How Does Pyrrhus Change In Hamlet

542 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Morality in Hamlet

“To be or not to be” has many more meanings than to live or not to live, or to kill one’s self or not to. Inside Hamlet’s educated mind he sees parallels with his story and Greco-Roman mythology, the play in the mousetrap and even in the events immediately preceding the play. He tries to justify his actions using his trust in the mimetic ability of literature that he has come to trust but instead finds the story of Pyrrhus, which only serves as a vehicle to detail his murderous wantings. Pyrrhus also find himself in the situation of a son searching for revenge for his murder father. Though, unlike Hamlet, Pyrrhus instead lacks the intellect of Hamlet, which causes his transformation into a murderous psychopath, killing the wounded Priam. This mocks the very moral ground Hamlet hopes to rest his revenge upon, in other words, “ …show more content…

Hamlet thinks he conceives a brilliant plan to catch Claudius by overwhelming his emotions to force him to admit to murdering his brother, the King. Little does Hamlet know that the plot of his backfires and shows the plot and emotional similarities in the world of Gonzago and his own world. At his request, the players include a “dozen or sixteen lines”(II.ii.541) into play. To insert these lines Hamlet depicts the murder, Lucianus, as the nephew of the king, instead of the brother to the king. Unintentionally, Hamlet draws attention towards himself as the play seems to mimic him as Lucianus, the murder, instead of Claudius as Lucianus. Most scenes should not have the interpretation changed by an issue of semantics and familial relations. Nut, this proves the exact opposite of the play. Shakespeare, therefore, prompts Hamlet to contend with a contradiction, a paradox: if Lucencious is the brother of the King the action is immoral, if Lucencious is the nephew of the king the action is

Show More
Related

  • A Raisin In The Sun And Hamlet Character Analysis

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    Claudius feels much guilt about the death of his brother he also faces the desires of power. The guilt of his brother death drives Claudius to be on his toes around the kingdom. He remains very scared that someone like Hamlet Jr. might avenge his father’s death. Hamlet Jr. chooses to use a play to test Claudius’s guilt. He rewrites parts of the play to replicate the story voiced by the ghost. Hamlet Jr. watches Claudius carefully during the performance, and the king leaves during it (Gale). Claudius gets up and leaves because he cannot bear to see the reenactment of how he killed his own brother. The internal conflict of the guilt about his brother eats Claudius up and he goes to repent for the corrupt act he has done: “My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent,/ And like a man to double business bound,/ I stand in pause where I shall first begin,/ And neglect; what if this cursed hand,/Were thicker than itself with brothers blood” (3.3.40-45). Claudius repents but knows his words will mean nothing to the heavens because Claudius is an insincere being whom

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Relationship With His Parents

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    King Hamlet loved his son like any father does. Hamlet looked up to his father like all children do and his life was greatly changed when he learned of his fathers death. After hearing the news of his father’s death, Hamlet felt as if a part of his life was ripped away from him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. During an encounter with his father’s ghost, King Hamlet, Hamlet learns that his father was murdered. It was not the news that his father was murdered that shocked Hamlet into reality, it was the fact that the one who murdered him, was in fact his own loving brother, Claudius. After killing his own brother, Claudius believes that he can go on with life like nothing has happened. Hamlet does not understand how someone can murder somebody, who is not only the King, but their own brother, and go on with life like he did nothing wrong.

    Read More

  • Human Morality in Hamlet and The Oresteia

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Hamlet, the motif of a young prince forsaken of his father, family, and rationality, as well as the resulting psychological conflicts develop. Although Hamlet’s inner conflicts derive from the lack of mourning and pain in his family, as manifested in his mother’s incestuous remarrying to his uncle Claudius, his agon¬1 is truly experienced when the ghost of his father reveals the murderer is actually Claudius himself. Thus the weight of filial obligation to obtain revenge is placed upon his shoulders. However, whereas it is common for the tragic hero to be consistent and committed to fulfilling his moira,2 Hamlet is not; his tragic flaw lies in his inability to take action. Having watched an actor’s dramatic catharsis through a speech, Hamlet criticizes himself, venting “what an ass am I! This is most brave, that I, the son of a dear father murdered, prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell… [can only] unpack my heart with words” (Hamlet 2.2.611-614). Seeing how the actor can conjure such emotion over simple speech, Hamlet is irate at his lack of volition and is stricken with a cognitive dissonance in which he cannot balance. The reality and ...

    Read More

  • Truth and Betrayal

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet can be seen as a play about obligations, in particularly Hamlet’s struggle with his duty to his father: Hamlet must “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” The appearance of Old Hamlet’s ghost not only sets the plot, but also helps in destroying Hamlet’s illusion about his parents’ relationship as his mother committed adultery with Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. This marks one of many points where Hamlet losses parts of his life structure. Furthermore a theme of appearance versus reality surrounds Hamlet due to the fact that the characters portray a different outward appearance compared to what they are on the inside. In the play, Claudius displays an appearance of kindness and sensitivity, but in truth, he uses this false, caring persona as a mask to cover up his selfishness and evil personali...

    Read More

  • Hamlet and Claudius’ Power Struggle

    1838 Words  | 4 Pages

    Claudius is seen in Hamlets eyes as a horrible person because he convicted murder and incest. Claudius had killed the king of Denmark, Old Hamlet, to obtain the position of the throne. He had been jealous of Old Hamlet’s wife Gertrude and wanted to marry her for her power. Although, such an act would be called incest and considered unnatural he did not care, all he had cared about was the power that he would be stealing from Hamlet and Old Hamlet, Gertrude’s son and husband (R). When Hamlet had talked to his f...

    Read More

  • Psychological Manipulation in Hamlet by William Shakespeare

    1320 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... 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.

    Read More

  • An Analytical Essay on Hamlet as Ghost Story, Detective Story and Revenge Story

    693 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet is made to do some detective work in this melodrama. His first order of business was to figure out if the ghost of his father that he thought he saw, was in fact real and if it was, was it unfeigned or a demon. Then, he must decide if the ghost of his father was truthful about Claudius, his father's brother, Hamlet's uncle who was also the reigning King, committing fratricide against his father. To find evidence of Claudius' involvement, Hamlet uses the players, to bring about his uncles deep seated feelings hopefully lodged in his conscience.

    Read More

  • Hamlet Acts Morally, Harms Others by his Actions, and Realizes his Tragic Limits

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous work of tragedy. Throughout the play the title character, Hamlet, tends to seek revenge for his father’s death. Shakespeare achieved his work in Hamlet through his brilliant depiction of the hero’s struggle with two opposing forces that hunt Hamlet throughout the play: moral integrity and the need to avenge his father’s murder. When Hamlet sets his mind to revenge his fathers’ death, he is faced with many challenges that delay him from committing murder to his uncle Claudius, who killed Hamlets’ father, the former king. During this delay, he harms others with his actions by acting irrationally, threatening Gertrude, his mother, and by killing Polonius which led into the madness and death of Ophelia. Hamlet ends up deceiving everyone around him, and also himself, by putting on a mask of insanity. In spite of the fact that Hamlet attempts to act morally in order to kill his uncle, he delays his revenge of his fathers’ death, harming others by his irritating actions. Despite Hamlets’ decisive character, he comes to a point where he realizes his tragic limits.

    Read More

  • Hamlet And Hamlet Analysis

    793 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...when King Claudius runs scared out of the room, as someone who is guilty of murder. Last, an ironic reversal occurs between young Hamlet and his mother Gertrude. As Hamlet begins closing in on Claudius for murder, He goes to his mother advising her not to go to bed with Claudius and to stay pure. However, even though he told her to stay pure, Hamlet and his mother ended up having sex with each other which was no better than the incest that went on with Claudius and Gertrude. The reversals and recognition of Hamlet are very influential in how the play progresses to conclusion.

    Read More

  • Conflict in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

    2442 Words  | 5 Pages

    From this play we learn of the difficulty associated with taking a life as Hamlet agonises as to how and when he should kill Claudius and furthermore whether he should take his own life. Hamlet being a logical thinker undergoes major moral dilemma as he struggles to make accurate choices. From the internal conflict that the playwright expresses to us it is evident that it can kill someone, firstly mentally then physically. The idea of tragedy is explored in great detail through conflict where the playwright’s main message is brought across to the audience; Shakespeare stresses to his audience the point that conflict be it internal or external it can bring upon the downfall of great people and in turn have them suffer a tragic fate. It is Shakespeare’s aim to show us the complexity of man and that moral decisions are not easily made.

    Read More

  • Free Hamlet Essays: Hamlet's Inability to Take Action

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    As illustrated through his speeches and soliloquies Hamlet has the mind of a true thinker. Reinacting the death of his father in front of Claudius was in itself a wonderful idea. Although he may have conceived shcemes such as this, his mind was holding him back at the same time. His need to analyze and prove everythin certain drew his time of action farther and farther away. Hamlet continuously doubted himself and whether or not the action that he wanted to take was justifiable. The visit that Hamlet recieves from his dead father makes the reader think that it is Hamlet's time to go and seek revenge. This is notthe case. Hamlet does seem eager to try and take the life of Claudius in the name of his father, but before he can do so he has a notion, what if that was not my father, but an evil apparition sending me on the wrong path? This shows that even with substantial evidence of Claudius' deeds, Hamlet's mind is not content.

    Read More

  • Sanity In Hamlet

    2032 Words  | 5 Pages

    The situations where Hamlet unexpectedly acts were not relevant to his task, such as the murder of Polonius. During the play rehearsal, Hamlet is shocked by the emotion poured out by the actor over Hecuba, whom doesn’t even exist. Hamlet, whose father was murdered, does not have as near the passion that actor had. Hamlet criticizes himself, saying, “A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak/ Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,/ And can say nothing” (Shakespeare 2.2 578-580). Hamlet calls himself a coward for not doing anything to avenge his father, but rather just staying depressed and weep all day. According to Bradley, “Hamlet was restrained by conscience or a mural scruple; he could not satisfy himself that it was right to avenge his father” (Bradley 4). Hamlet is aware of his constant delays, but still cannot ready himself to kill Claudius because of the excuses he continuously makes up. After criticizing himself, Hamlet sets up a plan that only prolongs his chance of killing Claudius. Hamlet says, “The play’s the thing/ Wherin I’ll catch the conscience of the King” (Shakespeare 2.2 616-617). Hamlet creates a play that reenacts a specific scene, which resembles Claudius murdering his father. Hamlet wants to see Claudius’s reaction to the scene, and confirm his guilty reaction. According to Eliot, “The delay in revenge is unexplained on grounds of necessity or expediency;

    Read More

  • Willian Shakespeare's Hamlet

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    Upon the realization of the need to get rid of Hamlet, Claudius should have come to a conclusion that if Hamlet were to simply vanish, suspicion would surely arise. Hamlet’s stunt at the play along with Claudius’ reaction likely instilled questions of King Hamlet’s death into the minds of the citizens in attendance of the play. If any of those citizens recognized Hamlet as a hero for exposing King Claudius, they’d be very curious i...

    Read More

  • Inconsistency in The Character of Hamlet

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    The perfection of Hamlet’s character has been called in question - perhaps by those who do not understand it. The character of Hamlet stands by itself. It is not a character marked by strength of will or even of passion, but by refinement of thought and sentiment. Hamlet is as little of the hero as a man can be.  He is a young and princely novice, full of high enthusiasm and quick sensibility - the sport of circumstances, questioning with fortune and refining on his own feelings, and forced from his natural disposition by the strangeness of his situation.

    Read More

  • Hamlet as the Tragic Hero

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about How Does Pyrrhus Change In Hamlet

Open Document