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The significance of the character hamlet
The significance of the character hamlet
Shakespeare's relevance to today
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In Shakespeare's play Hamlet he creates and imagine of decay and corruption in Hamlet's world. Throughout the play Shakespeare introduces to the audience new ways corruption affects the layout of the play. The play starts with Hamlet finding out that his uncle has been engaged to his mother after the tragic death of his father, whom Hamlet later finds out his uncle was the one to kill his father. As the play continues Hamlet falls into more corruption as he starts to go insane, and soon he starts contemplating suicide. In the play "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" William Shakespeare creates many situations where corruption adds to the story . Creating an intense drama among the characters. Such as Hamlet's hate towards his uncle …show more content…
A prime example of the corruption/tragedy effect is between Claudius and Hamlet. This combination of corruption and tragedy sets the mood, tone, and plot for the story. Claudius is created by Shakespeare as the most corrupted character in his play. Whereas Hamlet is the most affected character by tragedy. The story starts with Hamlet's father dying, and him finding out that the one who killed his father has his uncle, who becomes king, Claudius. How Hamlet discovers that his father was killed by Claudius is by his father ghost, who comes to him at night saying "The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown." (1.5.39). Thus Hamlet knows his uncle's deceptive lies and corrupt power. This is not the only time Claudius uses corruption to destroy Hamlets will to live. claudius speaks to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern saying "And can you, by no drift of circumstance, get from him why he puts on this confusion.."(3.1.1). Claudius requires two of Hamlet's close friend to spy on Hamlet and try to figure the cause of Hamlet's disruption of sanity. Telling them he'll pay them goods for their service to him as King. By the end of the play Claudius has conceived a play to have laertes kill Hamlet, Claudius was famous for having people do his dirty work while he sits back and watches corruption and …show more content…
The most important death that happens in "The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark" is the Death of King Hamlet. His death sets in motion all corruption, tragedy, and deaths that follow. Once King Hamlet is dead his son, Hamlet, goes crazy plotting his revenge against his uncle, because of Claudius's deceptive ways Hamlet starts to feel betrayed by his closest friends. This includes Ophelia, Daughter of Polonius, who eventually is driven to insanity following the death of her father, and how Hamlet's leaves her accusing her of lying to him and betraying their love. "So fast they follow. Your sister's drown'd, Laertes." (The Queen 4.7.165) the death of Ophelia affects Laertes to the point that he changes Hamlet to a dual to the death. Laertes and Claudius plan to poison hamlet to kill him, but instead of poisoning Hamlet the queen is the one who ends up drinking from the cup with poison and dying. The death of Hamlet's mother distracts him long enough for Laertes to cut Hamlet behind his ear poisoning him with the tip of his blade. Hamlet quickly strikes back striking Laertes with his poisned blade bonding them both to their deaths.As Laertes struggles to stay alive he tells hamlet the truth about Claudius's corrupted plan to kill Hamlet. This drives him to finally seek revenge for his parents. He forces Claudius to drink the poison and watches him die as his mother, Laertes, and himself die with
William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is the dramatic story of a son who felt betrayed by both his mother, and the woman that he loved. Written in the Elizabethan era, around 1600, “Shakespeare's focus on Hamlet's intellectual conflicts was a significant departure from contemporary revenge tragedies… which tended to dramatize violent acts graphically on stage” (Hamlet). The play depicts Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, who it visited by the ghost of his father, King Hamlet. The ghost reveals how he was murdered by his brother Claudius, who then claimed the title of King, and married Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. Hamlet vows to avenge his father’s untimely death. Hamlet is in love with Ophelia, but her brother, Laertes, and father, Polonius, warn her that Hamlet can never really love her. Ophelia, following her father’s wishes, is unwittingly enlisted to spy on Hamlet, which leaves him feeling betrayed. Hamlet rejects Ophelia, accidently stabs and kills Polonius, and then hides the body. Ophelia becomes so distraught over her father’s death, that she ultimately drowns herself. Hamlet is devastated when he learns of Ophelia’s death. The play culminates with a sword fight between Hamlet and Laertes. Hamlet’s mother dies from inadvertently drinking poisoned wine that was intended to kill Hamlet. Laertes and Hamlet are both stabbed with a poison-tipped sword, but before dying, Laertes confesses that Claudius was the mastermind behind everything. Hamlet forces Claudius to also drink the wine and the irony is that everyone dies in the end. One of the most controversial topics in history is the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia. Hamlet’s letters express his sincere feelings, and reveal that he was very much in love with Ophe...
...m to put his life in danger to find out more information about Hamlet, which ultimately leads to his death. Claudius also planted the idea of murdering Hamlet into Laertes’ mind, and this became the main goal of Laertes towards the end, which leads him to his death. Hamlet has hurt the women that he loves, both Ophelia and Gertrude die. Claudius and Hamlet also die, which is ultimately how the corruption of the nation of Denmark ends, through this it can once again be the great nation that it once was.
Deceit is a major cause of the downfall of Hamlet. This is demonstrated in three instances in the play. First, Polonius spies on Hamlet while he is talking privately with his mother Gertrude. Second, Claudius sends Hamlet away to England. Finally, Laertes and Claudius scheme to kill Hamlet.
This, of course, causes a landslide of tragedy in the play. Claudius exiles Hamlet to England and sends sealed letters to the King of England telling him to kill Hamlet upon his arrival. Ophelia goes insane. Laertes, Hamlet's brother, returns from France with an army, demanding to know why Polonius was killed. Claudius enlists Laertes to kill Hamlet. Ophelia commits suicide. Hamlet and Laertes duel at her funeral; both of them are mortally wounded, Gertrude kills herself and Hamlet kills Claudius.
It is here that one begins to see the theme of revenge and the idea that power can cause corruption. A family is supposed to be loyal and trusting of each other without any doubts; or so it was thought. Shakespeare uses Claudius’ betrayal of late King Hamlet to disprove the notion that family is always loyal. Claudius’ jealousy of his own brother and his desire to be the most powerful in Denmark corrupted him. It led him to betray his own family, a bond that is supposed to be unbreakable, and all the while feeling no guilt while acting as if he had not committed the crime. In addition to this, Claudius also takes late King Hamlet’s wife. Hamlet is enraged by the crime and adultery committed by his supposed family and feels he must seek justice for his father by taking out revenge on Claudius and therefore betraying him. Subsequently, the play becomes a slippery slope of events stemming from betrayal and revenge. The betrayal of one character became the revenge and betrayal of many others as seen when Horatio says, “… violent and unnatural acts, terrible accidents, casual murders, deaths caused by trickery and by threat, and finally murderous plans that backfired on their perpetrators,” showing that each act committed by the characters were returned back to them. This can be supported through the deaths of Claudius, Laertes, and Hamlet as these were just a
William Shakespeare takes us through the life of Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark battling through the death of his father, and seeking revenge on the man who murdered him, in his tragedy that is, Hamlet. Shakespeare creates a world fixated on life versus death that is constantly questioning the possibilities of the afterlife and comparing it to their present circumstances. As death surrounds Denmark, the idea of suicide rises and becomes a significant theme that encourages characterization and plot development throughout the play. Hamlet, distraught by the death of his father and the recent marriage of his mother, Gertrude to his uncle, Claudius, begins contemplating whether suicide is the right choice for him in his situation. Death also takes over the mind of Ophelia, a beautiful young lady who Hamlet is in love with, when her father Polonius is murdered, leading to her madness and eventual suicide. The final suicide is the death of the entire royal circle caused by their own corrupt conflicts and actions. Shakespeare explores the idea of suicide as an important theme through the imagination and actions of his characters.
Troubled by royal treason, ruthless scheming, and a ghost, Denmark is on the verge of destruction. Directly following King Hamlet's death, the widowed Queen Gertrude remarried Claudius, the King's brother. Prince Hamlet sees the union of his mother and uncle as a "hasty and incestuous" act (Charles Boyce, 232). He then finds out that Claudius is responsible for his father's treacherous murder. His father's ghost asks Hamlet to avenge his death and Hamlet agrees. He plans very carefully, making sure that he doesn't kill Claudius when in he has already been forgiven for his sins. Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, the King's advisor, thinking that it was Claudius hiding behind a curtain spying on Hamlet and his mother. This drives Ophelia, Polonius' daughter and Hamlet's love interest, insane. She then drowns in a suspected suicide when she falls from a tree into a river. Laertes, Ophelia's brother, teams up with Claudius and plot revenge on the strained prince.
In the play Hamlet, Hamlet can be seen as the sole reason for the corrupt and rotten place that Denmark has become. Shakespeare introduces the audience to Hamlet as a loved and innocent prince who is mourning the death of his father. As the play progresses, Hamlet changes to a person who battles himself with key decisions and only thinks to serve himself. Hamlet is seen to have little respect for women resulting in him using broken love for Ophelia to cover up his plan to murder Claudius. Shakespeare also creates Hamlet to have a hamartia which is an inability to act leading to him manipulating people to achieve his goals. In the play, it is clear that Hamlet causes much grief and turmoil in Denmark and eventually leads to Denmark's rot and his demise.
[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’
Arriving at Ophelia’s funeral, Hamlet is faced by Laertes' rage. Laertes justly blames Hamlet for the death of Polonius and the subsequent suicide of Ophelia. Again both deaths were due to choices made by Hamlet, Polonius' murder and driving Ophelia insane.
Deceit is often used in politics and everyday life to acquire power and success. The theme of deceit is often repeated in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Hamlet’s hesitation in killing Claudius, and Hamlet’s eventual death are a direct result of deceit in the court. Hamlet tries to deceive everyone into thinking that he is crazy. He believes that with this "antic disposition" he can kill Claudius without any consequences, and avenge his father’s death. When Cladius and Polonius hear of Hamlet’s madness, they decide to find out the reason behind it. They spy on Hamlet to figure out why he is acting this way. Through this Cladius learns that Hamlet is dangerous, and a threat to him. Hamlet’s trickery also leads to the death of Ophelia and her father Polonius. As well as triggering Laertes to seek revenge on Hamlet for causing the death of his family. After several attempts to kill Hamlet fail, Claudius teams up with Laertes and tries to murder Hamlet once and for all. Each of these plans directly or indirectly cause Hamlet’s death.
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.
Hamlet’s obsession with taking revenge destroys the relationships in his life. His furiousness with his mother’s marriage causes him to lose respect for her and wish for no more marriages in Denmark (III. i. 144-152). Hamlet’s loss of respect for women affects his relationship with his girlfriend, Ophelia. He slowly begins to drive her away. Hamlet becomes impetuous and consequently kills Ophelia’s father, which permanently destroys their relationship. Another instance of obsession to revenge is Laertes. He becomes so bent upon avenging his family, that he does not think clearly. Claudius deceives Laertes by persuading him into killing Hamlet so that he remains out of harm’s way. However, their obsession to revenge becomes the foundation of their
Several of the characters in Hamlet are meant to be involved in betraying and deceiving each other. With this happening throughout the play it shows if the characters will remain the same or will they take matters into their own hands. This will be the time where you truly find out how the people around you act on certain situations. It’s like survival of the fittest, only those with power will survive and the powerless will lose. Positions of power led to the moral corruption, sexual corruption and, political corruption found in the play.
In general terms, corruption is the act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle. In politics, corruption is the misuse of public power and image.Whether it is realized or not, no country is wholly free of the disease of corruption, and if it is allowed to develop and become significantly strong, it can obstruct the good processes of governing and deteriorate the fabric of society. It can become a barrier to continual development and make it so that essentially no room remains for justice to succeed. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the destructive force of corruption is clearly exemplified through the abundance of imagery concerning decay, death, disease, sickness, and infection as the play progresses. The first and foremost example of this corruptionis the murder of King Hamlet and the resulting incestuous marriage of Gertrude and Claudius, which forms the foundation for corruption becoming a regular happening in the state of Denmark.The disease of corruption in the play stems from Claudius and slowly spreads through Elsinore and eventually results in the collapse of Denmark, which is signified by the takeover of the castle and land by Fortinbras, the nemesis of Hamlet and the Norwegian Crown Prince.Through the characters of Polonius, Claudius, Ophelia, and Hamlet, the evolution and disease-like spreading of this corruption can be observed.