Hamlet And Oedipus The King Analysis

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, there is much skepticism as to what exactly is "rotten in Denmark." Claudius, the "incestuous, adulterate beast," essentially adopts this title as he exists as the root of all evil within the play

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

Hamlet is a suspenseful play that introduces the topic of tragedy. Throughout the play, Hamlet displays anger, uncertainty, and obsession with death. Although Hamlet is unaware of it, these emotions cause the mishaps that occur throughout the play. These emotions combined with his unawareness are the leading basis for the tragic hero’s flaws. These flaws lead Hamlet not to be a bad man, but a regular form of imperfection that comes along with being human.

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.

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been widely regarded as one of the greatest tragedies ever written. One prominent theme exemplified in this particular play is the theme of rottenness or decay. Shakespeare uniquely uses disease, rotting, and decay in order to reveal the manifestation and consequence of moral corruption. Physical corruption mirrors the moral corruption within the characters in the play. The moral corruption in Denmark is showcased for the readers throughout the play by images of physical corruption and disease. Shakespeare argues in Hamlet that sin or moral corruption is like a disease that leads one to one’s own “death” or demise. Nobody is immune from it.

This paper is the rough draft version. There are grammatical errors and other such errors in it.

Just as a disease starts with a single infection, the evil deeds in Hamlet start from a single seed, and from this seed, “things rank and gross in nature” grow. Shakespeare uses the motif of disease and rot to illustrate this. It starts with a single immoral act,

Character Analysis of Prince Hamlet in "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare and Oedipus in "Oedipus King" by Sophocles

   The legendary drama, Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare is a play illustrating the theme of virtue vs. villainy. The 17th century tragedy is plagued with treachery and deceit as it opens with the news of a foul murder in the kingdom of Denmark. Prince Hamlet, by word of his late father's ghost, is informed that his uncle Claudius is to blame for his father's sudden demise. Prince Hamlet's mission is to uncover the secrets surrounding the murder and to avenge his father's death. Thus, the insidious web of disease and corruption is formed. The relationship between disease leading to the greater corruption of Denmark plays a significant role in the lives of the principle players.

The dark images of poison and disease are portrayed throughout the story of Hamlet, and follower the corruption surrounding the recent and future events of the castle. The poison with which Claudius had murdered King Hamlet spreads in a sense throughout the country, until "something is rotten in Denmark", as Marcellus notes (I.4.90). Shakespeare shades in words of sickness continually during the play, possibly helping best to exemplify the ill condition of matters plaguing not only Denmark, but the characters as well.

To keep it from divulging let it feed/ Even on the pith of life,"(IV; i, 21-23) This is spoken by Claudius, when he is with the queen, after the death of Polonius. The King says that he is the owner of a foul disease, which is Hamlet. He feels that he must keep Hamlet hidden to avoid embarrassment and others’ scorn. Claudius compares Hamlet to a disease, in such a way that as wretched and disgusting as it may be,it should be kept from the public. We can see that he despises Hamlet greatly and won’t allow him to ruin his life. This shows us how endless Claudius' hatred is towards Hamlet. Claudius' extreme anger and frustration is displayed when he says, "For like the hectic in my blood he rages, And though must cure me."(IV;iii, 62-63) Claudius describes Hamlet as a vicious disease travelling in his own blood. Hamlet is so deep in the midst of Claudius’ pure distaste for him, that he wants Hamlet dead. When Hamlet is gone, then and only then, Claudius can be cured from the atrocious disease that he suffers terribly from. The images of disease express the genuine feelings felt by Claudius. Imagery highlights the poor, horrid relationship that exists between father and stepson. Shakespeare illuminates Claudius' true sentiment with the imagery of disease.

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.

Occasionally in literature all of the hardships and pain that tortures a character is actually unknowingly brought onto them by their own actions. In Hamlet(1603), Shakespeare creates Hamlet with a very cautious personality causing him to continuously ponder his next move rather than taking the next step to actually act. After discovering that his father was killed by Claudius, his uncle, Hamlet knows that he must then kill Claudius in order to avenge his father but keeps on making excuses to delay the killing. This delaying leads to so much pain and death of characters that could have quite easily been avoided. In contrast, in Oedipus the King(430 B.C.) Sophocles tells the story of a hero that was cursed with a terrible fate right from the point of his birth. It was prophesied that Oedipus would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother, so his father ordered him to be killed but he lived and then everyone went on trying to stop the prophecy from coming true but that just ended up causing it to happen. In both books the main characters did a play a role in their own demise but were not the sole cause of it. However, whereas Shakespeare displays the nature of Hamlet causing the

Hamlet is the typical kind of son almost every father and mother would want: intelligent, loving, caring, strong and loyal. Yet, some scholars believe that he is just another emotional character, defying our eyes to think that his acts are innocent, when his real purpose is to take his mother for himself. This gives scholars, like Ernest Jones, the impression that Hamlet’s actions were encouraged by an Oedipus complex, characterized by feelings of intense rivalry with a father figure in regards to a mother’s spousal affection. Even though there are lines that can be interpreted to show that Hamlet may have had such a desire for his mother, when these lines are examined in the full context of the