Hamlet's Existential Crisis

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is a timeless play which continues to remain relevant across all generations due to its presentation of ideas that are fundamental to humanity. The play highlights aspects that relate to the society of not only Elizabethan England but also that of our modern society. Hamlet, as a character, considers ideas from outside his time and is somewhat relatable to modern day man. By drawing from ideas of archetypes and the human psyche, it reveals that Hamlet relates deeply to the elements of humanity.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness, and moral corruption. It touches upon philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet frequently questions the meaning of life and the degrading of morals as he agonizes over his father’s murder, his mother’s incestuous infidelity, and what he should or shouldn’t do about it. At first, he is just depressed; still mourning the loss of his father as his mother marries his uncle. After he learns about the treachery of his uncle and the adultery of his mother, his already negative countenance declines further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudius, feeling burdened about having been asked to find a solution to a situation that was

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 play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare is about a guy named Hamlet going through a hard time in life, after the death of his father, and the remarriage of his mother to his uncle. Throughout the play were are able to get a greater understanding of who Hamlet really is. The actions of Hamlet in Shakespeare's master piece “Hamlet” proves him to a revenge seeker, emotional, and crazy.

Hamlet, one of Shakespeare’s tragic plays, portrays the story of a young man’s quest to avenge his murdered father and his quest to find his true identity. In his soliloquies, Prince Hamlet reveals to the readers his personal perceptions of the events that take place in his homeland, Denmark, and of which are either indirectly or directly tied to his father’s murder. Many critics and scholars agree that while Hamlet’s soliloquies reveal the search of his identity and true character, his soliloquies universally illustrate man’s search for his true identity.

Much has been has been discussed of Hamlet’s madness and insanity. There have been endless arguments of whether his madness is feigned or unfeigned. Although, minimal arguments have been made about Hamlet’s pessimism. Hamlet is one of Shakespeare 's most pessimistic plays, and as such it delivers the message that in a fallen world, reality often fails to match the ideal. The human experiences held up for pessimistic contemplation in Hamlet includes death, grief, loneliness, insanity, loss of meaning in life, breakdown of relationships, and the corruption of the basic institutions of life. Hamlet, as the main character, is the embodiment of such pessimism throughout the play.

   Do we matter? Will anything we do endure? These are questions from existentialism. The dictionary defines existentialism as "the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for his acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad" (Merriam Webster). In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet struggles with the concept that nothing from our lives last and time grinds everything away. Hamlet's major conflict was his existentialist view of the world.

To begin with, in the novel, Hamlet is very devastated following the death of his father. He becomes so depressed that at one point he even decides to kill himself in order to “take arms against a sea of troubles” (Act 3, Scene 1, Line

Hamlet’s character drastically develops over the first four acts of Hamlet, and his character development is most evident through the soliloquys he delivers throughout the play. The most character development can be seen from the first soliloquy, to the second, the third, the sixth, and the seventh and final soliloquy. Hamlet’s inner conflict with his thoughts and his actions are well analyzed in his soliloquys, as well as his struggles with life and death, and his very own existence. He begins the play wondering what purpose he has in life now that his father is dead and his mother has remarried to his uncle. After finding out foul play was involved in his father’s death, he is motivated by revenge. Finally, he wonders how he can enact his revenge while continuously overthinking and overanalyzing his actions.

In the days following the death of King Hamlet (Hamlet’s father), Hamlet falls into a state of depression and becomes increasingly disconnected with the world around him. Hamlet’s disappointment

Shakespeare begins Hamlet's struggle with recognition of Hamlet's sincere grief and anger following his father's untimely death. A taste of the conflict is expressed in the dialogue

Hamlet is an intensely cerebral character marked by a desire to think things through and pick situations apart. As such, for the first three and a half scenes of Hamlet, Hamlet broods over his father’s death instead of taking action against Claudius, his father’s murderer. Hamlet finally acts because he experiences three intense emotional jolts that allow him to view his situation from a new perspective and spur him to action. Together, these emotional experiences alter his personal philosophy about the nature of death and God’s relationship with creation, and compel him to finally take decisive action.

Good evening ladies and gentleman. It is my absolute pleasure to have been granted the opportunity to present my fellow Shakespeare fanatics with the ramblings of an ambitious and budding theatre critic. I implore you to bear with me as I pose the question, to be or not to be… an existentialist? There truly is no contest; to be human is, in fact, to be. “You have always been playing Existentialism. Up until now, you were very good at the game. You are now playing Existentialism. You are about to be very bad at the game. You will always be playing Existentialism.” As I’m sure you’re all aware, Shakespeare is renowned for his unorthodox presentation of ideas, challenging beliefs, controversial commentary and social critiques. Though it would be inaccurate to label Shakespeare an existentialist, his works heavily involve recurring themes and characteristics of an existential nature, and Hamlet was no exception. Hamlet as a revenge tragedy was unconventionally brilliant in its multifaceted portrayal of moral, intellectual and obligatory confliction, resulting in significant psychological consequences. I would now like to acknowledge the reception of Hamlet by esteemed German writer and politician Johan Wolfgang von Goethe. You might be familiar with Goethe’s old gem likening Hamlet’s characterisation to a delicate pot struggling to contain a tremendous tree. Goethe describes an almost comical fragility in his analysis, deeming Shakespeare’s

Hamlet struggles with many issues in his daily life. His dad has been murdered by his uncle. His mother then married his uncle soon after the father’s death, which Hamlet considers to be morally wrong in more ways than one. During the story, his close friends betray him by spying on him for his uncle. Seeing how Hamlet reacts to the daily struggles in his life can still be applied to the world today. Many people feel as though they are trapped in their own poor life, and that they have no way to break free of it. The play touches on how Hamlet has these same feelings.

Though clearly embodying elements of a revenge tragedy, Hamlet can also be viewed as a work concerning existentialism. Throughout the play, the titular character, Hamlet, demonstrates a struggle with existential angst – the overwhelming awareness of the brevity and seeming meaninglessness of life (MacIntyre). Hamlet frequently reflects on the ultimate end to all life – death – and famously wonders if it’d be “nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or…to die;” his internal battle over his existence is one that can be seen throughout his many soliloquys and manic speeches. After the death of his father and his mother’s hasty remarriage to Claudius, Hamlet finds himself grappling with the reality of his world, feeling lost and without guidance. In the wake of his father’s ghost’s visit, Hamlet is seized by both dread and obligation. His duty to avenge his father is one which jars him; though he devotes himself to its accomplishment, the endeavor forces him to question his morality and fate. Hamlet’s dilemma causes him to lose connection with those around him, leaving him isolated with only his internal crises and quest for revenge. Hamlet’s desolate loneliness – a result of his perceived abandonments – fosters his philosophical ponderings on the usefulness and morality of living in the face of fate and destiny