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nature of characters in hamlet
hamlet psychological analysis
hamlet and psychology
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Ophelia and Gertrude both love Hamlet and both were left heartbroken when he pushed them out of his life. However, many people do not believe that he pushed away the people he cared about. Throughout the play we see Hamlet insult, condemn, and break the hearts of people who loved him. He drives Ophelia mad and breaks his mother’s heart. Hamlet becomes self-centered and only cares about how he feels. He stops caring about Ophelia because he believes that she is a spy and rejects his mother because she rushed to get married after the death of his father, which proved to be a sin in the eyes of Hamlet. Hamlet is a brilliant young man who was once loving and kind to those around him until after the death of his father, his mother’s marriage, and …show more content…
He tells the ghost to stop looking at him unless he wants him to cry instead of kill. Upon hearing this Gertrude asks, “To whom do you speak this?” Which Hamlet quickly responds by asking, “Do you see nothing there?” Gertrude, who is now baffled by the things her son is seeing, answers with, “Nothing at all, yet all that is I see.” It is here that Hamlet fears for his sanity, he no longer knows whether the ghost is real or just a figment of his imagination. He becomes more and more confused as the discussion continues. Flustered, he points toward the ghostly figure and says, “Why, look you there! Look how it steals away—” Here we can see that Hamlet is trying to point out what he is seeing to his mother who does not see anything. She then accuses him of being mad by saying, “This the very coinage of your brain. This bodiless creation.” Hamlet becomes very confused because he can see his father as clear as day, but his mother claims that he is hallucinating. Hamlet is a smart young man who cannot justify the reason why he is being betrayed and why he is the only one who can see the ghost. Even though Hamlet has been confused by these things, he never tries to figure out why they occurred. People should not look at him as an example because he does not try to figure out his …show more content…
He would be alive at this point if he would have been quiet. Hamlet in his quest for revenge has become very edgy and when he saw an opportunity to strike at the king he took it. He had no knowledge that Polonius was in the room, but instead believed that it was Claudius who had entered the room in an effort to seduce his mother into lying with him in bed. When Hamlet heard the voice behind the tapestry call for help, he pounced and seized at what he thought was his chance to kill Claudius. He was wrong, however, and shed the innocent blood of a loyal servant. Many people would say that Hamlet does not want to get revenge for the death of his father, but throughout the play, we see Hamlet doing that very thing. He concocts multiple plans in an attempt to make the king confess what he has done, that way Hamlet can punish him for his cruel actions. Hamlet became so consumed with his quest for revenge that he ended up killing innocent people in hopes that it was the king. His goal was not justice, but to see his uncle end up dead for the murder of his father. Hamlet is a smart young man, who throughout the play lusts for revenge. He wants to make his uncle suffer for the crimes of he committed and should not be an example to anyone because he believes that the only way to solve the problem of his father’s murder is to take revenge. Hamlet also loses the ability to think about other things because his quest for revenge takes
The life of Hamlet is without a doubt very interesting, he suffers from unfortunate events in his time that are often major blows to his ego. His father dies while he’s away at college, Hamlet is next in line to be king until his “uncle-father” steals it from him; but it is to be known his “uncle-father” would not have stolen it if his “aunt-mother” hadn’t allowed it. It’s very apparent from the beginning of the play that he is very well obsessed with his mother and her doings. He harasses, humiliates, and abuses her because she has done such an unforgivable act by marrying Claudius. His thoughts and feelings towards his mother are very strong and well known, he even describes the odd pair as “little more than kin and less than kind.” That’s not all with Hamlet; his mother remarrying is just the tip of the iceberg so deeply rooted in the ocean of his emotions. His relationship with Ophelia is twisted, Hamlet goes through episodes of
“Most people don’t know the answer to the question, ‘How are you? How do you feel?’ The reason why they don’t know is that they are so busy feeling what they are supposed to feel, thinking what they’re supposed to think, that they never get down to examining their own deepest feelings.” (Hayakawa 1) Society imposes and influences human beings in such a way that we begin to mimic what it wants us to be. In the play Hamlet written by the memorable author William Shakespeare, Ophelia fails to be herself and enjoy life as it is but instead lets men that surround her control her life. Ophelia’s character is depicted as a weak and impotent individual. Shakespeare indirectly portrays Ophelia as a vulnerable character; Thomas G. Plummer imposes a connection to an Ophelia Syndrome that everyone experiences due to the lack of self empowerment and self will.
Ophelia in the fourth act of Hamlet is demonstrably insane, but the direct cause of her slipped sanity is something that remains debatable, Shakespeare uses the character Ophelia to demonstrate how women during this time were unable to break away from social norms. While it is evident that Ophelia is grieving over the death of her father, Polonius, as Horatio says of her “She speaks much of her father, says she hears / There’s tricks in the world, and hems, and beats her heart” (4.5.4-5), as lines from one of her many “songs” points towards grieving over an aged relative, “His beard as white as snow / All flaxen was his poll” with flaxen indicating a white or grayed head of hair (4.5.190-191).
The Queen gives a remarkably detailed account of Ophelia’s death leaving one to believe that she may have witnessed the event. We know that she emphasized with Ophelia’s suffering to such an extent that perhaps she realized that the kindest action to take would be to let Ophelia decide her own fate, although she clearly was not in a fit state of mind to do this and was barely aware of her surroundings “incapable of her own distress.” Ophelia’s death is “beautified” as she dies in a romantic and beautiful scene befitting her character where she was surrounded by her garland of flowers. (Ophelia herself was “beautified” in a letter from Hamlet which Polonius found to be a “vile phrase.”) There is much detail, leading me to believe that Gertrude is trying to soften the blow for Laertes who is already enraged over his father’s death and his sister’s madness; the King says, “How much I had to do to clam his rage.” This is a typically selfish reaction of Claudius which serves to emphasize the need for Laertes to control his grief, as he is an extremely fiery character.
Shakespeare developed 126 female characters in his dramas. In his tragedy Hamlet there are Ophelia and Gertrude. This essay will explore the similarities or commonality of these two characters.
He is so angry with his mother for marrying Claudius but instead of taking this anger out of her, he takes it out on Ophelia. Hamlet is suppose to love and care for Ophelia but instead he is so rude and cruel towards her. In act 3, scene , Hamlet declares “I have heard of your paintings too, well enough. God has given you one face and you make yourselves another. You jig and amble, and you lisp, you nickname God’s creatures and make your wantonness your ignorance. Go to, I’ll no more on ’t. It hath made me mad. I say, we will have no more marriages. Those that are married already, all but one, shall live. The rest shall keep as they are. To a nunnery, go.” In this line he is furiously declaring that all women, including Ophelia, are fools who take advantage of men’s feelings. He blames Ophelia for him going mad and tells her that they will no longer get married. Hamlet then mentions that everyone who is already married will stay married, except for one couple which is Gertrude and Claudius. Not only does this line show his displacement of his emotions but it also shows his jealousy of Claudius and Gertrude’s relationship. Hamlet is acting as if the anger he is exhibiting is because of Ophelia but in reality it is because of Gertrude. He is displacing all the anger and rage he feels about his mother onto Ophelia who really hasn’t done anything wrong. Ophelia is unfortunately blinded by her love for Hamlet and is quite submissive to his displacement of anger.
The question of why Hamlet delays in taking revenge on Claudius for so long has puzzled readers and audience members alike. Immediately following Hamlet's conversation with the Ghost, he seems determined to fulfill the Ghost's wishes and swears his companions to secrecy about what has occurred. The next appearance of Hamlet in the play reveals that he has not yet revenged his father's murder. In Scene two, act two, Hamlet gives a possible reason for his hesitation. "The spirit that I have seen / May be a devil, and the devil hath power / T' assume a pleasing shape" (2.2.627-629). With this doubt clouding his mind, Hamlet seems completely unable to act. This indecision is somewhat resolved in the form of the play. Hamlet comes up with the idea of the play that is similar to the events recounted by the ghost about his murder to prove Claudius guilty or innocent. Due to the king's reaction to the play, Hamlet attains the belief that the Ghost was telling the truth the night of the apparition.
In 1600, William Shakespeare composed what is considered the greatest tragedy of all time, Hamlet, the tragedy of the Prince of Denmark. His masterpiece forever redefined what tragedy should be. Critics have analyzed it word for word for nearly four hundred years, with each generation appreciating Hamlet in its own way. While Hamlet conforms, without a doubt, to Aristotle's definition of a tragedy, one question still lingers. Did Shakespeare intend for the reader or viewer of Hamlet to feel greater sympathy for Hamlet, or for Ophelia, Hamlet's lover? Both characters tug at the heartstrings throughout the play, but it is clear that 'the tragedy of the Prince of Denmark' is a misrepresentation of Shakespeare's true intention.
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia is the most static character in the play. Instead of changing through the course of the play, she remains suffering in the misfortunes perpetrated upon her. She falls into insanity and dies a tragic death. Ophelia has issues surviving without a male influence, and her downfall is when all the men in her life abandon her. Hamlet’s Ophelia, is a tragic, insane character that cannot exist on her own.
...es still care about them both. Hamlet understands that Ophelia was just doing as she was told, and he struggles with himself over his feelings. When he learns that she has died, he feels guilt and acknowledges that "I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers / Could not with all their quantity of love / Make up my sum" (Hamlet, IV, i, 285-287). Hamlet forgives Gertrude of her deeds too, for after Claudius poisons her, Hamlet takes revenge upon him in the name of both his father and his mother, "Then, venom, to thy / work... // Drink off this potion. Is (thy union) here? / Follow my mother" (Hamlet, IV, ii, 352-353 and 357). After this violent act, his comment that Gertrude is a "wretched queen" (Hamlet, IV, ii, 365) implies that she should be pitied, not despised. There is no malice towards women in Hamlet, he just is overwhelmed by the deception that he faces.
The story of Hamlet is a morbid tale of tragedy, commitment, and manipulation; this is especially evident within the character of Ophelia. Throughout the play, Ophelia is torn between obeying and following the different commitments that she has to men in her life. She is constantly torn between the choice of obeying the decisions and wishes of her family or that of Hamlet. She is a constant subject of manipulation and brain washing from both her father and brother. Ophelia is not only subject to the torture of others using her for their intentions but she is also susceptible to abuse from Hamlet. Both her father and her brother believe that Hamlet is using her to achieve his own personal goals.
to predict how they will treat other women in their life. Hamlet is a good
“Pretty Ophelia,” as Claudius calls her, is the most innocent victim of Hamlet’s revenge in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Hamlet has fallen in love with Ophelia after the death of his father. Ophelia “sucked the honey of his music vows” and returned Hamlet’s affection. But when her father had challenged Hamlet’s true intentions, Ophelia could only say: “I do not know, my lord, what I should think.” Ophelia was used to relying on her father’s directions and she was also brought up to be obedient. This allowed her to only accept her father’s views that Hamlet’s attention towards her was only to take advantage of her and to obey her father’s orders not to permit Hamlet to see her again.
In the play Hamlet Ophelia is portrayed as an innocent young woman who does not have a say in anything. All the men control Hamlet, her father Polonius, and her brother Laertes. She is portrayed as inferior to all of them and lets herself be pushed around by them. She is unable to convey her opinions or emotions throughout the play. The men dominate her thoughts and behaviors. In Hamlet, Ophelia’s obedience to her father and brother, along with her dismissal by Hamlet, reveals that women were not allowed to assert their opinions, emotions, or desires in a courtly setting.
After he meets the ghost, Hamlet begins to treat people cold-heartedly. His is led by his mind, but not his heart. The acts of cruelty on Hamlet’s part were done because pity or sympathy no longer exists within. His treatment of Ophelia, his only true love, is disgusting. He also treated his mother in a rude fashion. He felt betrayed by his mother because he loved and trusted her, but she went and married his uncle soon after his father’s death.