Essay about Hamlet's Struggle and Disillusionment

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.

The Shakespearean tragedy, Hamlet, entertains the title character's split between head and heart, and accordingly, the arduous struggle he must endure in order to reconcile the two. It is a difficult struggle that is generated by the necessity to unite the two internal counterparts of human consciousness, head (logic and reason) and heart (passions and emotions). From the very beginning of the play, Hamlet is split against himself in a state of entrapment, which is spawned by the unbearable situation with his family. Throughout much of the play, Hamlet attempts to rationally think his way through his situation. His emotions, however, are far too strong for him to adhere to reason alone. Accordingly, his

Apart from Hamlet's moral dilemma, he is also trying to prove or disprove what a ghost told him. This ghost is apparently the prince's progenitor, who tells Hamlet that his father's death was caused by Claudius pouring poison into his ear. The ghost encourage Hamlet to "Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder" (1012) For this reason Hamlet has to prove if the ghost is an evil spirit deceiving him, testing him, or even if he is who he really says he is, and has the implicit endorsement of a higher power. As Hamlet expresses in act 1:

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a work of immense depth in character development, most notably the personal, moral and psychological battles

In this revenge tragedy, which is a play in which the plot typically centers on a spectacular attempt to avenge the murder of a family member, Hamlet’s call to adventure is when the ghost, whom he believes to be the ghost of his recently deceased father, beseeches Hamlet that he avenge his death (Charters and Charters 1251). At first looking at the ghost, he questions the authority of him and contemplates that the apparition is just the devil tempting him:

Fictional Elizabethan play written in 1601, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet explores the tribulations between the protagonist, young Prince Hamlet, and his relationships with family, partners and friends through explorations of human nature during abstruse experiences. By examining the play’s polarity, critical perspectives of both psychoanalytical complexities and archetypal criticism allows the reader to develop an understanding of Shakespeare’s intentions with the play. This includes emphasis on the depiction of how conscious and unconscious beliefs and actions of individuals in a society can lead to tragic outcomes, revealing individual's innermost identities. Hamlet’s unique attempts to attain psychological fruition are delayed by his over-active intellectual mind, thus displaying the complications of maintaining the human spirit during times of corruption and temptations to discover the unknown.

It makes for an incredibly satisfying interpretation to assert that Hamlet is a “supremely competent agent faced with an insurmountable ethical challenge.” Rather than proposing that Hamlet is some cripple who is brought into dysfunction by the death of his father and the remarriage of his mother to his father’s murderer, interpreting Hamlet from the perspective of his moral competency provides a deeper, more nuanced, and ultimately a more illuminating experience. It is this argument that A.C. Bradley brings forward in his analysis of Shakespeare’s play. The critic implies that, while Hamlet is a character suffering in a melancholy state, he is never crippled by a state of insanity. Bradley writes, “Hamlet’s melancholy is...a totally different

Each major character of Shakespeare’s Hamlet has a major flaw, which destroys him or her. The King, Queen, Hamlet, Ophelia, and Polonius all have these flaws but Horatio does not. He is Shakespeare’s ideal man.

This essay will discuss several literary criticisms of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. After skimming through several articles, I ended up with four peer-reviewed journal articles, each a different critical perspectives of the play: feminist, psychoanalytical/freudian, moral, and new historicism. My previous studies of Hamlet, as well as my rereading of the play this semester, has collectively given me a general knowledge of the text. My familiarity of the play made it easier for me to decipher the academic journals and see the connections each critic made with the play.

It is important that we as viewers of this play catch the emotions that Hamlet portrays throughout the play. He is the main character that acts out with his emotions to help us understand what the characters are thinking. From these emotions we can further analyze the characters and grow more of a personal connection with them to help us understand how they justify their actions. A lot of the time our own mind can play a huge part in our decision making even for decisions that have a huge impact on others. So we as viewers

clearly sets the groundwork for Hamlet’s internal struggle. A repeat of this theme is heard when

In William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the complex character of Hamlet is slowly revealed through his reactions to the circumstances around him. Throughout the play Shakespeare allows the reader to see into Hamlet’s thoughts as he manages the tragedies in his life. The reader follows Hamlet as he attempts to cope with the loss of his father and chance of being king. Although Hamlet appears to be mentally unstable, his actions are a result of his hopelessness and bitterness, not madness.

William Shakespeare’s most intricate play, Hamlet, includes many dynamic characters, including Hamlet himself. Hamlet is a very complicated character with many controversial aspects embedded within his thoughts and dialogues. One of the most essential questions one could ask about Hamlet is to question his sanity and the justification of his actions. My personal take on this subject is that Hamlet’s actions were not justified due to his split decisiveness and moral acknowledgements.

Hamlet is a play so rich in insight regarding human existence, so revelatory and reverberative, that Harold Bloom is justified in calling it a “poem unlimited.”2 All of its characters, and all the details of the drama that entangles them, contribute to its scope and profundity. But it is principally through the consciousness and hyper-articulate presence of Hamlet that Shakespeare so astonishingly explores the perplexities, challenges, and mysteries of human existence. The character of Hamlet is as vividly “real” and compelling as a dramatic character can be; but his complexity and depths of consciousness reveal to us much that is only partially fathomable about the meaning of existence—which is why his character will never be satisfactorily explained by any single account of who he is, why he does what he does, and why he cannot do what he cannot do.

Shakespeare's writing is seen in high schools across the country and while one might say that it is outdated and not even relevant today they will find themselves wrong. Shakespeare is relevant in 2017 as it teaches students the power of morality and its importance in today’s society. Hamlet is a play about the Prince of Denmark trying to avenge his father’s murder. Throughout the play, he searches for evidence to prove Claudius murdered King Hamlet. Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 2 responds to his debate over morality in a series of rhetorical questions and a stream of consciousness which allow the audience to empathize with Hamlet’s conflicting emotions over morality. He questions the morality of his situation and comes to term with his own fate.