Examples Of Hamlet's Transformation From Good To Evil

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the main character continually delays acting out his duty of avenging his father's murder. This essay will discuss how Hamlet's nature and morals (which are intensified by difficult events) prevent him from carrying out the task.

that would stop all the pain and suffering plus all his sorrow and he would be

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 has lived through plenty of ups and downs throughout his childhood. He has been lost and confused within himself, but knew he wanted one thing, which was revenge on his fathers killer, Claudius. His passion of hate developed for Claudius as he married Hamlets mother shortly after the king’s death. Hamlet could not decide on the perfect decision for himself, his mother and father as well as the best way to follow through with the best consequence for Claudius that would impress his father. His everyday life, along with his love life, left him with an empty heart, which slowed the process of the revenge down. Hamlet never expected to be captured and kidnapped by pirates, as he was sent overseas as a young man. His inside thoughts were attacking and overwhelming Him, leaving him depressed and anxious. Hamlet’s life has been leading him to negative thoughts that he cannot process or act accordingly to, due to the excessive amount of issues and options involved in his life at a young age, him being overwhelmed lead him to delaying the process of avenging his fathers killer.

Hamlet recognizes that suicide is a sin in the eyes of God, so consequently wishes that he could simply cease to exist. In doubting that life is worth all the hardships one must face, Hamlet briefly relishes in the concept of death, equating it to nothing more than a sleep wherein one can be rid of the “heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks” of physical life (III.i.70). Though immediately thereafter Hamlet acknowledges the startling unknown, and the fact that one does not know what comes after death. Hamlet feels a great deal of uncertainty, which surely enhances his overall frustration. Herein lies Hamlet’s reservations in regards to committing suicide: it is a sin, and the afterlife may prove to be more unpleasant than life itself.

Hamlet comes across as both a hero and a villain throughout ‘Hamlet’ at different intervals. His loyalty, morality, honesty and popularity are certainly heroic traits however one can’t deny his villainous ways in his dealings with Ophelia, his killing of Polonius and most importantly his delaying of killing Claudius. Hamlet is full of faults yet full of honourable intentions. His negative qualities are slim compared to his heroic qualities therefore I believe Hamlet to be a hero, a “prince among men”.

Hamlet is considered to be Shakespeare's most famous play. The play is about Prince Hamlet and his struggles with the new marriage of his mother, Gertrude, and his uncle and now stepfather, King Claudius about only two months after his father’s death. Hamlet has an encounter with his father, Old King Hamlet, in ghost form. His father accuses Claudius of killing him and tells Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlet is infuriated by this news and then begins his thoughts on what to do to get revenge. Hamlet and Claudius are contrasting characters. They do share similarities, however, their profound differences are what divides them.Hamlet was portrayed as troubled, inactive, and impulsive at times. Hamlet is troubled by many things, but the main source of his problems come from the the death of his father. “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, or that the everlasting had not fixed his canon 'gainst self-slaughter” (Act 1, Scene 2). In this scene, Hamlet is contemplating suicide, which is caused by the death of his father and the new marriage of Gertrude and King Claudius. This scene shows the extent of how troubled Hamlet is. Even though Hamlet’s father asked him to avenge his death, Hamlet is very slow to act on this throughout the play. “Now might I do it pat. Now he is a-praying. And now I’ll do ’t. And so he goes to heaven. And so am I revenged.—That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven” (Act 3, Scene 3). This scene shows King Claudius praying, while Hamlet is behind him drawing his sword but decides not to kill

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character continually delays acting out his duty of avenging his father’s murder. This essay will discuss how Hamlet’s nature and morals (which are intensified by difficult events) prevent him from carrying out the task.

Hamlet is as much a story of emotional conflict, paranoia, and self-doubt as it is one of revenge and tragedy. The protagonist, Prince Hamlet of Denmark, is instructed by his slain father’s ghost to enact vengeance upon his uncle Claudius, whose treacherous murder of Hamlet’s father gave way to his rise to power. Overcome by anguish and obligation to avenge his father’s death, Hamlet ultimately commits a number of killings throughout the story. However, we are not to view the character Hamlet as a sick individual, but rather one who has been victimized by his own circumstances.

When Hamlet is set up and spied on by Claudius and Polonius, he examines the moral aspect of suicide in a painful world. He opens his soliloquy with asking a simple question, "To be, or not to be:that is the question:" (III. i. 58), that is, whether to live or to die. He then begins to question whether it is nobler to suffer life and the, "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," (III. i. 66), or to take ones life and end one's suffering. He compares death to sleep and at first thinks that

Hamlet continuously throughout the play not only self-deprecates himself, but he also talks about committing suicide and the reasons he has for and against it. Hamlet self-deprecates for multiple reasons consisting of: Claudius killing his father, Gertrude marrying her husband’s brother after his death, his complications with Ophelia, and his very own insanity. From Hamlet’s self-deprecating tendencies, it is evident that he is not only depressed, but suicidal. Hamlet has many things going on in his life, and to him, he doesn’t know if his life is even worth living. Hamlet states, “To be or not to be? That is the question…Be all sins remembered.” (3.1.57-91), meaning that Hamlet really couldn’t care less what happens anymore. Hamlet summarizes the pros and cons to suicide, and he questions what he should do. He does this because he has changed – primarily his personality – and the events occurring around him are

“From the death of his father, the overhasty marriage of his mother, to the concern about the rivalry between children’s performing company and the adult actors, from the virtue of woman to the art of performance, from Claudius revelry to the grave digging of the two clowns.” (2009) In short, Hamlet’s mind never stops working. His dialogues are majorly infested with unraveled philosophies and understandings of the essence of human life: “the whips and scorns of time / Th’ oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely / The pangs of disprized love, the law’s delay / The insolence of office, and the spurns / That patient merit of th’unworthy takes.” (Hoy 1992) However abundant, these reasoning do not dissolve into a solution, but rather, they project shadows upon Hamlet’s determination to avenge by glazing his lenses with a pessimistic perception of life. As a result, Hamlet questions the necessity of killing Claudius and fails to settle the revenge accordingly to his father’s will.

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.

Since the dawn of time, man has struggled fiercely over the internal conflict within himself between doing what is right for oneself as opposed to doing what is right for society in general. It is what I refer to as the good vs. evil complex. The play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare somewhere between 1599 and 1603, presents a plethora of characters that are faced with the challenge of not allowing self-interest to reign supreme.

By Hamlet’s third soliloquy he still has not taken action to avenge his father’s death and hates everyone around him, including himself. He begins his soliloquy with the famous line “To be, or not to be?” With this line Hamlet is asking whether is it better to be alive or to be dead. In this soliloquy Hamlet contemplates suicide and discusses the trials of life. He wishes not to have to deal with the hardships of life, but realizes that he is not brave enough to take his own life. Not only is he, like most humans, afraid of the unknown, but he is also afraid of committing a sin and damning his soul. At the end of his third soliloquy Hamlet has yet to do as his father’s ghost told him and Hamlet is still angry with himself for being such a coward.