Heroes are rarely seen in today's world. Too many people are worried about money or power to be concerned with others around them. But then that leads to the definition of a hero. It is possibly a person who does moral good in the world, or perhaps someone who stands up for those who do not have the power to do so themselves. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, but people must remember that they are still human. They do make mistakes and they can be selfish. Such is the case in both Hamlet and Tempest. Both main characters have been slighted in some way and both eventually get their revenge. They are similar and different in the ways that they go about this business. Thus, Hamlet and Prospero shall be discussed in detail to each other and how they performed as the "hero" of the play. To begin with comparisons, of which there are many, one must start with the most obvious similarity, that being that Hamlet and Prospero have both been slighted in some way. In Hamlet's case, his father has been murdered by his uncle. Hamlet’s own father tells him, “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life/ Now wears his crown.”(Hamlet, Act one, Scene Five, Lines 44-45). In Prospero's case, his dukedom was taken from him by his brother Antonio with the help of Alonso. Another similarity is the way that both of them think logically before doing a rash act. They do not simply jump into a situation with swords blazing; rather they look towards calculated and logical means of exacting their revenge. Hamlet uses a play in order to confirm his father's murder and Sydney Lanier explains, "Here in Hamlet the motive of the anti-masque is quite clear: it is to entrap the King's conscience into a clear betrayal of his guilt in murdering his brother and us... ... middle of paper ... ...world hope that they don't have to be incredibly gifted just to be a hero. Hamlet and Prospero show that things go wrong and you have to try to set them right. Morality is unfortunately diminishing in our time and stories like these help to bring forward those long lost emotions. Man never truly loses those emotions, he simply must be reminded of them. Works Cited Birenbaum, Harvey. “To Be or Not to Be” The Archetypal Form of Hamlet. N.p.: Penn State, 1981. Print. Bradley, Andrew Cecil. Shakespearean Tragedy; Lectures on Hamlet, Othello. N.p.: Macmillan, 1922. Print. Lanier, Sydney. Shakspere and His Forerunners. N.p.: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1901. Print. Newell, W. W. Sources of Shakespeare’s Tempest. N.p.: American Folklore Society, 1903. Print. Shelden, Michael. The Imagery of Constraint in Hamlet. N.p.: Folger Shakespeare Library, 1977. Print.
Manning, John. "Symbola and Emblemata in Hamlet." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 11-18.
The bulk of the praise a hero receives tends to be in response to his or her actions. People look up to the heroes who can perform the most miraculous feats. However, there is an element of heroism beyond the superficial element of a hero’s actions: the hero’s character. Both heroes and antiheroes might do great things; however, the similarities end where motivations are considered, and these differences in motivations are rooted in the differences in the character of heroes and the antiheroes. An antihero’s character is flawed, leading to actions based on selfish and impure motivations. In contrast, a hero is characterized by his or her selflessness; this can be defined as putting the interests of others above the interests of oneself, and
I learned that Hamlet is an unlikely hero. This is because he is not courageous, he is not brave, but he is the “hero” of the story. Hamlet, hesitates the request of his father, justifying the third step in the Hero’s
Goldman, Michael. "Hamlet and Our Problems." Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Hamlet. Ed. David Scott Kaston. New York City: Prentice Hall International. 1995. 43-55
As more events led to the questioning of Hamlet’s sanity, the reader was given a glimpse into the mind of Hamlet in the famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy. Hamlet’s questions of life and contemplation of suicide revealed h...
...acter, who is patriotic and stands by what he beliefs, attributes that are important even today. His final decisions exemplify his courage, his loyalty and his individualism, urging the reader to follow these traits of Okonkwo into the 21st century, but also see history from more than one point of view. On the other hand, the Tempest illustrates the world of Elizabethan England, with Prospero being Shakespeare, who had to cater to his rich and poor audiences, in order to make a living. His play might end as a light comedy but it shows the serious restraints of society, where no one is free to act according to his own thoughts and one’s fate rests in the hands of someone else. These two stories, while different in so many ways, challenge the audience to think about life today and see how much the aspects of conformity and individualism continue to battle to this day.
"Hamlet: "To Be or Not To Be..."" Shakespeare Resource Center. Shakespeare Resource Center. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. .
To the world today, a hero is someone distinguished by exceptional courage, nobility, or strength; but really, anyone can be a hero. A hero can vary from someone as well-known as George Washington to someone as unheard of as anyone’s very own mother. Someone who has done a good deed for someone else is hero. The biggest heroes are the ones in well-known books and plays, such as Odysseus from The Odyssey, or have made a huge difference in the history of this world, like Mahatma Gandhi. Siddhartha Gautama is a hero, but not in the same way Odysseus or Gandhi are. Although these three influential people went through different journeys in order to accomplish different things, they are all heroes in their own way and have been through the same cycle of the road of trials and crisis/salvation.
Manning, John. "Symbola and Emblemata in Hamlet." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 11-18.
In the comedic, yet thrilling play, The Tempest, William Shakespeare uses characters such as Caliban, Alonso, and Ariel to show Prospero’s immense cruelness and pure monstrosity. Moreover, these Shakespearean characters are also used to highlight Prospero’s change in character into a kinder and more forgiving person. Prospero starts the play out as a vengeful monster, after an illuminating moment however, his persona transforms into his true identity of a compassionate man.
The Tempest presents the character of Prospero the usurped duke of Milan. In the beginning Prospero’s character can be described as foul, spiteful, and selfish. This can be seen in various scenes in acts one and two of the play where he treats the people around him as his servants especially the fateful Ariel who reminded him of his promise only to be threatened of imprisonment. He’s selfish in the sense that he would do anything to accomplish his goal of executing his plan. Like a master puppeteer he is manipulative and deceptive. He even manipulates his daughter to fit according to his scheme. However, all of his foul characteristics left him as his plan nears its end. It is as if the shedding of his clothes represented his change is personality and attitude. After Prospero discarded his staff, drowned his magic book, and wore his duke garments he became more responsible and sympathetic. Instead of exacting revenge on the king of Naples a...
Mack, Maynard. "The World of Hamlet." Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996.
In this play we read about a young prince named Hamlet who devotes himself to avenging his father's death. As the play progresses we see that Hamlet is contemplative and demonstrates his true desires and feelings. Hamlet begins to show signs of weakness and his indecision to seek vengeance in his soliloquy “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!”(2.2.560). Hamlet throughout the play is perceived as a weak, emotionally unstable, and cowardly individual.
States, Bert O. Hamlet and the Concept of Character. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins U P, 1992.
When I think of a hero I immediately think of someone who is strong, intelligent, handsome, and daring. Upon closer examination, many different qualities than these become apparent. Courage, honesty, bravery, selflessness, and the will to try are just a few of the overlooked qualities of a hero. The definition of heroism changes with the context and time. Heroes of the past are not necessarily heroes of present time and vise versa.