The Tragic Hero Of Hamlet By William Shakespeare

Quintessentially speaking, revenge is a thing that many have sought in response to a tragic event unfolding. Typically, as a result, vengeance is contemplated upon by the victim as a means of retribution, a way of making things right and seeking justice on the behest of the victim, if the law will not grant justice through due process due to corrupt forces stemmed deep within it- corrupt seeds of a corrupt plant. Therefore, revenge become an apparent option for those willing to walk that path [of no return]. However, instances of revenge not being attained in the “clear cut” way it is ordinarily acquired have occurred from time to time throughout history. One of the most prominent examples of unconventional revenge attainment can be found within the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, entailing the revenge path walked by its eponymously named main character, Prince Hamlet. Specifically, his intentful delay in attaining his revenge against his uncle Claudius for his direct role in the death of his father, King Hamlet. This literary conundrum has dumbfounded literary critics for over 400 years and counting- due to the fact that a universally accepted consensus amongst them as well as the general public as to why Hamlet delayed his revenge has not yet been reached.

  Hamlet feels that if he is to kill Claudius at a time when he is praying then he will go to heaven, and Hamlet does not want that so he decides not to kill him. Hamlet wants Claudius to suffer for what he has done to his father. But may be Hamlet chose the wrong decision because when he finally decides to kill Claudius he too suffers as well. In Act 5, scene 2 Laertes, the son of Polonius challenges Hamlet to a dual. Hamlet agrees to the dual because he does not want to be

The morning after Horatio and the guards see the ghost King Claudius gives a speech explaining his marriage to Gertrude, his brotherś widow and mother of Hamlet. He speaks of how he is sorry for his brothers death and how he is going to take charge of the kingdom now that they are threatened by Prince Fortunbross. Now with Claudus in charge this means that Hamlet will not take thrown as planned to be the king.

Hamlet is a complex story that uses many literary devices to help develop the characters in Hamlet. One dominant device is irony. The main plot of the story revolves around irony. Hamlet is a witty character and loves to use irony. Hamlet’s use of irony displays how he insults people, discovers useful information, and reveals his true character. The use of irony in this story helps to add depth to each character, which is why Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most complex stories.

Next, Hamlet's mother Gertrude has shown her undying loyalty to Hamlet throughout the play but through a series of fated events, she pays the ultimate price for an unjust cause. For instance, "He's fat, and scant of breath. Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows: The queen carouses to they fortune, Hamlet/(King:) Gertrude, do not drink. /It is the poison'd cup: it is too late. (V.ii 279-284) Claudius is not prepared to take the risk that Hamlet is struck down by Laertes sword so he has not only dipped the tip of the sword in poison but also placed a cup with poison on the pedestal. Gertrude drinks to Hamlet's success-without any intervention from the cowardly Claudius- and she is brought down by the poisoned cup. She was just an innocent bystander on the path of rage between Claudius and Hamlet.

Gertrude realizes Hamlet’s madness after this and speaks to Claudius about it. Hamlet is so paranoid that he kills the once love of his lives father and doesn’t even feel guilty about it even after he finds out who it truly was behind that curtain.

In order to better understand Hamlet one must first asses, and define man. According to webster dictionary a man is a "male often having the qualities associated with bravery,script or toughness"(site webster dictionary www.define a man.com here). We know the male figure is known to exhibit distinctive male traits such as strength, dignity, courage and be a provider and supporter. As seen in Hamlet one must understand the male figure to better understand Hamlet and why the male behave in such ways, is it the male ego, personality, or just the male gender. Hamlet has many character flaws that interferes with his loyalty to his country, father,mother, and response to duty.

Seeking revenge can cause a person to turn insane and blindly seek retaliation. Shakespeare’s Hamlet contemplates revenge throughout the story. Madness and revenge are similar themes in the movie, The Lion King, where the main character, Simba, is faced with the death of his father, leading him to do whatever it takes to seek revenge. This is where madness usually is introduced as a problem within a character, and this problem leads to the character doing things that they don’t usually do, sometimes dangerous things. The fathers of both Hamlet and Simba die, and the only one to blame is someone trusted amongst them. They seek revenge for their father’s unjust deaths. Betrayal, love and loss drive both characters to seek revenge. The death of their fathers leads them to go mad, and this mental state leads to them questioning the motives of close people in their lives.

Throughout the play, Shakespeare begins to show the basics of Hamlet’s mind, striving to show, as to why he remains inactive and unsure throughout majority of the play. Firstly, “…but know, thou know noble youth/ The serpent that did sting thy father’s life/ Now wears his crown” (Act I. v. 39-40). As the Ghost tells Hamlet his father’s real murder, Shakespeare begins to show the reader, that the protagonist is encountering the Shadow archetype, which represents unknown characteristics of the main character. The reader is shown with the presence of the Shadow archetype, that Hamlet’s concealed suspicion regarding the death of his father, which was considered as an accident, turns into an urge to seek revenge. This archetype reveals to us Hamlet’s inner desires to kill his Uncle Claudius. Furthermore, “…your noble son is mad:/ Mad call I it, for, to define true madness,/ What is’t but to be nothing else but mad?” (Act II. ii. 92-94). Polonius tells the Queen and King that Hamlet is insane for Ophelia, as a result, the Anima archetype is represented by a member of the opposite sex. As for Hamlet, it is a sign of feminine desires he once had for Ophelia, who were once lovers. However, he ignores the affection he has towards Ophelia, in order to focus on his pursuit for vengeance. Moreover, “I have some rights of memory in this kingdom,/ Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me” (Act V.ii.379-380). Fortinbras and Hamlet’s motive is to avenge their

Firstly, Hamlet Jr. best known for being a scholar alongside his good friend, Horatio, is looking more and more like a madman ever since his father’s death. Before the person resembling the late King appeared to him in the form of a ghost, Hamlet Jr. had a lot of hostility towards Claudius, even more after the ghost proclaimed to him that his father, Hamlet Sr., was in fact murdered. Deep down Hamlet Jr. knew that his father did not die from natural causes, but was unsure of how to proceed with what to do about it so his doubts of that being true just made him even more paranoid and an even bigger procrastinator. Especially, when in the play Hamlet Jr. went to tell Gertrude about the news that he was informed about his father’s not so accidental

4) In the text spoken by Horatio it seems to follow the idea that fear is pervasive. Horatio claims that all ghosts are bad in the city, who talked bad about one another after the death of Julius Caeser was assassinated. Evil diction is present in the passage as

Hamlet is considered to be Shakespeare’s greatest work, and the soliloquy to be or not to be is equally as famous. Hamlet is one of the greatest dramatic characters of all time and the role of Hamlet is one that many actors strive to play. Shakespeare wrote the character Hamlet in a very specific manner and it is because of this that few have found success in performing this role. Moreover the soliloquy to be or not to be has been one that has defined the level of success of an actors role of Hamlet. Famous actors like Lawrence Olivier, John Gielgud, Jude Law, Mel Gibson, Kenneth Branagh, David Tennant, etc. have stepped into the shoes of hamlet and into the world of Shakespeare. However, only Tennant, Gibson, and Branagh have

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet is a unique character due to his unpredictability. He is attempting to discover the truth in a way that no other character of Shakespeare’s has done. We find Hamlet in a state of deep melancholy due to the death of his father, as well as the very sudden and lewd marriage of his uncle and his mother. Hamlet is inspired by the player giving the speech about Hecuba witnessing the massacre of her husband, Priam. He goes off on his own, and he is bewildered at how this player can show an enormous amount of passion to something that doesn’t exist. Hamlet contemplates on the reason of how he has not been able to act yet, and he feels like he has stalled for far too long. Hamlet’s main issue isn’t that he is a coward, but a truth seeker. He is skeptical about what is true, and that is what plagues him with his duty to avenge his father.

And yet, he is woken, albeit for only a short time, from his depression by the arrival of his friend Horatio from Wittenberg and the news he brings of Hamlet’s ghost. Prince Hamlet, demanding, “For God’s love, let me hear!” (I.ii.196) accosts Horatio on every minute detail regarding his father’s spirit from where they saw the apparition to their response, even to whether or not “his beard was grizzled” (I.ii.245). But, only a few scenes later, our hero returns to a dejected disposition, moving rather quickly from his heroic belief that “The time is out of joint. O cursèd spit/That ever I was born to set it right!” (I.v.197-198) to “You cannot, sir, take from me anything that I will more willingly part withal – except my life, except my life, except my life.” (II.ii.215-217). Given the drastic difference between this line and the “antic disposition” he had been showing to Polonius only a few lines earlier, it appears as if this is one of the few glimpses one can get into Hamlet’s soul while he is in discourse with another character. And yet, of all of young Hamlet’s desires, suicide is the most easily noticed: he has no qualms about mentioning it to any other characters, even to Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, when he calls the world “sterile promontory” (II.ii.300) and man nothing but a “quintessence of dust” (II.ii.309).

Throughout the years, humankind had find different ways to pass the time. One way to pass the time for humans is writing. This is a form of expressing our inner feelings, helping others, or communicate with one another. During the 1590’s, an author by the name of William Shakespeare began writing plays to entertain not only himself, but his audiences as well. Like any other author, his plays came from inspirations, more specifically, Hamlet. His life views can be seen in this play and influenced how characters interacted with others or viewed life. Due to William Shakespeare’s terrible experiences with love, his characters in Hamlet and other works experience hardships with romantic affairs.