Loss of Innocence in Hamlet Essay

Hamlet has had to cope with a lot of different things way to fast. In the beginning of the play he sees the ghost of his dead father and is actually able to have a conversation with him. After his father was murdered everyone thought it was an accident but Hamlet knew the truth because the ghost told him it was

On William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, after the assassination of his father, Hamlet thinks he is living in a world full of corruption and deceit, where everything is falling apart and everyone is against him. An imminent, exaggerated, and passionate love for his mother is his main feature. Although others argue that Hamlet’s obsession to murder Claudius is strictly to claim revenge for his father’s death, it is Hamlet’s obsessive desire to possess his mother in an unhealthy and, perhaps incestuous, relationship. Hamlet also appears jealous of Claudius, his father-uncle, jealous of him for having Gertrude and for owning the crown. He lives a love-hate relationship with his mother. He is full of anger towards her, but at the same time he

Throughout the play, Hamlet undergoes a painful split between head and heart, caused by numerous family problems. When the prince returns home to pay his final respects to his dear and beloved father, he discovers a most terrible fate. He learns that his noble father whom he had loved so, is not only deceased, but his own uncle is to blame. Hamlet's mother, whom he also loves dearly, is now sharing an "adulterous bed" with the very murderer of her once beloved husband. Initially, Hamlet is driven to a state of ruin by

Hamlet does not only value his own morality, but also the morality of others. Besides worrying about his own morality, his mother's morality has much significance to him. As Robert Luyster states, "Hamlet would have Gertrude, like himself, become purified, but this can only be done through the acceding to consciousness' claim to be hard"(Luyster 77). Hamlet contemplates his every action. This problem eventually overwhelms him while also causing his madness. The depth of his thought concerning the murder of Claudius following Hamlet's play reveals his madness. "Reason and action are not opposed in Hamlet, but for most of the play, they fail to coalesce as either we or the characters would like them to" (Kastan 48).

From the beginning of his and his mother’s conversation Hamlet was very angry and on edge with her for being with his father’s murderer. Hamlet somehow knew someone was eavesdropping on their conversation as he had been spied on previously. He suddenly decides to act out of fury thinking how angry he was at Claudius and kills who’s behind the curtain, thinking it was Claudius. Hamlet realizes after that he killed the wrong man, it had been Polonius that he killed but he didn’t care much saying that Polonius was a fool. Hamlet sees the ghost again after and the ghost tells Hamlet he still must carry out his revenge for his father because he had failed .

As the play goes on, from the Mousetrap play to Hamlet’s uncharacteristic acting (as perceived by those around him) what must be remembered is that Hamlet is only human. His girlfriend, Ophelia has been specifically instructed to not talk to him anymore. He struggles with the death of his father and most likely loses sleep thinking about his meeting with the ghost and whether the ghost of lying or not. He even has to deal with the utter disgust he has towards the King and the Queen, disgust towards the King because he is possibly the man behind his father’s death and disgust towards the Queen which is expressed a number of times for not feeling the slightest amount of grief before marrying Claudius. He is pushed so far so that he contemplates suicide. In his famous soliloquy which begins in “To be or not to be”

The Ghost of Hamlet's father is a foil for Hamlet. The ghost is introduced so to reveal information that is not blatantly revealed to us yet. The king gives us some explanation of why Hamlet wants revenge. The king tells us of his death and introduces the fact that it was a murder and tells that the murder was committed by his brother. Through the conversation with the ghost he gains more fuel for the anger he has about his mother’s marriage. In the discussion with Hamlet and the

Hamlet is understandably distraught. He may not be mad, but he likely is close to the edge of sanity during many of the most intense moments in the play” (Sparknotes).

Hamlet has thrust upon him the dual responsibility of avenging his father and becoming a man. These new responsibilities push Hamlet’s already fragile sanity over the edge into madness. “Hamlet experiences anxiety both because of the dysfunction of previous masculine roles and because of his shames at their loss, a loss he holds himself accountable for” (Rosen, 63). Hamlet is instantly roused from a bout of depression at Horatio’s news of the ghost. Hamlet undoubtedly feels that this ghost might be able to put his mind at rest.

Hamlet can not let go of the fact that his father is dead, as he still yearns for him. However, Hamlet is able to meet with the ghost of his father, where the ghost tells he died via a “murder most

Hamlet is trying to tell the people around him that he is only crazy in certain situations, but they do not understand this. Eventually Hamlet’s acting this way does cause the people closest to him to believe he has lost his

Hamlet is one of the most complex characters Shakespeare ever created. At the start of the show we learn that Hamlet has not only recently lost his father, but his mother remarried his uncle who is now king. This brings up a lot of questions, such as why Hamlet didn’t take his father’s throne? It starts the play off with the audience questioning everything going one. Hamlet’s first soliloquy is used to explain that Hamlet is just as confused as the audience, but throughout the story his soliloquy are used for the development of his character and the story.

In ‘Hamlet’, a play by William Shakespeare. In this story it take take you throughout many things. From a easy start, to an unforeseeable ending. It expresses different things normally not seem together. Tregedy, human flaw, a bit of romance as well, and deception. All this things leave you in the tip of seat as you read this story. Just like for any other Shakespearean story, this one leave you with many unanswered questions as well. One main question that has baffled many people is the protagonist, Hamlet. Throughout the play he perceived to be mad however Hamlet’s insanity was more than an act, but was really an act by the end? Or did he end up become the role he

Hamlet is one of the most intriguing and perplexing characters ever created. Some people see Hamlet as a witty, heroic and brave while others see him as irrational, corrupt and cowardly. To me, what makes Hamlet so intriguing is that he has all of these characteristics. He ends up being relatable to every reader because the reader tends to somewhat understand Hamlet on a personal level at different points in the book. What makes Hamlet so confusing is that he seems to change every time we read about him. One moment he’s melancholy and the next he’s cheerful. One moment he’s vengeful and the next he’s compassionate. Hamlet is such a complete character that the relationship we have with him changes every single time we visit him. You just

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.