The Duality of Hamlet’s Character Portrayed in Shakespeare's Hamlet

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.

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

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.

Hamlet sees something that is rotten in his kingdom and he knows it is his moral responsibility to resolve this issues however he finishes off by saying that in actual fact he is powerless “but break my heart, for I must hold my tongue” admitting his weakness. Hamlet begins to grapple with the nature of humanity and morality following the confrontation with the ghost. The appearance of the ghost triggers Hamlet’s existential struggle “All is not well… I doubt some foul play… foul deeds will rise” (Act 1 scene 2) through the use of foreshadowing, Shakespeare exposes the nature of humanity to audiences through the construction of Hamlet’s character. He emphasises that a strong sense of morality can cause conflicts in the decision to make noble choices.

Hamlet went from a mourning Prince of Denmark over the death of his father, to a revenge seeking murderer as the play progresses. This transition in character is evident through Hamlets meaning of life; the desire for justice. After the meeting with the ghost, his worldview completely changed to a craving for revenge. In today’s ever changing world, people who act on revenge are no longer socially acceptable. These people who act on revenge often commit mortal sins and heavy crimes and are set to life in prison. Hamlet is the only person to blame for his death because of his worldview. “A villain kills my father, and for that I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven.” (Shakespeare 3.3 76-78) At this point, Hamlet’s worldview is completely based on getting revenge for his father. There is nothing more important in life at the time. Hamlet has just killed Polonius mistaking him as Claudius. Moments later Hamlet is face to face with Claudius, but chooses not to kill him because he wants the worst for him. Hamlet says “ I, his sole son, do this same villain send to

In many of Shakespeare’s tragedies, the playwright draws a connection between the moral health of the kingdom and the corruption of the ruler himself. In Hamlet, he explores the extent to which corruption influences characters. By utilising animal and nature imagery, Shakespeare exemplifies how sexual and political vices corrupt characters and ultimately lead to their demise.

In William Shakespeare 's Hamlet, there are many conflicts present that can be applied to modern time. Hamlet, as the protagonist, displays many difficult aspects that haunt mankind to this day. Hamlet is a dynamic character. He believes that he is the smartest person in the room, which most of the time he is. He comes up with conniving schemes to get his revenge. Although Hamlet believes in his brilliant plan to feign madness, it causes so much suspicion from others that it ultimately causes the untimely death of himself and others.

Throughout his plan, Hamlet maintains his honor and his actions allow for “the reinforcement of the onlookers brightest opinions of the human animal”. Hamlet’s death is unfair, but his integrity leaves the audience with a sense of hope. Hamlet’s physical prosperity is in fates hands, but his moral prosperity was

William Shakespeare’s dramatic presentation of disillusionment within Hamlet, to a great measure presents the notion that the quality of a leader is derived from one’s possession of integrity. Hamlet’s disillusionment which emerges from the discovery of Claudius’ regicide and the usurpation of his father’s divine position, produces a plethora of human dilemmas, such as the moral struggle between renaissance and medieval ideologies, the paralysing effect of uncertainty and the defining nature of mortality. Thus by exploring the universal complexity of human condition and its ability withhold integrity, Shakespeare connects to audiences of various historical contexts.

Shakespeare’s tragedy play ‘Hamlet’ argues for duality being an innate part of human nature, social roles and the universe at large as a social commentary on 16th century England. During the play’s first recession Hamlet was more violent focusing on the insanity aspect due to popular demand. The Jacobean audience was allured by nature’s unveiled dark side with most popular works being The White Devil by John Webster and Volpone by Ben Jonson; both addressing dramatical exposure of humanity’s dark side. The concept is ingrained within dramatic techniques, characterisation, and structural aspects as a mainstay of the play. Customary definitions of morality, femininity, and reality are challenged as a means of perfecting the genre of tragedy through revealing the seldom looked at society’s substructure concurrently involving the audience through catharsis.

Shakespeare's Hamlet is filled with murder, revenge, and betrayal. The way the characters go about their revengeful murder says a lot about them. Claudius is a manipulating coward: he poisoned his own brother in his sleep in order to obtain the throne. Hamlet is completely indecisive: he spends majority of the play debating whether not to kill Claudius, when he would do it, and how he would do it. As soon as Laertes hears of his father’s death, he leaves Paris and marches an angry mob into the castle to demand blood. The methods in which the protagonist, antagonist, and foil murder others reflects back on their true in our character.

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet’s actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his ‘outsider’ outlook on society,

One loses many opportunities every time they hesitate to act. Whether it be unintentional or not, it all depends on the subject in question. In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark, the character Hamlet shows qualities that are evident in his soliloquies. Since the beginning, Hamlet is unable to control his emotions towards Gertrude and Ophelia. He tends to overthink, generating doubt around life and death. Though impossible and inconvenient at times, Hamlet strives for an idealistic approach, such as justification for killing Claudius. Hamlet’s complex personality and unpredictable nature delay the commitment he makes to avenge his father.

William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ is characterised as a tragedy, illustrating an abundance of significant themes, with one of the most important ideas being revenge. Revenge is defined as an action of hurting somebody in return for something that has been done unjustly wrong. The main character, Hamlet, continuously reflects on revenge throughout the play, particularly in his soliloquies. Nevertheless, he has been procrastinating, talking about the situation, but not demonstrating it. In an honour code, it displays coward-like qualities. Revenge is effectively represented in ‘Hamlet’, as it allows to develop a strong understanding of human strengths and frailties. This is because it represents the different forms of deceptive plots that result in the situation of death. This is clearly evident in Hamlet’s interaction with his father’s ghost, convincing him to murder Claudius for revenge, which extends into the play that is acted out, proving that he is the murderer of his father. Also, Hamlet’s third and most famous soliloquy provides the reader with a reflection on death in his melancholic state of mind, and Hamlet also refrains from killing Claudius as he is praying and decides to kill him at another time.