William Shakespeare's “Hamlet” is a play about a prince named Hamlet who’s father is murdered by his uncle Claudius. Hamlet is persuaded by his father's ghost to take revenge for him and kill Claudius. Hamlet then pretends to go crazy to get evidence that Claudius actually killed Hamlet's father. Hamlet ends up getting evidence that his father was killed by his uncle and takes revenge at the end of the play. The character discussed from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet will be the main character Hamlet. William Shakespeare’s character Hamlet from”Hamlet” possesses many specific character traits that I share as well such as: recklessness, depression, and outspokenness.
William Shakespeare’s character Hamlet possesses the trait of recklessness and
…show more content…
2008). Hamlet talks about suicide a lot throughout the play and that is a huge sign of depression. For example Hamlet states “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God!” (1.2.129-132). He states that he wishes his flesh would melt off his body and wishes God wouldn’t have made a law against suicide. He also says “the air—why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors” (2.2.278-290). He is basically saying that the world stinks. The final example to prove Hamlet possesses the trait of depression is “for they are actions that a man might play. But I have that within which passeth show, These but the trappings and the suits of woe.” (1.2.84-86)
Hamlet is also outspoken and throughout the play there are a lot of examples of it. For example Hamlet tells Ophelia “Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness.” He tells Ophelia that he has turned her into a whore and he is saying this in front of a big group of people. Another example of this is that Hamlet is continually calling Claudius and Gertrude's relationship incestuas.
…show more content…
The first trait that I share with Hamlet is recklessness. For example a couple years ago the lake was frozen and people were walking on the lake. Me and my friends decided to walk on the lake as well. Unlike the rest of the people walking just close to the shore, we decided to walk from one peer to another across the channel of the Black River. Another example of me showing my trait of recklessness is when I punched a kid from Paw Paw at Votech because he was messing with me. He was obviously bigger and stronger than me and it did not turn out good for me. The second trait that I share with Hamlet is depression. For example a couple of summers ago my best friend went to see his father in Virginia and he is who I spent most of my time hanging out with. That summer I became very bored and it was depressing me that I had nothing to do and no one to hangout with. Another example is when I had to put down my dog. I got her for my fifth birthday and I took her all over the place with me. She got a brain tumor and it caused her to become very slow mentally, and my family could tell she was in a lot of pain. We decided it was in her best favor to be put
In the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare, the character Hamlet is a multi-dimensional character with multiple personalities that give the play a greater depth and perspective. Through his monologues and soliloquies, many different personalities of Hamlet are exposed, including his three basic contrasting personalities: clear-minded vs. troubled, action vs. inaction, and obedience/innocence vs. revenge. Throughout the story, both contrasting personalities are depicted by both Hamlet himself and other similar foil characters who are in similar circumstances but react in drastically different ways. Three such foil characters are Horatio, who shows a clear mind in the midst of his troubles, Fortinbras, who chooses action over inaction, and Ophelia, who depicts innocence throughout the midst of the chaos of the play.
In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the main character, Hamlet, possesses qualities and characteristics that shape him into the man he is. Grief stricken and revenge seeking, Hamlet’s true self is displayed through his actions. Hamlet’s love, Ophelia, serves as a foil to his character highlighting his strong mind, coping methods with emotions, and corruption within families.
Hamlet shows signs of depression starting after his father’s death. In the beginning of Hamlet, Hamlet is grieving over his father’s death and resents his new father, Claudius. Hamlet says, “She married. O, most wicked speed to post/ With such dexterity to incestusous sheets!/ It is not, not it cannot come to good./ But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue” (I.ii.158-161.). Hamlet is unable to escape from his depressive state because of his continuing grudge towards Claudius. Hamlet now not only loathes his new father, but his mother as well for remarrying so quickly and to his father’s, her late husband’s, brother. Hamlet mourning is prolonged and extreme as he continues to wear a dark wardrobe long after his father’s death, unable to accept what has happened and move on with his life. Hamlet’s depressive mood swings are a symptom of his bipolar disorder. According to The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, the mood swings associated with bipolar disorder range from mania (elevated or irritable mood) to depression (a mood characterized by loss of interest and sadness). Symptoms of a depressive episode include, persistent sad, anxious, or empty mood and feelings of irritability, hopelessness, or negativity (Basile)....
Despite his agreement with his mother and Claudius he makes it quite clear in his soliloquy that he has been feeling suicidal. “O, that this too solid flesh would melt. Thaw and resolve itself into a dew” Shakespeare is showing that Hamlet is feeling suicidal by saying that Hamlet says that he wishes that his flesh would just melt away as he cannot kill himself because he is a Christian. In other versions of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the first line where it says solid, it is sullied. this means that hamlet feels dirty/tainted by the world which is also dirty and tainted, but I think solid is the better word for this as it.
Instead of denial and isolation, which is the first stage according to Kubler-Ross, Hamlet dwells in a state of depression. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Department of Psychiatry states “Depression occurs as a reaction to the changed way of life created by the loss. The bereaved person feels intensely sad, hopeless, drained and helpless” (www.uams.edu). Hamlet’s depression is revealed in his fourth soliloquy. “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ Or take arms against a sea of troubles,/ And by opposing them? To die, to sleep;” (Shakespeare III.i.57-60) Meditative and weary Hamlet gives up on any hope for the future. He contemplates suicide making obvious his profound state of despair. Hamlet’s thoughts of suicide continue in this painful speech, “His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! Oh God! God!/ How weary, stale flat and unprofitable,/ Seem to me all the uses of this world!/ Fie on’t! Ah fie! ‘tis an unweeded garden” (I.ii.132-135) Here are a sickness of life, and even a longing for death, that strengthens Hamlet’s intense depression.
When Hamlet is in the presence of certain people, he acts differently, he acts like any other normal individual, he is smart, he is able to thoroughly think about every plan or idea he has and he is fully aware of his surroundings.
Suicidal tendencies play a huge role in Hamlet by forming character relationships, adding suspense to the plot and storyline. “Ah, I wish my dirty flesh could melt away into a vapor, or that God had not made a law against suicide. Oh God, God! How tired, stale, and pointless life is to me” (Hamlet 1.2.130-134). This quote by Hamlet Junior in act 1 really embodies the
Hamlet, a young prince preparing to become King of Denmark, cannot understand or cope with the catastrophes in his life. After his father dies, Hamlet is filled with confusion. However, when his father's ghost appears, the ghost explains that his brother, Hamlet's Uncle Claudius, murdered him. In awe of the supposed truth, Hamlet decides he must seek revenge and kill his uncle. This becomes his goal and sole purpose in life. However, it is more awkward for Hamlet because his uncle has now become his stepfather. He is in shock by his mother's hurried remarriage and is very confused and hurt by these circumstances. Along with these familial dysfunctions, Hamlet's love life is diminishing. It is an "emotional overload" for Hamlet (Fallon 40). The encounter with the ghost also understandably causes Hamlet great distress. From then on, his behavior is extremely out of context (Fallon 39). In Hamlet's first scene of the play, he does not like his mother's remarriage and even mentions his loss of interest in l...
In the playwright Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet often shows many signs of depression. It is argued whether he is putting on the act, or if he is actually severely depressed. I believe after the death of his father, Hamlet becomes very emotionally unstable. Three things affect Hamlet, the death of his father, the remarriage of his mother, and Ophelia. Hamlet contemplates death, and becomes prepared to die near the end of the play.
The way we see ourselves is often reflected in the way we act. Hamlet views himself as different to those young nobles around him such as Fortinbras and Laertes. This reality leads us to believe that over time he has become even more motivated to revenge his father's death, and find out who his true friends are. How can you be honest in a world full of deceit and hate? His seven soliloquies tell us that while the days go by he grows more cunning as he falls deeper into his madness. This fact might have lead Hamlet to believe that suicide is what he really wants for his life's course.
Major life changes bring about the rise of Hamlet's insanity. The play begins with Hamlet returning home to Denmark to discover that his father had died. Aside from his father's death, Hamlet also had to accept that his mother was now married to his father's brother, Claudius. In Hamlet's first soliloquy preceding his father's death, he tells the audience “O that this too, too solid flesh would melt. Or that the Everlasting had not fixed, His canon 'gainst self-slaughter!”(Act 1. Scene 2. lines 130-133) This gives us a brief preview of Hamlet's mental state in the beginning of the play. Hamlet is extremely depressed and admits that but says it would be a sin to kill himself. Hamlet goes on to describe the world as "weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable" and compares it to an "unweeded garden” (Act 1. Scene 2. lines 133-135). Hamlet shows red flags for depression; however, he seems to be reacting as a normal person would to the death of a loved one, losing a sense of understanding and love fo...
In the play Hamlet, Hamlet has many different personality traits. Three of these characteristics are that Hamlet is depressed, clever, and hesitant. Throughout the play you can see these characteristics in Hamlet many times.
I thought Hamlet was a selfish, self-centered, weak and crazy person. How can you call a person a hero after killing friends and family in order to get what one wants? Hamlet can be a very smart and noble person but in parts of the play he exhibited actions that are completely opposite of the person he can be. He acted with a sense of madness that made me think he was actually going mad. He acted obnoxious and annoying to other characters in the play.
Hamlet’s anger and grief- primarily stemming from his mother’s marriage to Claudius- brings him to thoughts of suicide, which only subside as a result of it being a mortal and religious sin. The fact that he wants to take his own life demonstrates a weakness in his character; a sense of cowarness, his decision not to kill himself because of religious beliefs shows that this weakness is balanced with some sense of morality. Such an obvious paradox is only one example of the inner conflict and turmoil that will eventually lead to Hamlet’s downfall.
William Shakespeare's Hamlet is, at heart, a play about suicide. Though it is surrounded by a fairly standard revenge plot, the play's core is an intense psychodrama about a prince gone mad from the pressures of his station and his unrequited love for Ophelia. He longs for the ultimate release of killing himself - but why? In this respect, Hamlet is equivocal - he gives several different motives depending on the situation. But we learn to trust his soliloquies - his thoughts - more than his actions. In Hamlet's own speeches lie the indications for the methods we should use for its interpretation.