evidence of his father’s death. The Ghost of Hamlet tells Prince Hamlet that his uncle Claudius his uncle was the one who killed his father with poison of the ear. Throughout the rest of the story with him, Hamlet seeks to prove his uncle Claudius and guilt him into telling before he takes action against him. But, Hamlet is pensive ad extremum, at times even brooding; he constantly overuses his intellect while ignoring his emotions and ignoring what he thinks "feels right." His sense of logic causes him to delay his revenge against Claudius until the end of hamlet story where he kills Claudius and proves that he has progressed into a truly mad character.
At the beginning of the story, Hamlet acts out of pure intellect and processed logic. He suppresses his emotions and trusts only in the power of his mind. When Hamlet encounters his father 's ghost, he does not believe it is his father, but then his emotions reaction upon seeing his father and then Hamlet says “Let me not burst in ignorance; but tell / Why thy canoniz 'd bones, hearsed in death, / Have burst their cerements . . Say, why is this? wherefore? what should we do?” (I.iv.46-48,57). Hamlet is so baffled and confused by the sight of his
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Shakespeare homepage | Hamlet | Entire play ACT I SCENE I. Elsinore. A platform before the castle. FRANCISCO at his post.
The English Play writer, William Shakespeare had written many well-known pieces of work including Hamlet. Hamlet is known to be one of his most popular works. Hamlet was written in the late 16th Century about the Prince of Denmark. The original title of the work was The Tragedy of Hamlet, now it is referred to as just Hamlet. In Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses the mental state of his characters to prove that not all characters in books have to be one dimensional. Shakespeare’s writing shows that humans are complex, and can have different mental states. Characters throughout the story such as, Hamlet, Gertrude, and Ophelia show their not so stable mental state. First we will analyze Hamlet and talk about Ernest Jones’ Psycho-analytic study of Hamlet. Then we will talk about Ophelia and how the events that happened leading up to her death or suicide played a role into her mental state. Finally we will analyze Gertrude, the Queen’s role in Hamlet, and how she is a mentally weak woman and relies on the men in her life.
murder in a rash mood. It is not seen by Gertrude. It tries to urge
As the play goes on, Hamlet encounters his father's ghost. Upon discovering that his father's death wasn't natural, he says with much feeling that "Haste me to know't, that I with wings as swift/ As meditation, or the thoughts of love,/ May sweep to my revenge" (1.5.29-31). The ghost tells him that he was murdered by Claudius. His motives were his love for Gertrude, without her knowledge or consent. Hamlet is furious and seething with rage with the news of his father's murder. Knowing the truth makes Hamlet's subconscious realize that killing Claudius would be similar to killing himself. This is so because Hamlet recognizes that Claudius' actions of murdering his brother and marrying Hamlet's mother, mimicked Hamlet's inner unconscious desires. Hamlet's unconscious fantasies have always been closely related to Claudius' conduct. All of Hamlet's once hidden feelings seem to surface in spite of all of the "repressing forces," when he cries out, "Oh my prophetic soul!/ My uncle!" (1.5.40-41). From here, Hamlet's consciousness must deal with the frightful truth (Jones).
King Hamlet presents the truth of the psychological condition of Hamlet, and leads Hamlet to accept the reality of the world around him. For example, Hamlet's actions begin with hesitation toward the ghost of his father, and how credible he is. Hamlet's own moral state is open to some degree of doubt, and so is the validity of revenge which his character would exact. Hamlet was wary of the ghost, whether he is a real spiritual of his father or such a devil playing with his mind especially the appearance of the ghost as he wears a soldier metallic cloth which makes Hamlet to be in confused condition. However, the ghost introduces himself to his son and tells him that he is the spirit of his father, tells him the secret of his death which is by ear-poison by Claudius and commands and urges Hamlet to revenge from his uncle
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark has been performed thousands of times since it was “written in 1599–1601 and published in a quarto edition in 1603” (Britannica.com). It’s popularity stems from its themes that translate across time. These themes, are seen to be relatable even to this day with the ever growing audience. Readers and viewers are able to find similarities between the current state and or even relate to one of the characters or events taking place over the course of Shakespeare’s five act masterpiece. Shakespeare's, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark remains a viable text for contemporary readers in that it functions as a mirror.
When Hamlet is first encountered with the ghost that resembles his father, it is revealed that his uncle Claudius might have been the cause of his father’s death. Hamlet is then confused about what he should believe and how he
In addition, Hamlets madness causes him to want to kill the king, Claudius, and clouds his thoughts. When Hamlets, fathers ghost comes to visit him, it tells Hamlet to get revenge on its death and to kill Claudius. While the ghost disappears Hamlet recounts what he has just done and states, “So, Uncle, there you are. Now to my word:/It is ‘Adieu, adieu, remember me!’ / I have sworn’t” (I.v.110-112). Hamlet is not even certain that the ghost is his father at first, yet he still aims to kill the king. His anger over his father’s death leads Hamlet to not think clearly, causing him to act out which in the end, leads to his death.
The speech of Hamlet “O that this too sullied flesh would melt, … But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.” (1.2.129-159) is where we can see Hamlet’s sadness towards his mother, Gertrude and his uncle Claudius and feels disappointed about their decision of getting married. Hamlet is seen to be too upset after his father’s death. It’s not even a month has passed and he gets to hear another news about his mother Gertrude and uncle, Claudius getting married. In the beginning of Act 1 Scene 2, King Claudius gives a speech to his courtiers, telling them about his recent marriage to Gertrude, mother of Hamlet and his brother’s widow. Claudius says that he mourns his brother but has chosen to balance Denmark’s mourning with delight of his marriage. He also mentions in his speech that young Fortinbras has written to him, rashly demanding the surrender of the lands King Hamlet won from Fortinbras’s father, and dispatches Cornelius and Voltimand with a message for the King of Norway, Fortinbras’s elderly uncle.
He does not believe that it is truly his father. Even after seeing the ghost himself, Hamlet remains cynical, although he does in fact emotional upon seeing it. The ghost tells Hamlet that his brother killed him in order to steal both his wife and the throne. Hamlet becomes confused after seeing his father’s ghost and is unsure of how he should react. However, he vows to seek revenge against his uncle, although he refuses to do so without first having sufficient evidence to prove his uncle’s guilt.
Hamlet was very philosophical in nature, which was backed by his contemplative manner after the death of his father (Madariaga 72). His father 's death shocked and devastated him which impeded his studies at the university. Hamlet had many questions about this, which were answered after the visit by The Ghost, his father 's spirit. He learned from this visit that his uncle, Claudius, was the murderer. The Ghost encouraged him to seek revenge which he felt he must do for the love he felt for his father (Williamson 56). However, he was still unsure with the evidence he had and felt he needed to be certain before he acted.
What is Hamlet about? Maybe a summary of the plot could answer this question but it wouldn’t do it justice. However it’s impossible to narrow down any of William Shakespeare’s work to one theme. The fact is, that all of Shakespeare’s plays are about many things. There are many ways to look at a Shakespearean play, and none are wrong of course, but it is not entirely true to say that one theme is the most important. Some of the more common and dominate themes that can be found in any of Shakespeare’s works are: conflict, appearance and reality, order and disorder, and change.
Prince Hamlet is a university student who enjoys contemplating difficult philosophical questions. When his father, king of Denmark, dies, he returns home to find evidence of foul play in his father’s death. The Ghost of Hamlet (the dead king) tells Prince Hamlet that his uncle Claudius is the murderer. Throughout the rest of the play, Hamlet seeks to prove Claudius’ guilt before he takes action against Claudius. However, Hamlet is pensive ad extremum, at times even brooding; he constantly overuses his intellect while ignoring his emotions and ignoring what "feels right." His extreme logic causes him to
No matter where anyone is everyone has the intrinsic common view of life. *Shakespeare is an author of many plays and books. *The one he is most famous for is Hamlet. *Hamlet is a play about a prince whose father died. *It was not deep into the play when Hamlet learns that his uncle killed his father. *Hamlet’s uncle marries his mom and Hamlet has very deep emotional feelings about everything that has happened. *Hamlet tries multiple ways to prove that King Claudius killed King Hamlet. *At the end, there is a disconsolate and unpropitious tribulation. Hamlet is a universal piece of literature; even if everyone interprets it differently, everyone can relate to it in some way.
Often, pieces of literature have been analyzed and made into a motion picture in the hopes of further developing the themes presented in the work. Though the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, has been interpreted and converted into a film numerous times by different directors, Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation particularly captured the essence of Hamlet and helped the audience truly understand the events that transpired in Act Three Scene Two of Hamlet. It is in this act, Hamlet plan to reveal King Claudius’ treachery is played out. Hamlet exposes the king through adding an extra sixteen lines to the play which depicts him killing Hamlet’s father. With the directions Hamlet gave to the actors, Hamlet is able to make the audience recognize the king’s