Morally Ambiguous Characters In Hamlet

His feigned madness permitted Hamlet to express these emotions freely towards Ophelia: “...Get thee to a nunnery, / farewell. Or if thou wilt needs marry, marry a / fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters / you make of them...” (3.1.138-41). It was also important for Hamlet to be so vulgar towards Ophelia because it would not have been possible for him to continue being a caring loving boyfriend while attempting to avenge his father’s death. Lastly, by pretending to be mentally disturbed, it provided Hamlet with an excuse for any sinful deeds he would commit on his pursuit of revenge. Hamlet exemplifies this conception as he seeks for Laertes forgiveness for murdering his father Polonius: “If Hamlet from himself be ta’en away, / And when he’s not himself does wrong Laertes, / Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it. / Who does it then? His madness...” (5.2.230-33). Hamlet’s pursuit of the truth and revenge was much better accompanied by madness rather than sanity which gave Hamlet a clear motive to fabricate insanity in the play. In the midst of Hamlet’s supposed madness, the prince continues to speak rationally with certain individuals as well as maintain sensible and logical thoughts. This idea is depicted through his conversations with his good friend Horatio who is assisting Hamlet in his search for the truth behind Old Hamlet’s death. For example, before the

Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia suddenly becomes complicated, after Hamlet’s encounter with the Ghost. It all starts when Hamlet first appears in Ophelia’s chamber pale and dishevelled, after receiving news from the Ghost that King Claudius had poured poison into his ear, and it was Hamlet’s duty to avenge the death of his father. Hamlet’s condition frightens Ophelia, as she runs off to tell Polonius about the encounter;” My lord, as I was sewing in my closet/ Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced/… speak of horrors—he comes before me” (2.1 87-94). Hamlet may express that he does not love Ophelia anymore, but his ill treatment towards her comes at the price of testing her loyalties towards him or her father Polonius, who is the eyes and ears of Claudius. As Ophelia runs off to Polonius, it is clear to Hamlet that he cannot trust Ophelia with such a deadly task at his hands. Behind all this phony madness, it breaks Hamlet’s heart to jeopardize his relationship with Ophelia for his own motivations, but it is an intricate decision he has to make. This is again evident in Act 3, scene 1, when Hamlet instructs Ophelia; “To a nunnery, go, and/ Quickly too. Farewell” (3.1 151-152). The only reason Hamlet would utter such bitter words to Ophelia, is because he trusts Ophelia will be kept safer there than anywhere near the kingdom. In doing so, Hamlet proves that he still cares for Ophelia and what they had, but he cannot manage their relationship at the same time getting revenge, because he’s too caught up in pursuing his own motives. Eventually, as Ophelia goes mad and dies,

His inconsistent treating of Ophelia eventually drives her to insanity. The actual recognition of his love for Ophelia can only come when Hamlet realizes that she is dead, and free from her tainted womanly trappings “I lov’d Ophelia”. This is without doubt one of the most villainous qualities of Hamlet.

In the play by William Shakespeare, the ghost of King Hamlet approaches his mourning and depressed son, Hamlet, who is still affected by his death. The ghost explains to Hamlet how he died and demands that Hamlet avenge his death. Note how the ghost approaches Hamlet when he’s the weakest and still mourning to persuade and manipulate him into taking revenge for him. In Act one Scene 5 the ghost states, “If thou didst ever thy dear father love-/ Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” The way King Hamlet words his request is more as a challenge; in which Hamlet’s love for his dead father can only be proven by carrying out whatever his father wishes. The ghost influences most Hamlet’s behavior, which not only affects the plot, but also the relationships with other characters. The ghost influences the relationship between Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude. He becomes angry at Gertrude because of her fast marriage with his uncle Claudius. Through the use of innuendos, antic disposition, and metamorphic plays, Hamlet makes it his duty to get King Claudius back for killing his father. Hamlet agreed to avenge his father without second thought. As the play advances, Hamlet begins to doubt the apparition. In act 3 Hamlet begins to have second thoughts and states, “The spirit that I have seen/ May be a devil…” This shows Hamlet’s inner conflict between listening to his father and avenging his death or following his ethics. To be sure that Claudius

Hamlet's surrounding are increasingly affected by his flaw. Hamlet begins to forget all important obligations in his life and neglects his responsibilities, causing other problems. One very important commitment Hamlet has which he lets go is his relationship with Ophelia. Ophelia becomes very confused and hurt. Hamlet hurts her in a couple of ways. First, he neglects her, and second, he insults her. "Ha, ha! Are you honest??Are you fair??That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty. ?I loved you not? Get thee to a nunnery." Then Hamlet kills Polonius, Ophelia's father, which in turn makes her go mad and in her madness she commits suicide. Hamlet loses objectivity. He does not respect the King nor his mother's feelings. Hamlet meets with his mother and insults her. He calls her a whore and a sinner for marrying a murderer. Since he knows that the King is a murderer, he attempts

When Hamlet is first encountered with the ghost that resembles his father, it is revealed that his uncle Claudius might have been the cause of his father’s death. Hamlet is then confused about what he should believe and how he

When Hamlet’s father, the late king of Denmark, comes to him as a ghost and reveals he died at the hands of his brother, Claudius, he demands Hamlet “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.4.23-25). Without hesitation, Hamlet agrees to avenge his father’s death, saying, “Haste me to know’t, that I with wings as swift / as meditation or the thoughts of love, / May sweep to my revenge” (1.5.29-31). He decides the proper form of justice is to kill Claudius, just as the king killed his own brother, though he has his own motives. Hamlet loathes Claudius for marrying his mother, and learning King Hamlet died at the hands of Claudius only provokes Hamlet more. As the play continues, Hamlet plots his revenge, and he deceives everyone with his apparent insanity. Hamlet eventually succeeds in his search for vengeance and justice, though it kills him as well. He

Since the death of his father, King Hamlet, Hamlet his son is eluded between his thoughts and his emotions. The real struggle begins when a ghost, namely the ghost of King Hamlet, his father, accuses Hamlet’s uncle Claudius for his murder. When the ghost tells Hamlet about the reason for the murder Hamlet expresses his thoughts and feelings with passion, “The serpent that sting thy father’s life/Now wears his crown” (Shakespeare). The passion from his anger is also evident at the end of the soliloquy when he calls his uncle “damned villain” (Shakespeare). Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude is also accused by the ghost of King Hamlet for being sexually involved with Claudius and hamlet passionately with rage and anger calls his mother “O most precious women” (Shakespeare) at the end of his soliloquy. This situation put Hamlet in a sensitive and fierce battle between what’s truth and what’s right. His thoughts do not run in parallel with his emotions, Hamlet being caught up in this internal confusion keeps on delaying his actions. Furthermore Hamlet’s reason to kill Claudius comes from his passion, but his intelligence gives him reasons not to kill his uncle Claudius. He keeps

William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet relays Hamlet’s quest to avenge the murder of his father, the king of Denmark. The late King Hamlet was murdered by his brother, Claudius, who took the throne and Hamlet’s mother Gertrude for himself. Hamlet is beseeched by the ghost of his father to take vengeance upon Claudius; while he swears to do so, the prince inexplicably delays killing Claudius for months on end. Hamlet’s feeble attempt to first confirm his uncle’s guilt with a play that recounts the murder and his botched excuses for not killing Claudius when the opportunity arises serve as testimony to Hamlet’s true self. Hamlet is riddled with doubt towards the validity of the ghost and his own ability to carry out the act necessary to

In order to define a character as purely good or purely evil, one must take into consideration all of their actions and words. However, even then it may be hard to complete the task. The presence of these morally ambiguous characters are shown in the Shakespearean play, Hamlet, but by far the most morally ambiguous of all is Hamlet himself. The inability for the reader to place Hamlet’s true moral intentions fully into the realm of either evil or innocent gives meaning to the play’s overall message: while individuals can be mostly good or mostly evil, it is impossible to be just one or the other.

He was distant from all the other characters in this sense, such as when Laertes was told it was Hamlet who killed his father, Laertes immediately took action against Hamlet and, with some manipulation from Claudius, plotted to kill Hamlet. Hamlet’s uncertainty and delay about his actions is expressed to the audience through his madness. The audience is all but unaware of Hamlet’s descent into madness, with not a single example of explicit exposition of Hamlet losing his mind. Hamlet also doesn’t get any sort of confirmation that the ghost is telling the truth regarding Hamlet’s father’s murder. During the play within a play, Claudius demands it be stopped as the play’s king in-law is about to marry the recent widow, which may mean Claudius only feels immense guilt regarding his marriage to his brother’s widow, and in fact did not murder Hamlet’s father. Hamlet struggles with the uncertainty of death and the pain of living, weighing whether the pain of living outweighs what he does not know. Hamlet also struggles with the uncertainty of love expressed by his mother, who even though was loved very much by his father and appeared to love him back equally, remarried only a month after his death. The same goes for Ophelia, in which the girl who Hamlet loves suddenly does not feel any emotion toward him

Love is often a difficult feeling to decipher, especially so when it concerns Shakespearean characters with tragic endings. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the reader is left to interpret Hamlet’s true feelings for Ophelia. Ophelia being the stereotypical clueless female character, while Hamlet’s the self-absorbed know-it-all, yet despite this clear distinction between the two, Ophelia manages to affect Hamlet. Ophelia was a fundamental part of Hamlet’s life, and Hamlet was in love with her. The influence Ophelia has on him is a clear indicator that Hamlet’s in love with her.

Hamlet is without any reservations, one of Shakespeare's most mystifying plays. Although the play has a concise story, it is filled with many uncertainties relating to different issues behind the plot. The reader is left with many uncertainties about the true feelings of prince Hamlet. One question in particular is, did Hamlet really love Ophelia? This dispute can be reinforced either way, however I believe Hamlet was truly in love with Ophelia. Support for my decision comes from Hamlet's treatment towards Ophelia is shown throughout the play, but especially in Act 3, Scene 2, and at Ophelia's grave in Scene 1 of Act 5.

When Polonius and Claudius decide to test Hamlet’s madness through Ophelia, he confesses he once loved her; only to immediately contradict himself claiming her never loved her. Fuelled by his detestation of sinful mankind and his low opinion of women in general as a result of his mother’s incest, he furthermore repeatedly orders Ophelia to “Go [her] ways to a nunnery”. More crudeness on Hamlet’s behalf is shown during the play-in-play, when he tortures Ophelia with a series of rude sexual comments.

Throughout the play, Hamlet struggles with avenging his father’s death. Hamlet often struggles with killing Claudius, his uncle who murdered his father and married his mother, and his religious views. When Hamlet is introduced in the play, the audience see’s that religion impacts Hamlet’s decision-making process. Once Hamlet meets the ghost for the first time and he sees his father and without hesitation he tells the ghost “haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge” (Hamlet Act 1 Scene 5 29-31). Hamlet agrees to avenge his fathers death but after seeing Claudius pray Hamlet states “the spirit that I have seen may be the devil: and the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me” (Hamlet, Act 2 Scene 2 576-579). Hamlet immediately begins to question his passion for