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Internal Conflict In Hamlet

Decent Essays

In the tragedy Hamlet, the audience sees many instances of conflict throughout the play. It is shown in the beginning when Hamlet first sees the ghost, all the way to the end when his last breath is taken. One of the well known conflicts in the play, is the conflict between King Claudius and Prince Hamlet. The conflict between these two characters are external and internal. Whenever Claudius and Hamlet are in the same room together, there is always some sort of tension in the air. In the beginning of the book, it is known that King Claudius poisoned Hamlet's father, so that he would become the king of Denmark. In act 1, scene 5, a ghost appears to Hamlet, which is Hamlet's dead father. He says, “A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark is by a forged process of my death, rankly abused, but know thou noble youth, the serpent that did sting thy father's life, now wears his crown”. As a result of Hamlet now knowing who killed his father, he plans on seeking revenge. This begins the conflict between King Claudius and Hamlet. Claudius murdered Hamlet's father as well as married Gertrude, which is his mother. His mother being married to Claudius makes it more hard for Hamlet to carry out his revenge, because it might cause misery to Gertrude. Internal conflict is shown towards killing King Claudius, because Hamlet does not want to give Gertrude any more distress over losing another husband, but Hamlet still wants to get revenge on his father's death. In this play, Hamlet is shown with Ophelia. His attitude toward this woman is constantly changing. It is hard to tell if Hamlet has love for Ophelia or if she is used as a scapegoat to disguise his madness. Hamlet has internal conflict because of his feelings for Ophelia. In one point in the play, Hamlet will be extremely mean to her, but later on, he will admit his love for her. In act 3, scene 1, Hamlet precedes to tell Ophelia, “I did love you once”, Ophelia then replies with, “Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so”, Hamlet then tells Ophelia “I loved you not” Hamlet acts like he is insane because he does not want Claudius to figure out that he knows about him killing his father. He proceeds to act insane until he has a

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