American literary critic Harold Bloom, known for his love of Shakespeare said, “Shakespeare is universal… he has hidden himself behind all of these extraordinary men and women.” Shakespeare is able to connect with many who encounter his work by creating a range of characters such as heroes in the form of Hamlet or villains in that of Claudius. Playwright William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and King Lear demonstrate the manipulation of family to achieve one’s ends. Personal gain through family is a significant contributing factor to both of these tragedies. Their gifts of language and its delivery is a clear example as well as these villains having no qualms about ignoring morals, and betraying their own blood. Despite the tragic endings, there is …show more content…
At the same time, he tries to establish his role as a father figure to Hamlet while addressing the Danish Court, and informing them of his marriage to his brother’s widow. “Tis unmanly grief/ It shows a will most incorrect to heaven/ A heart unfortified, a mind impatient/ … And with no less nobility of love/ Than that which dearest father bears his son” (Hamlet 1.2.94-96, 110-111). Claudius calls Hamlet’s grieving unmanly and urges him to move on, because death is only natural. Moreover, he insultingly claims to feel the most honourable love that a father can have for his son.
In comparison, the main plot in King Lear starts to develop quickly from the beginning when Lear holds a contest for his daughters. He claims that whichever one of them loves him the most will receive the biggest piece of the kingdom upon his retirement. Regan and Goneril, seizing an opportunity for power, are quick to flatter their father with the empty words they know he is seeking. “I love you more than word can wield the matter;/ Dearer than eyesight, space and liberty;/ … Beyond all manner of so much I love you” (King Lear 1.1.56-57, 62). Goneril immediately catches on telling her father that words alone can never express her love. She says that she loves him more than those comparisons she has made. Not to be outdone, Regan has her chance at claiming that her love for Lear is greater than that of her
Insanity occupies an essential place in William Shakespeare’s King Lear, and is associated with both disorder and hidden wisdom. As King Lear goes mad due to dementia, the turmoil in his mind mirrored the chaos that has descended upon his kingdom. He initiated the unnatural sequence of events when he proclaimed that he desires to relinquish his duties as a monarchy and conferring them onto his children. At the same time, Lear’s dementia provided him with important wisdom by reducing him to his bare humanity and stripped him of all royal pretensions.
Claudius wants Hamlet to look up to him as a father, rather than resenting him for the way he inherited the throne, and married his mother so soon after King Hamlet’s death. In Act I, scene 2, Claudius says, “To do obsequious sorrow. But to persevere in obstinate condolement is a course of impious stubbornness. ‘Tis unmanly grief.” (Shakespeare 92-94) What Claudius is saying, in modern terms, is Hamlet is allowed to grieve and mourn for a certain period of time, but after that period is over, it is considered unacceptable and unmanly. He wants Hamlet to get over his father’s death and look up to him, so he can get the admiration he needs.
In this soliloquy, the audience gets its first glimpse of the character of Goneril. The full spectrum of her greed and selfishness will not be revealed until later, but this is certainly a good sample of her personality. Her profession of love is so large that it seems almost artificial, and it also seems motivated by the fact that possession of land is involved. Still, Lear seems immensely pleased by her statement, and requests a similar profession of love from his other daughter, Regan. She obliges, and in her declaration she tells her father that she loves him even more than Goneril does. Regan emerges from her
Hamlet’s inability to act upon his emotions begins in the wake of his father’s death and his mother’s instantaneous/hasty marriage to Claudius. Criticized for his prolonged mourning of his late father and insistence from his mother to move on, Hamlet must momentarily seize publicly grieving for his father and in a lengthy expression of torment, contemplates suicide as he agonizes over the dreads of life and the reality that “[he] must hold [his] tongue,” in regards to his mourning (1.2.164). For the sake of his mother’s request, Hamlet anguishes over having to refrain from speaking of his grief, only to deliver a prolonged speech of his woes of mourning. While everyone in the kingdom of Denmark embraces the new king,
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.
Claudius insists, "But you must know your father lost a father;/…But to persever/In obstinate condolement is a course/Of impious stubbornness. 'Tis unmanly grief." (1.2.93-98). The late King's death is simplified to being part of a natural process, which Hamlet is denying, and push Hamlet to be seen as the abnormal member of the court in a time of 'celebration'. Claudius furthermore asserts that Hamlet cannot return to school, worsening the situation as Hamlet is prohibited from distancing himself from a source of his angst. Hamlet's uncle betrays Hamlet by denying him the opportunity to deal with his grief on his own terms, while belittling Hamlet's emotions and prohibiting him from leaving a toxic environment. Hamlet's mother betrays him as she denies him any public support during his uncle's reprimand. His mother argues, "Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off,/…Seek for thy noble father in the dust./Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die," (1.2.70-74). This argument only serves to compel Hamlet to believe that
As Claudius speaks to Hamlet about his depressed actions following the death off King Hamlet, Claudius tells him, “…your father lost a father, that father lost, lost his…” Carefully selected, these words showed Claudius’ responsibility in seeking comfort for Hamlet, while also trying to make it seem as if the death of King Hamlet was one to come, driving Hamlet’s curiosity about the death away from Claudius. Though he has shown to take on the responsibility off caring for Hamlet, it was purely out of Claudius’ self interest for these actions as he wanted to ensure Hamlet would not try to sneak around and find out the truth behind his father’s death. But as the play continues, Claudius’ suspicions continue to grow which causes him to attempt to ask for forgiveness before anything may happen to him.
Lear, the king, is blinded by his daughters. When he asks what his daughters have to say about him, Regan and Goneril, the greedy ones, tell Lear that he is a great father and Lear rewards them with more wealth and land. Goneril says “Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter; Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty; Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare; No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour” (I.i.55-61). Goneril expresses her false love for
In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, it is clearly evident Prince Hamlet is overcome with “madness” due to his father’s murder and other malicious actions taken against him. Throughout the play, there are many examples of how Hamlet displays his insanity due to certain situations he experiences and how he handles them. Hamlet shows his madness through the killing of Polonius, his treatment of Ophelia, his thoughts of suicide, and the treatment of his mother Gertrude.
After being questioned by his mother, Queen Gertrude, for his downcast behavior, Hamlet tried to articulate his own woes; a feeling that he is unable to display properly. King Claudius, however, instead of trying to understand his nephew’s distress insisted Hamlet to “Throw to earth this unprevailing woe and think of us as of a father; for let the world take note, you are the most immediate to our throne, and with no less nobility of love that that which dearest father bears his son do I impart toward you” (Shakespeare 245). Uncaringly disregarding his nephew’s mourning for his father, King Claudius criticized Hamlet on his moping, insisting that his actions were weak and unfit for someone who’s going to inherit the throne. He wants Hamlet to retire from his own feelings and move on forward to the present while instructing Hamlet to consider him as his new father and take account that he’s only doing this out of love. King Claudius is using a force of control over Hamlet’s life, failing to take account of his nephew’s opinion, only for the benefit of himself since now he is in the position as king and as a father. He wants to make sure Hamlet is abiding to his
Take a look at any major action/drama television show on air today and you won 't find one that doesn 't have a character who is avoiding some sort of conflict by pretending like it doesn 't exist. The reason this character exist is because we can relate to them. We have all been guilty at some point in our lives of trying to act like a conflict we 've had has not existed or been a problem at all. In William Shakespeare 's Hamlet we are bombarded with characters that are avoiding conflict by acting like they don 't exist. Although majority of my classmates felt Hamlet was a play about revenge, I believe Shakespeare is addressing the issue of chaos and how it cannot be rectified by conjuring up a false reality; it only pushes the conflict
King Lear is frequently regarded as one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, and its tragic scope touches almost all facets of the human condition: from the familial tensions between parents and children to the immoral desires of power, from the follies of pride to the false projections of glory. However, one theme rings true throughout the play, and that very theme is boundless suffering, accentuated by the gruesome depictions of suffering our protagonists experience . There is no natural (nor “poetic”) justice depicted in this pre-Judeo-Christian world Shakespeare presents, as the relatively virtuous individuals (Kent, Gloucester, and Cordelia) in this
In the play, King Lear by Shakespeare, sight is used as an indication of perception and judgement. Kent and Cordelia seem to be one of the few in the play who act rationally and do not respond with blind praise to King Lear’s absurd requests. They are the only truly loyal people in King Lear’s court, yet he fails to see that and casts them off as traitors. Their act of treason was their worry for King Lear, when no one else would dare point it out. King Lear’s immense autocratic power blinded him from seeing the true nature of his subjects and the state of affairs of his kingdom. As Kent suggested, King Lear needed to “see better” (1.1.180). His vision of his subjects and daughters was blinded by his need for constant appraisal. The second someone dared to say anything that didn’t please him, he lost all rationality. Similarly, Gloucester is unable to see the true natures of his sons, wrongfully trusting one son over the other.
Hamlet concerns about his actions and of the characters around him to be moral to ensure everyone is on the path of morality. During his depression, Hamlet thinks of suicide, but constraints himself," Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! ", where Hamlet shows his concern of suicide being a crime in the books of God (I,ii,131 - 132). In his perception, there is more to life than just moments of sadness, and there is no clue of what happens next in one's life so ending life is not an option for him. Hamlet's perception is based on the ideology of right and wrong in the society. Later in the play, witnessing his own mother's second marriage to his uncle, Hamlet overwhelms," O most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not nor it cannot come to good ", where his concerns for his mother's actions are apparent (I,ii,157 - 159). Hamlet distinguishes his mother's act as disgusting and wicked. Such reaction of Hamlet suggests his concern of morality within other characters' actions for the welfare of the society. Finally, upon knowing of his father's murderer, Hamlet still wants to confirm Claudius's guilt in the crime. To investigate of his guilt, Hamlet devises a plan of a play in which he will show Claudius the murder scene," Observe mine uncle. If his occulted guilt Do not itself unkennel in one speech, It is a damnèd ghost that we have
In the beginning, the audience may feel alienated towards him because of his harsh and selfish treatment of Cordelia, his youngest daughter. But as the story unfolds, they pity and sympathize with that powerful king who has started his journey of suffering and powerlessness because of Gonoril and Regan’s masked love towards him. In “Madness and Memory”, Mazzaro says that later on the heath, Lear indicates that his madness lies in recalling his injuries done on him by Goneril and Regan (110). His sanity is questioned by Gonoril and Regan who refer to his age as a reason for his inconsistency, but they also acknowledge the fact of his lack of awareness throughout his life. Regan