William Shakespeare’s Hamlet

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic story that captures the audience’s emotions. The story wraps around the protagonist, Hamlet, whom finds out his father has been murdered by his uncle. Filled with hostility, Hamlet tries to organize a plan to seek his revenge. His hunger for vengeance only grows stronger as Hamlet experiences treachery, despair, sorrow, and animosity. The famous play by William Shakespeare portrays absolute and fabricated madness—from the overbearing grief to complete mania—and delves into the themes of sarcasm, suicide, and procrastination.

Throughout the play, William Shakespeare uses sarcasm to add humor into his works. With the use of sarcasm, the audiences are able to interpret the character's true feelings and thoughts. In Act I, King Hamlet has died, and his brother Claudius, has married the widowed queen of the king. The son (also named Hamlet) has been depressed, lately, about the death of his father and is aggravated at his mother for marrying Claudius (his uncle) less than two months since his father’s death. Many characters in the book (especially Hamlet) use sarcasm, which gives insight to what they truly think about the other characters of the book. In line 179-180, Hamlet states, "Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables" (I.ii.179-180). Hamlet uses sarcasm to suggest that his mother has gotten married so quickly after the death of his father and how much he disapproves of this matter. Moreover, in line 65, Hamlet comments "A little more than kin and less than kind" (I.i.65) when Claudius talks about the family ties between them. The sarcastic response to Claudius shows Hamlet's true feelings toward his uncle by giving him attitude. Hamle...

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...certain people and situations presented in the play. Furthermore, Hamlet’s procrastination plays a huge role in the play. Because of Hamlet’s procrastination he causes many unnecessary deaths throughout the play. The examples of madness, sarcasm, suicide, and procrastination mentioned earlier shows what kind of person Hamlet is. However, Hamlet’s procrastination/indecision was a fatal flaw. Since Hamlet took ages to take his revenge, he gave Claudius to make plans of his own—Claudius’s own plan to have Hamlet killed. Hamlet is an interesting character throughout the play with his contemplative and philosophical personality, however his rash and impulsive behavior causes a great deal of dilemmas during the play.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. New York: Washington Square, 2002. Print.