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.

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

The beginning of the play sets the stage for everything to unfold. Hamlet is weak in the mind due to his father’s unnatural death. In Act 1, Hamlet speaks to the Ghost and learns how his father died. Without Hamlet interaction with the Ghost, he would not have created a desire for revenging his father’s death. Now knowing that Claudius killed his father in order to take his place as king, it only makes sense that Hamlet desires the truth to be revealed as to what happened to his father.

To be, or not to be, or maybe just to pretend to be – Hamlet - make up your mind already! Before discussing Hamlet’s hamartia, please let me say that Hamlet is one of my all-time favorite plays. Yes, it is tragic. Yes, they all fall in the end. But, good lord, what action!

Within Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, the churning tides of and hate are very prominent, but, as the character’s personalities collide and develop, revenge is the key that unlocks their unprecedented doom. There are different styles of writing in this piece that represents revenge. From the start of the play (the epilogue) there were signs of different styles of writing. Looking more closely to the text, Hamlet would address the royalty in the poetic form while addressing to people under him in old English. Revenge is indubitably Hamlet’s forte, but it also made the reader’s understand the morality of the issue. Mortality was mentioned in almost every line in Hamlet.

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

Almost every story involves a conflict between hero and villain. In some stories, there is a plot twist where the hero is also the villain—but in Hamlet, there are no heroes and many villains. In Hamlet, every character has lied, kept secrets or is seeking revenge that leads to a tragic ending at every corner, but what we fail to see is who the true villain is. Looking at the character of Hamlet throughout the play, it is easier to spot his many dishonorable actions than his few honorable ones.

This event along with everything else that he is dealing with is the threshold for Hamlet that he must cross. To cross this threshold Hamlet has to make a decision. Dealing with the process of making and actually making this decision lead Hamlet into his manhood. Hamlet has idealized his father and what Hamlet has learned about his father in the ghost scene shakes his fragile equilibrium. He learns all at one time that his uncle has killed his father, and that his father is not the person that he thought he was. This is a blow for any young adult. Hamlet is now having to deal with the fact that everything that he has believed to be true, just is not so.

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.

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.

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 the very popular play Hamlet by William Shakespeare one character in specific stands out. This individual is known as Hamlet. Hamlet is the son of deceased King Hamlet and Queen Gertrude. Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark at this time. King Claudius is King Hamlets bother and Hamlets uncle. Very shortly after Kings Hamlets unfortunate death Hamlets mother Queen Gertrude marries King Claudius. This results in making King Claudius Hamlets new father and uncle. Hamlet is a young man who the community of Denmark has a very prestigious view on. Once King Claudius passes, Hamlet is supposed to become the King of Denmark the land is promised to him. Until then he lives with Queen Gertrude and King Claudius.

Hamlet's tragic flaw is his inefficiency to take action when it was needed the most. He is under different circumstances than his father because Hamlet himself is under the control of his emotions rather than his own sense of bravery. When Hamlet is given the chance to kill Claudius, who is his father's murderer, he seems to be unsure of what he should do. Claudius was at prayer at this time, which made Hamlet reevaluate whether or not to kill him. In this instance Claudius could begin to beg for forgiveness for murdering the King, King Hamlet. At this point in time, Hamlet decides that he will wait for a better time to get the revenge he wants against Claudius. Hamlet displays that he is very indecisive. This flaw will lead to his death and to the death of others, which could have been avoided if he were to murder Claudius the first chance he had.

Shakespeare was an amazing poet, actor and playwright. He wrote comedies, histories, and tragedies. His writings are still read today because of his use of language, complex characters, and common themes, such as love and hate. One of his most famous works of tragedy is the play Hamlet. This play is about Hamlet, a young prince who leads a life of privilege. Until tragedy strikes in the form of the death of the king, his father Hamlet. His world view changes from this point on. He becomes suspicious of all the people around him and rightly so as it turns out his uncle Claudius, the new king and his new stepfather, killed him. The death of his father and the betrayal of his mother so soon after makes him pretty cynical and reflective of life in general. Hamlet’s quote is tied into the philosophical position of moral relativism, which is the view that morality, ethical standards, and positions of right or wrong are culturally based and therefore subject to a person’s individual choice.