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.

Many people have seen Hamlet as a play about uncertainty and about Hamlet's failure to act appropriately. It is very interesting to consider that the play shows many uncertainties that lives are built upon, or how many unknown quantities are taken for granted when people act or when they evaluate one another's actions. Hamlet is an especially intriguing production, both on the set and on the screen because of its uniqueness to be different from what most people expect to be in a revenge themed play. Hamlet's cynicism and insane like behavior cause him to seem indecisive, but in reality he is always judging and contemplating his actions in the back of his mind in order to seek revenge for the murder of

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.

The male characters in Hamlet continually abuse both Ophelia and Gertrude, physically and psychologically, as a pathetic attempt to gain power and control over the situation. One of the greatest examples of psychological abuse comes from the harrowing scene where Hamlet and Ophelia have their final conversation before Hamlet leaves for England. During this rage-induced altercation, Hamlet refuses to accept Ophelia’s returning of the gifts previously given to her from him, saying “I never gave you aught” (3.1.97). Ophelia is appalled as Hamlet continues to insult her and laugh in her face. In the climax of the argument, Hamlet tells Ophelia that she “should not have believed me; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it: I loved you not” (3.1.117-119). The immense amount of psychological damage received by Ophelia between the addition and removal of love by Hamlet and her father’s death is enough to drive anyone to madness. David M. Smith recounts this as Hamlet’s necessity “to genuine outsideness because of the danger of being co-opted by love” (Smith, 1). However, Hamlet no longer needed to protect himself in his situation. His actions from this scene were not only uncalled for, but added to the slow mental demise of his sweet Ophelia. Hamlet’s next scene of abuse come shortly after this when he goes to speak to Gertrude about her participation in the murder of Old Hamlet. His rage, yet again, takes over, but this time he adopts physical abuse

In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet, a studious young man and Prince of Denmark, struggles to face the death of his father and the task to kill his father’s murderer, Claudius. He was once known as a charming, smart young man before his father’s death. However, Hamlet experiences depression and anger at the world, causing him to look outwardly on society but failing to look inwardly on himself. The death of his father and the task for vengeance leads him to question whether or not he should follow through in killing Claudius. He becomes a man of thought rather than a man of action. In addition, the delay of King Claudius’ murder leads the readers to believe that he wishes not to kill him; he

In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the character Hamlet must deal with both external and internal conflict. Hamlet encounters many struggles and has trouble finding a way to deal with them. With so many corrupt people in his life, Hamlet feels as if there is no one that he can trust and begins to isolate himself from others. A result from this isolation leads Hamlet to become melancholy. Hamlet struggles with suicidal thoughts, wants to kill King Claudius, and is distraught over his mother’s hasty marriage with his uncle Claudius.

Hamlet faces challenges throughout the play that try his inner strengths and test his ability to handle the situation. He is torn between wanting to seek justice, and avenge his father’s death. Hamlet is also caught up in an intricate web of lies and deceit, he is considered mad by most characters when in all actuality it is just playing off of the actions of others to benefit himself. He puts on different acts trying to hide the truth, which makes him seem sincerely mad to the people around him. The truth of the matter is that Hamlet can’t decide whether or not his convictions are accurate. This dilemma ultimately leads to not only the deaths of the main characters, but the downfall of the kingdom.

The play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, is set in an anti-feminist era. Women traditionally have been seen inferior to men. This was an intellectual as well as a physical issue. Women were to raise a family, cook, clean, be pretty and not be smarter than any man. The main characters Ophelia and Gertrude are both depicted with these characteristics as powerless and frail people. This illustration of helpless women affects one's understanding of what their true selves could be.

What is the ultimate form of betrayal within a family? Are there possibilities of forgiveness in mending the damaged relationship? This issue is present in Hamlet, as Shakespeare conveys the dramatic yet broken relationship between Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude, after the death of his father. Gertrude’s rash decision to remarry sparks the beginning of Hamlet’s dissatisfaction with her and his own inability to accept the situation at hand. Hamlet’s need to justify his father’s death causes him to seek revenge on his step-father, Claudius, while Hamlet, himself, experiences a major character shift that results in a loss of humanity towards the end of the story. Through the formalist approach, the author achieves his purpose by utilizing pithy dialogue and fervent diction to depict that the characters’ actions will always have consequences regardless of the reasoning behind it.

In this portion of the play, Hamlet is still feigning madness in front of Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Claudius. Hamlet speaks in riddles and expresses absurd thoughts that all contribute to his madness facade. Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Claudius fail to decipher these riddles, which leaves them confused and convinced that Hamlet has lost his mind. In Scene II, when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern approach Hamlet to retrieve Polonius’s body, Hamlet responds by calling Rosencrantz a sponge. Using the phrase ‘sponge’, Hamlet means to say that once Claudius acquires what he needs from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he will require no further use of them. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are confused by Hamlet’s muddled words and ignore him, shifting the subject back to the location of Polonius’s body. This change in subject and inattention to Hamlet’s words shows how Rosencrantz and Guildenstern don’t take Hamlet seriously, believing that he is mad. In Scene III, when Hamlet is presented to Claudius about the inquiry of Polonius’s body, he answers with yet another riddle. Through his conundrums, Hamlet leaves Claudius confused just like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Similar to his courtiers, Claudius also chooses to ignore Hamlet, not taking him seriously because he too considers Hamlet to be mad.

Shakespeare writes in a way that is difficult to understand for anyone that speaks the modern language. His story Hamlet is understood through the emotions felt by his characters. Hamlet is the main character who is conflicted with revenge and conspiring friendships. Hamlet returns home from Germany for his father’s funeral only to find far more troubling things. Hamlet is a conflicted character but that doesn’t stop him from knowing what he wants. Revenge is the main cause of his confliction but with great reason, which is important to understand about this play because it helps explain all the betrayal and tragedy.

In Hamlet, Gertrude is the mother of Prince Hamlet and the queen of Denmark. She was the wife of King Hamlet, but after his death she married his brother, Claudius. Poor Gertrude is put through a lot in this play. Between the death of her husband and her son becoming crazy, it becomes a lot for one person to handle. Gertrude has often been seen as a flawed leading lady because of her lack of knowledge in some situations and her insensitiveness to the place she has put Hamlet in; however, Gertrude is respected because of her care towards Hamlet and his welfare and her care for the other people in the kingdom.

The following image illustrates the scene after Hamlet killed Polonius accidently. He then went on a rage, then later left with Polonius’s body. Later, Gertrude explains what has happened in a very weird manner to King Claudius. It’s as if she was trying to protect Hamlet. The Queen’s protectiveness toward Hamlet is dubious. She never attempted to shield her son in any meaningful way and describes in inflammatory detail how he killed "the unseen good old man." . After all that she knew at the time, was not yet enough for her to entreat Claudius to find another alternative way to sending Hamlet to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. She was not even capable of being able to save her own son.

Another major thing that contributed to Hamlet’s complexity was his utter hatred towards Claudius. From the get go Hamlet never liked him. He felt Claudius was immoral and almost worthless. After the ghost of his father told Hamlet that Claudius was responsible for his death, he hated his uncle just that much more. That hatred soon turned into something much more though. It transformed into a desire for revenge. Before he did anything though, he had to be positive that Claudius was the one responsible, so Hamlet tested his innocence. Claudius failed the test and Hamlet was then positive that he was responsible for the murder of his father (Mitchell, 34-37).

Deceit, mystery, murder, and betrayal are all very captivating and together have the makings for a daytime soap opera. In this case, however, they are a part of the tragedy of Hamlet. The most regaling aspects of this play, despite the entertaining and compelling qualities just mentioned, are the revenge and the surprisingly unappealing nature of the main character, Hamlet. Throughout the play, Hamlet makes stupid choices that will ultimately lead to his own death, and the death of many around him. Hamlet should not be identified as a courageous hero seeking to avenge his father but instead as a coward lacking determination.