We’ve all heard that we should keep our friends close and our enemies closer so many times that we sometimes forget to step back and re-evaluate our own relationships. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet learns this important lesson the hard way. It’s important to observe his experience to prevent his misfortune from happening to you. Often times, our closest friends can become our worst enemies in times of stress. This is usually as a result of one thing: lack of a relationship based on loyalty and trust. For Hamlet, his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern turn on him in his time of stress. The King of Denmark dies and his uncle, Claudius immediately replaces him. Hamlet’s father appears to him as a ghost and warns him that Claudius is to blame for his death. The only problem is that Claudius is one step …show more content…
Hamlet’s closest relationship is with his father. Hamlet’s father’s ghost leaves him confused like a “distracted globe” (1. 5. 102) after it asks him to seek revenge on his uncle. Of course, Hamlet agrees because he was so attached to his father that he will do anything, even if that means killing his uncle. This is a great example of how we have to be careful of our closest relationships. A good relationship does not force you to do things that bring your own downfall. We might not “kill” each other, but there are many other ways that we can hurt each other in today’s society. That’s why it’s so important to keep an eye out for enemies that hurt us using subtle tactics. In the end, keeping your friends close, and your enemies closer are words to live by. The world of Hamlet is so similar to our world today. There will always be deceptive people pretending to be our “friends” who are secretly not looking out for our good. The only thing you can do is analyze your own relationships, be a good partner in your relationships and pay close attention to your
Within everyone's lives, self-motivation affects the relationships that one has with others. In William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” characters struggle with adherence as they continually attempt to benefit themselves. Throughout the play, very few genuine friendships with loyalty were recognizable as the characters seek revenge to deceive Hamlet in the time of King Hamlet's murder. When the benevolence and sincerity were true as Horatio had shown, personal gain did not interfere. This compares to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s fake affair, who harmed to better themselves. Finally, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude shows betrayal towards Hamlet, with the marriage of Claudius.
Getting revenge does not always guarantee a satisfactory win in the end. In the famous play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, returns from school after learning that his father, the king, has died. He later discovers that his uncle has actually killed Hamlet’s father in order to take his throne and wife. Instructed by the ghost of his father, Hamlet seeks out to get revenge on his uncle. In this play, the revenge of Hamlet’s father affects Hamlet’s relationships, actions, and state of mind.
On William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, after the assassination of his father, Hamlet thinks he is living in a world full of corruption and deceit, where everything is falling apart and everyone is against him. An imminent, exaggerated, and passionate love for his mother is his main feature. Although others argue that Hamlet’s obsession to murder Claudius is strictly to claim revenge for his father’s death, it is Hamlet’s obsessive desire to possess his mother in an unhealthy and, perhaps incestuous, relationship. Hamlet also appears jealous of Claudius, his father-uncle, jealous of him for having Gertrude and for owning the crown. He lives a love-hate relationship with his mother. He is full of anger towards her, but at the same time he
When individuals struggle to balance a desire for independence with the need to maintain meaningful relationships with others, it often results in complicated decisions, which alter relationships. In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the author justifies that when an individual is caught up in a dilemma, between one’s self-motivation or sincere relationships, meaningful relationships alter as a result of sophisticated decisions made. Hamlet is a character that is caught up in the crossfire between pursuing his self-motivations and his need to stay loyal to his relationships, with Ophelia, King Claudius, and his mother Gertrude.
In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the character of Hamlet has many relationships with all characters. The theme of relationships is very strong in this play. A relationship is an association between two or more people. Hamlet has many of these associations with , Claudius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Many of his relationships are just and unjust according to the character's feelings.
For Hamlet, the information that his once presumed friends are conspirators against him does little to rattle his emotions. As a matter of a fact, it is his realization that his friends are nonetheless
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tale of multiple characters whose personalities are clashing at the bits whenever one is introduced to another. Each character in the play exhibits a tragic flaw in one character, but happens to be another characters greatest strength. For example, Prince Hamlet and Prince Fortinbras cannot be so different from each other in the beginning, yet they happen to be so similar in circumstances. Both characters fathers have been murdered and both have the ambition to seek revenge on the killer. Hamlet and Fortinbras contrast each other in their character in that they both exhibit opposing tragic flaws, display differing strengths, yet they come together to form a symbiotic relationship.
Reality”. Hamlet’s discovery of his father’s murder leads to the person vs. Person conflict between Hamlet and Claudius. Following the ghost’s departure, Hamlet confirms that Claudius is now his enemy and promises to avenge his father’s death: “My tables,-meet it is I set it down, That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain...So uncle, there you are. Now to my word; It is ‘Adieu, Adieu! Remember me.’ I have swornt” (I.v.114-119). Hamlet is expressing his astonishment at how his uncle could appear so happy and innocent when in reality, he is a villain and a murderer. This scene ultimately kick-starts the theme of “appearance vs. Reality” and the main conflict as Hamlet plans to seek revenge on his
The play ‘Hamlet’ written by William Shakespeare had many aspects of betrayal, a lack of loyalty, and tragic deaths. The storyline begins as a ghost appears and he resembles the late king of Denmark ‘Hamlet’. King Hamlet was Hamlets father, after his ghost appears Hamlet conversates with the figure and asks him why he is here, and the ghost states that his brother Claudius poisoned him by pouring poison in his ear while he was asleep, married his wife and finally took the power of the throne. Already in a confused state of mind Hamlet questions the ghost and decides to act delusional and put on a play to decide whether he will get revenge on Claudius. Consequently, one can tell how selfish both brothers Claudius and Hamlet are, how much do you have to hate your own family to commit such hatred. Ultimately blood is not thicker than water.
Isolation is a barrier to relationships. By rejecting everything around them, these people are cutting themselves off from society. Hamlet, from the play of the same name, drives himself into a corner by cutting off most of the bonds he has formed before the play. The play is the breakdown of Hamlet cutting these bonds and subsequent consequences. By the end of the play, his friend and trusted advisor, Horatio, is the only one left that Hamlet can put any faith in. The extent of Hamlet’s isolation is far-reaching as he breaks his bonds with most everyone, causing him to further isolate himself from society but also reality.
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.
When reading Shakespeare's Hamlet, one becomes involved with a number of relationships involving Hamlet (the tragic protagonist) and the main characters supporting the play. The characters involved include, but are not limited to, Hamlet (the ghost), former King of Denmark and deceased father to the protagonist; Horatio, friend to Hamlet; Gertrude, Queen of Denmark and mother to Hamlet; and Ophelia, daughter of Polonius and romantic interest to Hamlet. Although all of the relationships are complex, encompassing a wide range of varying emotions as the plot advances, there is a recurring theme of love threaded throughout the play. This theme of love takes on a number of faces which we may observe through the
William Shakespeare pessimistically argues in his tragic play, Hamlet, that humans’ evil predisposition towards disingenuity leads to the degeneration of the individual due to the severance of relationships and the demise of self-respect. According to Shakespeare, human nature is such that humans misdirect, scheme against, or outright lie to others to further self-serving ends that ultimately do more harm than good. Throughout the play, Shakespeare employs contrasts and metaphors to demonstrate how dishonesty destroys trust and results in the demise of vital human connections with both family and friends. When individuals use deception to satisfy selfish desires, Shakespeare argues that this results in the death of an individual’s peace of mind. He uses personification of the soul and condemning diction to depict how duplicitous practices result in oppressive guilt.
The topic of betrayal is a big idea in the play. The way that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern blindly follow Claudius’ orders to keep an eye on Hamlet, can teach you that even those you think you can trust are capable of hurting you. Hamlet is also betrayed by both his uncle, which can teach us that family can also be untrustworthy at times. It also teaches us that we should act on what we promise ourselves before it’s too late. It is presented in a very dramatic way, with Hamlet having his revenge of finally killing Claudius, but we should have learned that it’s always best to act quick on our
Hamlet is obscure and surprising, and, therefore, confounding because he subverts others’ expectations and never reacts with a predictable response to his own emotions or the expectations of other characters. In addition, it is worth noting that it is not only Hamlet’s curious speech that alienates others. Hamlet’s obsessive pessimism also begins to affect all of his relationships and becomes a large part of who he is as a character. In an otherwise superficial conversation with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet insists that the world has become a prison with “Denmark being one o’ th’ worst” (2.2.265), and he presses the men to explain why they would want to visit him in the place that torments him. Hamlet’s relationship with his mother is also troubling. While he is justified in questioning her decision to marry Claudius before her husband’s corpse has even cooled, Hamlet is sarcastic and demeaning towards her, provoking her to ask “What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue/In noise so rude against me?” (3.4.47-48) These brief and often sarcastic interactions with other characters help define Hamlet as a pessimistic character and cause the reader to anticipate that his perceptions of events will be, almost always, clouded with this characteristic darkness of