Hamlet, By William Shakespeare

What is madness? Is someone considered mad or insane simply because they are different, and they, in turn, see the rest of the world as insane? William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet is about a complex protagonist, Hamlet, who plays the role of a tragic hero. He encounters several misfortunes from experiencing his beloved father’s death, witnessing his mother 's incestuous remarriage to his uncle, and seeing his father’s ghost. Due to all of this, Hamlet falls into a deep depression. Hamlet begins his journey by seeking revenge against Claudius after discovering that his noble father was murdered by his own uncle. Hamlet is a character whose actions and emotions may seem like one of an insane person, however, in the beginning of the play, it is clear that he decides to fake madness in order to gain an advantage over Claudius. This would aid in him in accomplishing his revenge. Hamlet is sane throughout the play: he only shows signs of insanity in front of certain people whom he does not trust. However, even they believe that his madness is not sheer madness but has a reason to it. Hamlet’s character is sane as in the play his rationality is shown through the logic and intelligence he uses in his plots. He usually calculates his movements and his impulsive acts are justified. While there are reasons to believe that many of the hardships could have driven Hamlet to the point of insanity, his display of intelligence and rational thinking throughout the play proves his sanity.

In this play “Hamlet” written by William Shakespeare, there are many soliloquies that are said by Hamlet to depict various meanings of his thoughts, feelings, and actions that are inside of him. More specifically the soliloquy in Act 3, Scene 1, in lines 57-91 starts off with the famous saying known as “To be, or not to be”. Throughout this soliloquy, Hamlet is asking himself the question of whether it is better to live or not to live. In life, we are faced with many situations where we feel the need to give up our life and not face the problems. Only by facing all the troubles, will a person become stronger and more courageous to handle anything in life. By believing in one’s self, can man have the courage to follow what they think is right. Killing yourself or giving up is never a solution in life. This soliloquy reveals Hamlet’s fearful personality by showing that his decision-making process is slow and that he fears risks or uncertainty. These character traits are depicted thoroughly by Hamlet throughout the play.

At the beginning of the play, Hamlet, Shakespeare’s protagonist, is already enraged by the death of his father and the marriage of his mother and uncle. In his first soliloquy, Hamlet says, “But two months dead—nay, not so much, not two” (1. 2. 139). His mother's swift marriage to his father’s brother has torn apart the structure of his world. These short series of events trigger the depravity of Hamlet’s character. Throughout the novel, his is continually upset with everything - Ophelia, Claudius, and even himself. His fatal flaw of the inability to act forces him to tear himself apart. To express his disappointment in himself, Hamlet declares, “Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave/ That I, the son of a dear father murdered/ Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell/ Must like a whore unpack my heart with words/ And fall a‐cursing like a very drab/ A scullion!” (2. 2. 545-550) This also exhibits his knowledge of King Claudius’s moral decay which is quite contagious. Those who were “doing his bidding,” such as Polonius, Laertes, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, “seemed to lose their moral sense” which led to “fatal consequences for themselves” (James

quick to spot areas which can help him and to exploit them. He is a

For example, Hamlet first confronts the ghost of his father in the forest. The ghost of his father is a menacing force because the guards and Horatio were all frightened by the figure. During this encounter the ghost informs Hamlet that his uncle killed his father and that Hamlet must kill Claudius to avenge the ghost. Victory over this menacing force occurs when Hamlet finally kills Claudius for his father. Another example of a menacing force is Claudius, who Hamlet is plotting against the whole play, while Claudius is plotting against Hamlet. One way Claudius is menacing to Hamlet is when he sends Hamlet to England because of Polonius’ death. Claudius removes Hamlet from his home and from his family as a menacing act. Another way Claudius is a menacing force to Hamlet is when he plots with Laertes to kill Hamlet. This plot against Hamlet makes Claudius the main menacing force that Hamlet faces in the play. Jorgensen explains in a different critical essay how Claudius became the most powerful force against Hamlet because “His great soliloquy makes him more than a one-dimensional villain” (The Tragedies). Claudius having more depth to his character means that throughout the play the readers can feel a connection to Hamlet and Claudius. As a result the conflict between the characters is more meaningful. In the last scene, Hamlet overcomes both the ghost and Claudius and gains victory over

Claudius also seems like a respectable king because he mourns the death of King Hamlet and tells “[the] whole kingdom to be contracted in one brow of woe” (21). Although Claudius seems to be a good king who is deeply saddened by the death of the late King Hamlet, he is actually a horrible man who murdered King Hamlet in a way “most foul,...strange and unnatural” (57). He took his crown and acted as if his death was an accident. Claudius makes it difficult for Hamlet to uncover the truth behind his actions because he constantly acts like nothing is ever wrong. After many different plots against Claudius, Hamlet prevails and the real Claudius is exposed. Claudius played an important role in the play because he reinforced the motif Seems Versus Is and showed the reader that although people can come across as honest and respectable, deep down they can have an evil side.

The full presentation of Claudius in the play Hamlet makes us react more sympathetically, especially to the actions of other characters, than we otherwise may because if it wasn't for Claudius’ initial action of killing his brother, each character would not have gone on their own downward spiral. Claudius can be seens as poison that is slowly harming each character. The first character that the reader sympathises is Hamlet. Dressed in all black, Hamlet is mourning the loss of his beloved father. Not only is he mourning this, he is also mourning the loss of his trust in women. As soon as His father dies, his mother remarries his uncle and then his love interest begins to ignore his letters, and this all trickles back to Claudius. He even calls

Hatred and betrayal lead to nothing but pain and death. Shakespeare references Emperor Nero, and how his mother's betrayal led to Nero sinking her ship, and when that didn’t kill her, sending out an group of legionnaires to kill her. This is similar to Hamlet and his position in the play. Although he doesn't have the same bloodthirst as Nero, he shares the idea of betrayal. Both Nero and Hamlet share the idea that their mother betrayed their father, both of them have a stepfather whose name is Claudius, and both can be acknowledged as killers. This revenge of theirs will forever change how they are portrayed.

Shakespeare utilises the juxtaposition of Hamlet and King Claudius throughout the course of their external conflict, which drives the central events of the play, to represent the clash of good and evil. Readers are immediately positioned to despise Claudius, Hamlet’s primary antagonist and uncle, who is characterised as “a murderer and a villain… a king of shreds and patches” (3.4.97-104), committing selfish and highly immoral acts in his pursuit of the throne. In the Elizabethan era, the notion of ‘evil’ was perceived as a literal entity that threatened English Christian monarchical values, while the Royal Crown was considered to have been divinely touched; hence, actions against the Royal family was perceived as actions against God Himself. Therefore, Shakespeare aligns Claudius with evil, embodied in human

King Claudius serves as the primary antagonist in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In the play, Claudius is the recently-crowned King of Denmark after murdering his brother King Hamlet and taking the throne. Shortly after King Hamlet’s funeral, Claudius went on to married his brother’s widow. Throughout the play, Claudius’s only concerns are himself and maintaining power. Claudius will stop at nothing to preserve his authority whether it be spying or murdering allies and family members.

The characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet are not clearly divided between “good guys” and “bad guys”. Like in the real world, people are defined by their actions. Even someone who is usually a good person can be corrupted by outside influences into committing an evil act. This is ultimately what makes Hamlet into a revenge tragedy resulting in the death of almost every major character. Evil in Hamlet begins with a single act then spreads and grows through a desire for revenge.

Values and morals from the Elizabethan era are entirely different than those that our culture upholds today. According to the beliefs of the Elizabethan Period, the ability to think and reason separates man from animal. It is evident in Shakespeare’s Hamlet that what separates man from beast is the power of, and capacity for, faculties and revenge. The power of revenge has a significant impact on how the characters deal with their problems, sometimes clouding their rational judgment. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet faces the moral dilemma over how he should have his revenge on his uncle, Claudius, who murdered his father to gain power as the King. Due to Claudius’ actions, many of the

Shakespeare's Hamlet is filled with murder, revenge, and betrayal. The way the characters go about their revengeful murder says a lot about them. Claudius is a manipulating coward: he poisoned his own brother in his sleep in order to obtain the throne. Hamlet is completely indecisive: he spends majority of the play debating whether not to kill Claudius, when he would do it, and how he would do it. As soon as Laertes hears of his father’s death, he leaves Paris and marches an angry mob into the castle to demand blood. The methods in which the protagonist, antagonist, and foil murder others reflects back on their true in our character.

In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, several events occur where evil actions take place. Evil also occurs in our daily lives, which alters the thinking of an individual. King Claudius is portrayed as an evil person that acts like a good person. King Claudius shows that he is a villain in several ways and the most noticeable is him killing his family members and relatives. Claudius is characterized as a villain in the play while he attempts to show his family and friends that he is a good person, but makes many mistakes which lead to his downfall.

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet explores empirical questions searching for revenge and truth amongst the lies as he comes to grips with his father’s death. In the end, Hamlet proves to be an exceptionally existential character. In all of the chaos within the castle, Hamlet, a university student arrives back home and finds out that his father, the king of Denmark, died of foul play. The Ghost of Hamlet’s father visits him and tells him the story of his unfortunate demise. There, it was revealed that Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius is the murderer. Throughout the rest of the play, Hamlet seeks to avenge his father’s death. However, he is so enraged and consumed with sorrow that it builds up to this extreme and almost deranged madman. Hamlet makes it clear that he is a experiencing a sign of grief. “For they are the actions that a man might play, but I have that within which passes show, these but the trappings and suits of woe” (I.ii.84-86). Most would say that Hamlet goes insane in the play and his grip on right and wrong gets thrown out the window. However, his unhinged way of thinking is actually a brilliant ploy to get everyone around him to pay no mind to the crazy person. It is such a crafty and witty trick that Hamlet is able to manipulate everyone around him to truly see Claudius -- a murderer and usurper.