Throughout the course of the existence of mankind, evolutionary processes have given rise to the innate human nature of seeking the acceptance of others. Consequently, an individual’s life consists of a persistent tug-of-war between conformity and individualism, each with their own perks and drawbacks. Conformity inspires one to sacrifice their personal desires in order to attain the acceptance of others, and individualism empowers one to pursue personal desires at the risk of being shunned by society. The play Hamlet entails of the analogous journeys of Claudius, Hamlet and Ophelia, which shed light on the struggle between one’s aspiration to be accepted and individualism. Through the crisis all of these characters are facing, William Shakespeare explores the idea of conformity and choosing to pursue one’s personal desires, and insinuates that strictly pursuing a single ideology spawns an overwhelmingly potent conflict that will eventually lead to the self-destruction of an individual.
Throughout the play, Claudius faces an entanglement between having dictatorial authority and doing as he pleases, and listening to his kingdom in order to sustain his status. Claudius’s primary goal is to sustain his throne as the ruler of Denmark, and he’s willing to go through any means in order to achieve his goal. However, due to the questionable circumstances that led Claudius to attain the throne, he is required to temporarily sacrifice his desires at times in order to upheave his public appeal. At the beginning of the play, Claudius presents a speech to his courtiers, expressing his grief concerning Old Hamlet’s death. Additionally, he shares the news of his marriage with Gertrude, the Queen. Through the manipulative tone he uses during h...
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...udius. Hamlet wanted to justify murdering Claudius, which resulted in his lack of action throughout most of the play, even with all the evidence pointing at Claudius. Consequently, he hurriedly assassinated Polonius, which in turn led to his own downfall at the end of the play.
Taken together, each character’s circumstances, and their response to these circumstances vividly illustrates the conflict that exists amid conformity and individualism. The events of the play, including Claudius’s entanglement between asserting his power and listening to his nation, Hamlet’s struggle between following his heart and complying to what others disclose to him, and Ophelia’s predicament between the pursuit of love and obedience of her family all illuminate the ideology that the conflict between following personal desires and conformity may lead to the demise of an individual.
Often overlooked in Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet, Shawna Maki analyzes Ophelia’s restricting role as a woman in a patriarchal society and how it essentially leads to her death being the true tragedy of the play. Maki supports this argument by stating, “Whereas Hamlet has the power and potential to change his fate, Ophelia does not and her death is tragic because the only escape she sees from her oppression is madness and death.”. The comparison between Hamlet and Ophelia is a common parallel because both characters are inevitably labeled as tragic deaths due to the quick deterioration of their state of mind.
The poem "La Migra" by Pat Mora carries the main idea of how power can lead to abuse. Mora shows how abuse is represented in the treatment of the Mexican woman by a border patrol agent in her poem and how this picture resembles how mankind treats animals. With the bilingual addition to Mora's poem, when the Mexican woman says, "Agua dulce, brota aqui, aqui, aqui" (lines 33-34), she is presenting the conflict of a language barrier, just like the one between animals and humans, where it is not communicated what is needed and what is unfair. Mora uses the power of language to bring her characters to life. When something is taken to the point of abuse, the actions are identical, like when the border patrol agent says, "I can touch you whenever I want but do not complain too much because I've got boots and kick" (lines 12-14). The table turns at the end, when the Mexican woman takes control of the situation with power. It does not matter how the abuse started; in the end, it is always the same---someone taking control over someone else. Abuse of power is demonstrated through "La Migr...
It is often said that characters who are in constant conflict are different in nature. Although this is often true, it does not apply to William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as characters who are very similar to each other are also involved in constant conflict. While some may argue that Hamlet and Laertes have distinct differences, it is evident that there are noticeable similarities between them. These similarities are evident when looking at their deep love for Ophelia, their desire to leave Denmark, and their domineering attitude towards females throughout the play.
Hamlet is encumbered with securing retribution on his murdered father’s behalf from the King of Denmark, Claudius. In an effort to murder Claudius, Hamlet risks alienation occurring within multiple psychological parallels. The variants of indifference that risk Hamlet’s psychological sense of identity are his religion, his morals, his compatriots, his mother, and alienation from women.
The transition of royalty from King Hamlet to King Claudius seemed smooth, but the tension within the royal family created some complications. Almost all of Denmark gave their loyalty to a new king without any suspicion as to how the previous ruler died. Although Denmark’s citizens are unaware of the fratricide, this fickle faithfulness exemplifies the social and moral decay of Denmark. Most of Denmark’s subjects act upon their own selfish interests and lack any conviction. Shakespeare uses Polonius, formerly a loyal servant to King Hamlet, as a microcosm of Denmark’s oblivious and hypocritical society as a whole. The Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’s court and the father of Laertes and Ophelia, Polonius has good intentions, but he tends to be somewhat conniving and underhanded. He frequently leaps to the wrong conclusions, and his speeches are comically pompous and long-winded. He is completely incapable of figuring out what Hamlet is up to. Looking to stay on Claudius’s favorable side, Polonius pleases the new king’s demands and even puts his own children’s reputation and lives in jeopardy. Because of his meddling in Prince Hamlet’s business, Polonius ends up dying on his own account.
Shakespeare portrays the protagonist, Hamlet, as someone with a great emotional and physical capacity for self-sacrifice. Burdened with a heroic task of avenging his father’s murder, Hamlet chooses to put on an “antic disposition”. This leads him to willingly transform his identity by altering his values, beliefs and his self-image. Hamlet also chooses to sacrifices true love for Ophelia, his right to freely express himself, and ultimately his life as well. Shakespeare shows how an individual, when burdened by a difficult task, will sacrifice anything including his own life for the purpose of fulfilling that goal.
[4, 1, 40] These idiosyncrasies are observed in the play when Claudius becomes concerned he will lose power as King and the likelihood Hamlet will murder him to avenge his father’s death. This is apparent when Gertrude informs Claudius that Hamlet is, “Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend which is mightier”. [4,1,6] With these thoughts daunting Claudius, he approaches Laertes in a Machiavellian manner to convince him to murder Hamlet, for he knows Laertes is angry, deranged and “Vows to the blackest devil” [4,5,131] after the death of his father. In doing so, Claudius has the intent to use Machiavellian powers over Laertes who is currently mentally unstable, with the objective being that Laertes will murder Hamlet to avenge his own father’s (Polonius) death. Claudius is able to successfully persuade Laertes in a manipulative speech, especially with his snide comment, “Not that I think you did not love your father, but that I know love is begun by time, and that I see a passage of proof.” [4,7,96] Claudius’ malicious comment indicates he is using his power over Laertes, so that the burden and repercussions do not rest on him, so that he may retain his authority as King. By utilizing his power over Laertes, Claudius is successful, as Hamlet is slain, however, as reflected in Claudius’
Claudius is the king of Denmark, who is a very powerful and assertive man. He is the type of person that will do anything to get what he wants and everything in his power to stay king. He will do what it takes to get his way, even if that means betraying the person he is supposed to be committed to and love, his wife Gertrude. Gertrude is the mother of Hamlet, who she deeply cares for and loves. She is convinced that Claudius does as well. In order for Claudius to stay as king he must keep Gertrude happy and pleased. He accomplishes this by pretending to love Hamlet in front of Gertrude when in reality he wants to kill Hamlet. Claudius faces the truth that his secret got out and Hamlet knows he killed King Hamlet. Not wanting to ruin his reputation and of course stay king he plans to have Hamlet killed. He lets Gertrude believe...
... the only way to honour his father Polonius is by killing Hamlet. In addition, as Claudius reads the letter from Hamlet to Laertes he says “'Tis Hamlet’s character. “Naked” And in a postscript here, he says “alone.” Can you advise me?” (IV, VII, 52-53). This shows that Claudius takes advantage of Hamlet’s return alone as an opportunity for Laertes to kill him. Through Claudius’s actions the readers observe how he deceives Laertes into killing Hamlet for his own benefit without getting blood on his hands. Furthermore, Claudius’ desperation to kill Hamlet leads to him losing sight of what is important, which is being the king of Denmark, what he originally wanted, instead the lies he told and the manipulation he spread is now taking over. To conclude, it is evident through the play that the words and actions of Claudius have only lead to the spread of deception.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet revolves around Hamlet’s quest to avenge his father’s murder. Claudius’ first speech as King at the beginning of Scene 2, Act 1 introduces the themes of hierarchy, incest and appearance versus reality and plays the crucial role of revealing Claudius’ character as part of the exposition. The audience is left skeptical after Horatio’s questioning of King Hamlet’s ghost in the first scene of the play. By placing Claudius’ pompous speech immediately after the frightening appearance of Hamlet’s ghost, Shakespeare contrasts the mournful atmosphere in Denmark to the fanfare at the palace and makes a statement about Claudius’ hypocrisy. Through diction, doubling and figurative language, Shakespeare reveals Claudius to be a self centered, hypocritical, manipulative and commanding politician.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is arguably one of the best plays known to English literature. It presents the protagonist, Hamlet, and his increasingly complex path through self discovery. His character is of an abnormally complex nature, the likes of which not often found in plays, and many different theses have been put forward about Hamlet's dynamic disposition. One such thesis is that Hamlet is a young man with an identity crisis living in a world of conflicting values.
Hamlet is a scholar, speaker, actor, and prince. For some reason, Hamlet is not able to avenge his father's death without considerable delay. There is one major flaw in Hamlet's character which causes him to postpone the murder of Claudius. I believe that this flaw is Hamlet's idealism. While his idealism is a good trait, in this case, Hamlet's environment and his...
As the play’s tragic hero, Hamlet exhibits a combination of good and bad traits. A complex character, he displays a variety of characteristics throughout the play’s development. When he is first introduced in Act I- Scene 2, one sees Hamlet as a sensitive young prince who is mourning the death of his father, the King. In addition, his mother’s immediate marriage to his uncle has left him in even greater despair. Mixed in with this immense sense of grief, are obvious feelings of anger and frustration. The combination of these emotions leaves one feeling sympathetic to Hamlet; he becomes a very “human” character. One sees from the very beginning that he is a very complex and conflicted man, and that his tragedy has already begun.
An individual’s response to conditions of internal and external conflict is explored throughout literature. In his play, Hamlet, Shakespeare delves into the themes of appearance versus reality, lies versus deceit, rejection versus self doubt and tragedy, and in doing so attacks the frivolous state of humanity in contemporary society. In order to explore these themes, however, he uses several forms of conflict to project his opinions and expand his ideas relating to the themes of the play. Internal conflict, as well as external conflict are dominant features of his works, and in Hamlet are made evident through a succession of dire events which can attack and destroy someone. However perhaps the most captivating form of conflict Shakespeare uses to expand and explore the ideas presented within the text is the conflict between the self and the universe.
Hamlet is the best known tragedy in literature today. Here, Shakespeare exposes Hamlet’s flaws as a heroic character. The tragedy in this play is the result of the main character’s unrealistic ideals and his inability to overcome his weakness of indecisiveness. This fatal attribute led to the death of several people which included his mother and the King of Denmark. Although he is described as being a brave and intelligent person, his tendency to procrastinate prevented him from acting on his father’s murder, his mother’s marriage, and his uncle’s ascension to the throne.