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Hero characteristics in a story and role
Hero characteristics in a story and role
Importance of heroes
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From comic books, to the big screen, to reality, heroes have been known to touch the hearts of others. As the figure head of light, heroes descend into our world and protect humanity from major crisis. Although we give them the title “Hero”, there are many different aspects of them. Per the article “Archetypes,” there are 12 different aspects of a hero. These heroes are known as Archetypal Heroes. Archetypal Heroes are:
1. Hero as warrior (Odysseus): A near god-like hero faces physical challenges and external enemies 2. Hero as lover (Prince Charming): A pure love motivate hero to complete his quest 3. Hero as Scapegoat (Jesus): Hero suffers for the sake of others
4. Transcendent Hero: The hero of tragedy whose fatal flaw brings about
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As I first begin to read hamlet I thought of hamlet as a Romantic/Gothic Hero. Though he didn’t have a deep dark past, I still felt like the things he went through during those past months would make up for it. Hamlet father died and in that same month his mother married his uncle. Hamlet wasn’t too happy about that and began to despise his mother and uncle. During that time, a ghost of hamlets father appeared before him and asked him to get revenge for his death. Hamlet agreed to do as the ghost plead because of the love he had for his father. Now this is where Hamlet assumes another form of an Archetypal Hero. To get revenge hamlet becomes the Unbalanced Hero. Hamlet begins to act as if he’s lost his mind. Hoping that while he does so, the killer of his father would be revealed. He was successful on figuring out that his uncle was the killer while in that state but unfortunately, due to his craziness there was a couple of accidents on the way. He made Ophelia, the one he loved, go crazy and due to that she ended up killing herself. He also ended up killing Ophelia father Polonius while visiting his mother chambers. Now when Laertes, Ophelia older brother, heard of this he was angered. Here’s where Hamlet transform from an Unbalanced Hero to a Transcendent Hero. Due to the influence of his uncle, Laertes was convinced to take arms against hamlet and get his revenge. They planned to poison hamlet during a match between him and Laertes. They first tried to poison hamlet with a drink but it backfired when the queen decided to drink it instead of hamlet. During their match, the queen dies due to the poison she consumed. As hamlet grieve over the death of his mother, he is cut by Laertes and poisoned. Enraged, Hamlet kills the king, his uncle, and poisons
Throughout the play, Laertes is as an extremely caring member of his family. His strong emotions for family have an opposing side to it, a shadow that has repressed feelings of anger which cause him to add to the disaster in Denmark. An example that depicts this is when Laertes attempts to request more rites for Ophelia’s funeral. After he is denied, he starts a commotion by calling the priest “churlish”, explaining that Ophelia will be “A ministering angel” while the priest will “liest howling”(5.1.217-218). His compliments to Ophelia shows how much he loved her, while his nasty insults to the priest show his repressed rage. While this is occuring, Hamlet hears Laertes’s mention of Ophelia during the commotion and throws himself into a brawl with Laertes. It is the conflict built up from there that causes Claudius to target Laertes as his next weapon to kill Hamlet with. Laertes’s deep anger for Hamlet makes himself the best candidate for Claudius’s manipulation. Once Laertes’s sides with Claudius, he shows his dark intent by requesting Claudius to not “o'errule me to a peace”(4.7.58). On the day of the duel, Laertes undergoes a confrontation of his shadow while he clashes with Hamlet. His realization of his shadow comes too late into the duel when both Hamlet and Laertes are struck by poison, as this happens he declares that he is “ justly killed with mine own treachery (5.2.337).” In the moments that he is still alive, he dismisses his shadow and ends the circle of murder by announcing the true nature of Claudius. Laertes’s repressed anger guides the play into the duel where many deaths occur including Hamlet’s.
It is too late though, the poisonous sword had cut Hamlet. In anger, Hamlet steals the poisoned sword and runs it into Laertes. He then charges Claudius and runs into him. He also takes the wine and forces Claudius to drink from it. Both Claudius and Laertes died before Hamlet.
In the last scene of the play Claudius sends for Hamlet asking if he will duel with Laertes for a wager the king has made. Horatio, the prince’s closest and dearest companion , advises against the jester notifying the prince, “You will lose this wager, my lord”(5.2.196). Horatio is aware that the king is attempting to mischief Hamlet, but the prince rejects horatio's notion and attends the duel anyway. Little to prince Hamlet's knowledge, the sword Laertes uses in the fight along with a cup of wine that is poured for the prince has been poisoned. Hamlet’s swordsmanship dominates Laertes's and the Queen mistakenly drinks Hamlet’s tainted cup wine. In the midst of the battle, Hamlet and Laertes are both cut with the poisonous sword. The Queen dies from the poison wine then Laertes, realizing he to will die, confesses and blames Claudius for
In (Doc D) Hamlet begins to go after Ophelia to make his old friends that are spying on him believe that he is love sick and that they shouldn’t worry about him trying to kill Claudis. Doc D Hamlet is yelling and screaming at her and this is how Hamlet’s actions aren’t justified. Ophelia is also mad at Hamlet for killing her father and because of that she ends up killing herself by drowning. So Hamlet instead of just killing his father, he kills Ophelia and Polonius.
In William shakespeare’s book Hamlet, Hamlet himself was acting strange because of his obsession for revenge for his father’s death. At the beginning of Hamlet, Hamlet’s father made an appearance after his unfortunate death. Horatio and the two watchmen, Francisco and Bernardo, they were frightened of what they have witnessed that night. Next day, they went to the chamber of Prince Hamlet to tell him that they have witnessed of appearance of a ghost whom they identified as the prince’s father. Then Hamlet went watch with them on that night. The ghost appeared quickly, Hamlet was surprised and confused on why his father was there. Hamlet followed his father’s ghost until there’s nowhere to go for him.The ghost talked to him And told him that his death wasn’t an accident but it was a murder. Just when he learned who murdered his father, it was the someone he suspected and it was Claudius, his Uncle. Despite all of the hatred toward his uncle, this made him even want more revenge for his father than before. That night, Hamlet made Horatio and the two watchmen pledge under his sword
Claudius quickly takes advantage of this by manipulating Laertes to duel Hamlet. Laertes, under the influence of Claudius takes his fury one step further and poisons his sword, a poison so lethal that one cut will end Hamlet. During their duel, Laertes wounds Hamlet then "In scuffing", they exchange swords. Hamlet wounds Laertes and they are both poisoned.
Hamlet agrees to a sword match with Laertes not knowing that Laertes will have a sharp, poisoned sword while he will be given a blunted sword. To make sure that their plan to kill Hamlet works, Claudius poisoned a drink to give to Hamlet but Gertrude ends up drinking it causing their plan to unravel. Laertes then wounds Hamlet with the poisoned sword, but in the scuffle they exchange weapons and Hamlet slices Laeretes with the toxic blade. He then slashes Claudius with the poisoned blade and forces him to drink from the toxic cup. The four of them die but with his dying breath, Hamlet pleads with Horatio not to drink from the cup so he can tell his tragic story and announces Fortinbras as the King of Denmark.
The Ghost is the person most responsible for setting Hamlet down his path of vengeance. To determine why the Ghost was able to accomplish this, the characteristics of Hamlet must first be understood. Is Hamlet, by nature, prone to complete the task set out for him? Does Hamlet accept his fate or question the proof
Hamlet, being the protagonist in the story, used plotted against by many characters. Laertes, a minor yet significant character, poisoned a sword and killed Hamlet with it. This shows that Shakespeare is able to use poison as a physical venomous object other than as a symbol of the story. Later on, King Hamlet died on the actin of Claudius poisoning his ear. This is more elaborated as he states Upon my secure hour
Hamlet is a bitter tragedy of revenge and deceit. Unbeknownst to Hamlet, his father, the king of Denmark, is murdered by his own brother, Claudius — who then marries the queen and assumes the throne. Hamlet is visited by his father’s ghost, who compels him to enact revenge upon his uncle — but spare his mother. Hamlet finally decides to stage a play in which there is a poisoning scene, meant to stir his uncle into panic. Hamlet’s plan is successful, but he, in a fit of rage, accidentally...
...teristics and literary devices. The general archetypical description of a hero follows an outline of a muscular figure and super abilities. Yet on the contrary, in myths, heroes may not possess any of those traits. Whether the so-called hero is learning their lesson, overcoming struggle or even descending into darkness, all heroes share some similar and almost identical characteristics. A vast majority of all mythological heroes share the same basic idea which, helps audiences identify whether or not the character is indeed a hero or not. From story to myth or fairytale to drama, the hero is one character who changes the plot entirely. Whether that hero may be saving a burning building, or discovering who they are themselves, our heroes all give us hopes and dreams that one day even our worth will be recognized by ourselves and others as our admirable hero’s are.
What he does instead, after hearing from the ghost of his murdered father, is to go about scheming and lying to cover it up. Again, this is not the actions of a hero. These are the actions of someone that is not mentally mature. In Act I Scene 5 Hamlet gives a soliloquy to prove his youthful mind in where he vows to, “Wipe away all trivial fond records, All saws of books, all form, all pressures past, That youth and observation copied there: And thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain.” (Shakespeare 676)
Unintendedly, Hamlet lays the first blow with the poisoned sword on Laertes. Claudius then offers a drink from the poisoned cup to Hamlet who refuses, and unbeknownst of Claudius’s plan, the queen takes the cup and drinks the poison . Laertes, who has now wounded Hamlet, informs him of Claudius’s corrupt plan that led to his mother’s death. This is where some scholars believe Hamlet has completed a mental transition that enables him to get his vengeance. Courtney Prince describes this transition saying Hamlet “he has lost touch with his original self; he has changed from his hidden, inner self into the outer persona, becoming his own antic disposition (38). It is Hamlet’s transition to corruptness that allows him to avenge his father’s death, a transition brought on almost entirely by Claudius
The core of the play then unfolds from the actions and words of this ghost. Hamlet's revenge against his uncle is certainly fueled by the ghost's words, but the ghost seems to serve a more subtle and internal part here. In the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy (III.i.55-88), Hamlet makes it clear his is not only unsure of what action to take, but unsure of himself as well. It seems his father's aberration confuses Hamlet ...
With his thinking mind Hamlet does not become a typical vengeful character. Unlike most erratic behavior of individuals seeking revenge out of rage, Hamlet considers the consequences of his actions. What would the people think of their prince if he were to murder the king? What kind of effect would it have on his beloved mother? Hamlet considers questions of this type which in effect hasten his descision. After all, once his mother is dead and her feelings out of the picture , Hamlet is quick and aggressive in forcing poison into Claudius' mouth. Once Hamlet is certain that Claudius is the killer it is only after he himself is and and his empire falling that he can finally act.