What Does It Mean To Be Broken In Hamlet

Many people have seen Hamlet as a play about uncertainty and about Hamlet's failure to act appropriately. It is very interesting to consider that the play shows many uncertainties that lives are built upon, or how many unknown quantities are taken for granted when people act or when they evaluate one another's actions. Hamlet is an especially intriguing production, both on the set and on the screen because of its uniqueness to be different from what most people expect to be in a revenge themed play. Hamlet's cynicism and insane like behavior cause him to seem indecisive, but in reality he is always judging and contemplating his actions in the back of his mind in order to seek revenge for the murder of

In this play “Hamlet” written by William Shakespeare, there are many soliloquies that are said by Hamlet to depict various meanings of his thoughts, feelings, and actions that are inside of him. More specifically the soliloquy in Act 3, Scene 1, in lines 57-91 starts off with the famous saying known as “To be, or not to be”. Throughout this soliloquy, Hamlet is asking himself the question of whether it is better to live or not to live. In life, we are faced with many situations where we feel the need to give up our life and not face the problems. Only by facing all the troubles, will a person become stronger and more courageous to handle anything in life. By believing in one’s self, can man have the courage to follow what they think is right. Killing yourself or giving up is never a solution in life. This soliloquy reveals Hamlet’s fearful personality by showing that his decision-making process is slow and that he fears risks or uncertainty. These character traits are depicted thoroughly by Hamlet throughout the play.

When hearing the word Tragedy, it would not be surprising if several different individuals would immediately think of several unique examples of the word. Perhaps one is an opera enthusiast who immediately thinks of Puccini’s La Boheme. Another is a war enthusiast that thinks about History Channel’s new episode highlighting the harshest and bloodiest battles of World War One. Even a third one obsessed with Greek mythology could generate a handful of examples of tragedy. Tragedy, like love or comedy is a universal theme that can be used to entertain, enlighten and excite its audiences. William Shakespeare, a world renown writer, was a master of this genre writing works, including Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and Hamlet. Another lesser known

People are under immense societal pressures when making decisions; friends, coworkers, and family members input their opinions on what they believe is best. This external force exerts pressure on them to conform to their ideas. In addition to others imposing their opinions, people can impact others through tragic events such as a death in the family. These can test their core values and cause them to re-evaluate their ideologies. In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Hamlet’s father dies and his mother, Gertrude, remarries soon after the death. Hamlet is initially bothered not only by the death of his father, but by his mother’s quick remarriage, because he felt as though Gertrude did not fully pay her respects and honor his death. However, after meeting and speaking with the ghost of his father, he learns the terrible truth. Hamlet’s father was killed at the hands of Claudius, his uncle and now stepfather, with the intent to obtain the throne. In a plea for vengeance, Hamlet’s father tries to convince him to kill Claudius. Claudius, on the other hand, presses Hamlet from the opposite side to fulfil his own visions for him. In Hamlet, society, as exemplified by his father and Claudius, causes Hamlet much distress as he’s torn between two versions of who he could be. This leads him to explore the act of suicide as an option to escape the new realities of his problematic existence. Ultimately, Hamlet’s realization and acceptance that it is impossible to meet society’s expectations

Hamlet is torn between deciding to seek revenge or commit suicide and becomes crazy with this new burden placed upon him.

Hamlet from William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is unable to commit to a decision throughout the play. His indecisiveness does not allow him to act quickly on any decision, leaving them lingering until it’s too late. Mentally, he thinks too much. Physically, he does not take enough action. Emotionally, his thoughts cause him to do irrational things. His delayed reaction to take revenge on Claudius results in everyone in the royal family dying. Hamlet’s weakness as a person is his inability to commit himself to action.

Throughout the play, Hamlet shows many examples of being an indecisive person and being unable to do anything he wants to, as if something stops him. An example would be in act five, when he decides to confess his love for Ophelia on her grave. He took too long to tell Ophelia or anyone for the matter about his love for her. Another example would be his mother remarrying, and Hamlet not being able to confess his true feelings about King Claudius being his new father. In the first four acts, Hamlet goes on about his life being miserable and in some kind of melancholy mood. He can’t find a way to deal with it, so he keeps all of his negative feelings to himself. This “depressed” funk he is in interferes with his will to act upon things that

In life, an individual’s course of action is directed by their nature of motivation. Sometimes, this nature lies so deeply beneath the surface, that people themselves aren’t even aware that it exists. In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, all of the actions that characters execute throughout the play are naturally motivated by a certain situation or feeling. Some of the characters are motivated to commit brave and heroic acts, while others may simply be encouraged to do the right thing. People can often become pusillanimous when they think too carefully, however, the nature of their motivation is what decides if they will complete the feat or not. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the nature of motivations that direct an individual’s course of action are mostly clearly represented by love, ambition, and revenge.

Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy in Act 3, Scene 1 provides the context for several of the characters' actions. It is a soliloquy about fearing the unknown that lies waiting on the other side of the grave (are we punished and/or rewarded according to our actions on earth?) and as Hamlet reasons, "Conscience does make cowards of us all" (3.1.2). In other words, Hamlet feels that he is unable to act because of the haunting voice of doubt inside him. He doubts that he would find peace in the afterlife should he kill himself. He doubts the events he sees before his very eyes and so cannot exact revenge as the spirit of his father urges him to do. Yet, as Hamlet begins to unravel, other characters expose their doubts as well, revealing how they too are troubled by the unknown. King Claudius reveals his troubled conscience after witnessing the play and wonders what he has done; Hamlet's mother tries to block out the reality of the situation she has entered into when Hamlet attacks her with what he knows (not knowing is better than knowing, she feels). This paper will examine the ways in which the unknown affects the actions of the characters in Hamlet and show that at the heart of each character is an unwillingness to confront the unknown (which is oftentimes themselves).

Paul Cantor states that "Hamlet continually hesitates to act because he will not allow himself to be swept away by his passions. His intellect is constantly leading him to deny meaning to the very acts he feels impelled to perform."

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

With Hamlet’s tragic flaw being his inability to act, he is plagued throughout the play by his immense intelligence and philosophical nature, which causes him to overanalyze each situation, rendering him unable to carry out any action in response. This is evident in the play by the frequent delay of acting out his father’s revenge due to the uncertainty of the evidence pertaining to his uncle’s crime. Hamlet’s inability to act creates a discourse between hamlet and his consciousness, generating an abundance of stress, which causes him to become increasingly frustrated as the play progresses. This frustration leads to him at moments in the play to behave in a rash and impulsive way or acting in an inappropriate manner, contradicting his methodical and reserved disposition. It is the consequences of these “inappropriate” actions that resurfaces at the plays end, to haunt the character, as Hamlet’s inability to act while using his renowned logic and intelligence ultimately leads to his eventual demise at the plays conclusion, due to his inability to act both “effectively” and “appropriately” in critical situations.

In William Shakespeare Hamlet and Othello, the author creates two similar yet vastly different protagonists. The major source of contrast lies within each characters approach to decision making and premeditated action. As David Nichol Smith puts it, Hamlet “is not a character marked by strength of will or even passion, but by refinement of thought and sentiment.”(Smith 288) This very refinement of thought is what characterizes both Hamlet’s indecision and forces him to act when he renounces indecision. In contrast

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet is faced with emotional and physical hardship. The suffering that he endures causes his character to develop certain idiosyncrasies. Morality has a significant importance to Hamlet. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet possesses a strong sense of morality. A sense that is stronger than all other characters. Hamlet's actions and feelings are controlled by his morality. His morality grows weaker as the play progresses. Hamlet's opinions toward the characters within the play are determined by his moral standpoint. As the play goes on, Hamlet's tendency of thinking too much causes him to become mad. Hamlet's focal problem is his madness.

This is the first time the audience becomes aware of Hamlet’s ability to be a great thinker and philosopher. However, from this moment on, Hamlet is divulged into a downward spiral of an obsession of death and tragedy. This onus that he must set things right that his conscience forces him to carry during the play is the inception of his hamartia. Hamlet’s obsession of avenging his father’s death causes him to not always think clearly. At times Hamlet is suffering from analysis paralysis