The Saint and the Sinner

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Recommended: Analysis on Hamlet's personality

Hamlet, one of the most complex and dramatic characters to ever cross the theater is known as the crestfallen prince that enraptures the audience with his elegant intensity throughout the concord of acts. The intricate and profound life of Hamlet is by far Shakespeare’s most popular and powerful piece he ever created. The story begins on a dark winter night on the ramparts of the Elsinore Castle in Denmark when a ghost appears, who resembled the deceased King Hamlet. Claudius overthrew the throne by murdering King Hamlet and marrying his brother’s wife Gertrude. The apparition later spoke to Hamlet and showed his son that his Uncle Claudius had murdered him by slipping poisoning through his ear and declared that Hamlet must avenge his death. A group of actors traveling through Denmark reenact the murder of his father. Hamlet has been acting as though he has gone mad and goes to speak with his mother later that night to confront her with her sins of incest that she has committed which leads to the death of the eavesdropping snoop Polonius. In the aftermath of Polonius’s death, Ophelia goes mad with grief and sorrow and commits suicide by drowning herself in the river. Hamlet is told to leave the country and boldly aborts a mission set up by Claudius for him to be killed upon arrival in England. A sword fight breaks out amongst the men which later lead to the death of the entire royal family. At this moment Fortinbras, the Prince of Norway, sees the family lying on floor dead and decides to take power over the kingdom for himself.
Hamlet is portrayed throughout the drama as a hero and a villain. In my opinion without this element of one being able to contradict his own actions the character of Hamlet could not be portrayed. Haml...

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...oung man being portrayed is having to convey with two sides of himself; one side showing his insane behavior towards his entire family, the other side determining his thought of either doing right nor wrong according to what he has seen. Hamlet can be seen as a hero or a villain within the many examples that have been provided within the context of this paper. Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, seems to be a man of radical contradictions, hasty yet vigilant in nature, tender yet vicious at heart, and insane yet diligently clever. We will forever try to interpret the Shakespearean meaning and true philosophy of the story of Hamlet. However, the real question will continually be asked, is Hamlet a sinner or a saint? Perhaps Hamlet is just a young man trapped in a world with his questioning reasoning to life in search of to be or not to be remaining the underlying query.

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