Shakespeare’s tragedies are filled with many commonalities: violent murders, treachery and revenge. However, while Hamlet, Prince of Denmark portrays these same ideas, it effectively fights against the traditional expectations of a Shakespearean tragedy. The play centers on Hamlet’s attempts to avenge his father’s murder, yet his greatest struggles are against himself. Stemming from his constant desire to plot a perfect revenge, Hamlet’s obsessiveness often leads to frustration. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony and lengthy soliloquies to give the reader an omniscient perspective that recognizes that Hamlet must let go of his desire to control the future. In his initial encounter with the ghost of his dead father, Hamlet is cast into the …show more content…
Shakespeare uses this communicatory device throughout the play to develop the reader’s perspective and shape the isolated and frustrated character of Hamlet. With a soliloquy following this initial supernatural encounter, Hamlet shows his true reaction to his task. He decries his murderous uncle Claudius as “villain, villain, smiling, damnèd villain” (Shakespeare 1108) and reminds himself of his promise to keep his word as “I have sworn’t” (Shakespeare 1108). The moment, however, feels slightly empty. By speaking alone as an aside, Hamlet’s emotional moments are essentially only for the audience to see into his mind. They, otherwise, don’t hold much value since they fail to communicate anything to the other characters in the play. After his soliloquy, Hamlet’s tone changes dramatically from his confidence with the ghost. He bemoans to Horatio that “the time is out of joint. “Oh cursèd spite / That ever I was born to set it right!” (Shakespeare 1109). This is not confidence. Hamlet, while supposedly ready and eager for revenge, shows that he does not necessarily want to be the one required to fix this mess. The early encounter between Hamlet and the ghost gives him no choice but to avenge his father, but it also highlights his weaknesses, showing that he is not as confident as he may have thought. Throughout the play, Hamlet encounters numerous external forces that remind him of his unfinished revenge. His reactions –in
Getting revenge does not always guarantee a satisfactory win in the end. In the famous play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, returns from school after learning that his father, the king, has died. He later discovers that his uncle has actually killed Hamlet’s father in order to take his throne and wife. Instructed by the ghost of his father, Hamlet seeks out to get revenge on his uncle. In this play, the revenge of Hamlet’s father affects Hamlet’s relationships, actions, and state of mind.
Hamlet has had to cope with a lot of different things way to fast. In the beginning of the play he sees the ghost of his dead father and is actually able to have a conversation with him. After his father was murdered everyone thought it was an accident but Hamlet knew the truth because the ghost told him it was
From the beginning of his and his mother’s conversation Hamlet was very angry and on edge with her for being with his father’s murderer. Hamlet somehow knew someone was eavesdropping on their conversation as he had been spied on previously. He suddenly decides to act out of fury thinking how angry he was at Claudius and kills who’s behind the curtain, thinking it was Claudius. Hamlet realizes after that he killed the wrong man, it had been Polonius that he killed but he didn’t care much saying that Polonius was a fool. Hamlet sees the ghost again after and the ghost tells Hamlet he still must carry out his revenge for his father because he had failed .
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
In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the playwright introduces the compelling, complex, and complicated character of the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet. In the events of the play, Hamlet swears revenge against his uncle for the foul murder of his father, the king. However, despite his intense catalyst, Hamlet reveals to be continuously torn between his motive of revenge and conflicted conscience, generating an inability to carry out his desired actions. While Hamlet possesses the passion and intellect to murder his uncle, Claudius, his actual inclination to act upon the murder directly opposes that of his powerfully emotional contemplations (S.T. Coleridge). Hamlet’s overzealous thoughts become unrealistic compared to his actual endeavors throughout the play.
Revenge is a recurring theme in Hamlet. Although Hamlet wants to avenge his father’s death, he is afraid of what would result from this. In the play Hamlet, Hamlet’s unwillingness to revenge appears throughout the text; Shakespeare exhibits this through Hamlet’s realization that revenge is not the right option, Hamlet‘s realization that revenge is the same as the crime which was already committed, and his understanding that to revenge is to become a “beast” and to not revenge is as well (Kastan 1).
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the titular character struggles to engage in his desired plan of revenge. Hamlet shows throughout the play that he is inconsistent, indecisive, and unsure of himself, as well as his actions. The play focuses on Hamlet’s revenge; however, he continuously fails to happen at opportunistic moments. Throughout the play, Hamlet insists that he intends to avenge his father’s death through the murder of Claudius, but Hamlet fails to act on occasion because of his indecisive personality.
Hamlet is a suspenseful play that introduces the topic of tragedy. Throughout the play, Hamlet displays anger, uncertainty, and obsession with death. Although Hamlet is unaware of it, these emotions cause the mishaps that occur throughout the play. These emotions combined with his unawareness are the leading basis for the tragic hero’s flaws. These flaws lead Hamlet not to be a bad man, but a regular form of imperfection that comes along with being human.
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.
The relevance and significance of the revenge tragedy is in the way it explores human nature and forces audiences to evaluate ideologies such as revenge and justice. The concept of revenge is accompanied by moral conflict and Shakespeare demonstrates that by acting immorally society is likely to be riddled with corruption. Hamlet seeks to avenge the death of his father but struggles with the ramifications of seeking righteous revenge through an immoral act. The imposition of revenge instills the existential questioning on Hamlet as it contradicts his with his social expectation. His
The play, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, surrounds the central idea of revenge and betrayal. Revenge drives the characters and determines their actions throughout the play, which results in several instances of betrayal. With revenge, the friendship and loyalty of characters are tested and conflicts are established between characters. Hamlet’s father, the king of Denmark, was helplessly poisoned by his own brother, Claudius. Hamlet, the protagonist, becomes aware of his father’s death and finds himself seeking revenge and starting a cycle of hatred. Hamlet embarks on his journey for revenge by displaying an act of craziness. Throughout the play, there were several moments where Hamlet’s actions caused confusion and made it difficult for
Hamlet is confronted by the ghostly figure of his father in Act I, scene V. Hamlet’s father informs him that he had been murdered by Claudius. King Hamlet tells his son to avenge his death, but doesn’t specify how. King Hamlet also tells Hamlet to leave his mother out of the revenge plot, as King Hamlet believes Claudius seduced Queen Gertrude. King
Hamlet himself is shocked when he sees the ghost that claims to be his father. His first thought was that “the spirit that I have seen may be the devil” and “the devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape; and perhaps out of my weakness and my melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits”(2.2.58). Hamlet’s confusion is clear here as he tries to figure out whether the ghost he has spoken to is actually the devil rather than his own father speaking to him. Hamlet at the same time is also pondering if his depression is making him weak and perhaps what could be driving him insane. This ultimately leads to Hamlet even questioning himself whether “to be or not to be” (3.1.6).
He does not believe that it is truly his father. Even after seeing the ghost himself, Hamlet remains cynical, although he does in fact emotional upon seeing it. The ghost tells Hamlet that his brother killed him in order to steal both his wife and the throne. Hamlet becomes confused after seeing his father’s ghost and is unsure of how he should react. However, he vows to seek revenge against his uncle, although he refuses to do so without first having sufficient evidence to prove his uncle’s guilt.
Hamlet a tragic play written by William Shakespeare about a young Prince named Hamlet, who is trying to take revenge for his father’s murder at the hand of his uncle Claudius. At first Hamlet did not believe the ghost of his father so he sets a play acting out how his father died to see if Claudius is the one who killed his father by his reaction to the play. Once he finds out, Hamlet becomes angry and eventually kills Claudius. Unfortunately, Hamlet and all the rest of the main characters all end up dead by the end of the play. Psychoanalytic literary theory usually focuses on the author and characters unconscious drives such as if they are id, ego, or superego. The id is the crazy part of your mind which is driven by desire where