In William Shakespeare 's Hamlet, there are many characters that allow themselves to be manipulated and be consumed by their own emotions. The way that this type of irrational behavior occurs is when Claudius killed Hamlet Sr, this causes a chain reaction of unfortunate events. Gertrude and Claudius plan to immediately marry after the death of the king. On going with the repercussions of the event; Hamlet is later visited by the dead spirit of his father. This happening caused Hamlet to realize that he needed to avenge his dead father by killing Claudius and rightfully taking the throne back after the ghost of his father told him to do so. Along with all the supernatural things that occur Hamlet is faced with technicalities in the Kingdom of Denmark. His love for Ophelia is rebuffed do to Polonius and Laertes insisting to her that Hamlet only wants to be with her for her only for lust. Claudius hires people to spy on Hamlet and report his every move to him. Hamlet attempts to …show more content…
He uses the people he is closest with as puppets to get what he wants. This can be explained using principles of behavior economics. Through priming, Claudius uses people so that he can cover himself up and maintain a good look to the people while he has his followers do his dirty work. The first instance in which Claudius uses priming to get what he wants is in Act 2 of Shakespeare 's Hamlet, Claudius uses two old school chums Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to come to Elsinore and spy on Hamlet and report his every move to Claudius (2.4.40-41). According to Ariely, people are willing to work for free, and they are willing to work for a reasonable wage (234). Here through priming, Claudius insist for the school chums to deceive Hamlet and to attempt to gain his trust and report whatever he tells them back to Claudius. According to Dan Ariely the subject of the study grossly under stimulated their behaviors
At the play’s commencement, Hamlet’s familial relations are relatively impaired, for his mother’s remarriage to his uncle instills great distrust within the family; however, as Hamlet attempts to expose the family’s darkest secret, these relationships deteriorate further until they eventually collapse. After conversing with his father’s ghost, Hamlet feels it necessary to confirm Claudius’ guilt; therefore, he asks a group of actors to perform a scene that wittily mirrors King Ha...
Displaying an 'antic disposition', Hamlet first attempts to side step his trepidation by feigning madness. After meeting with his fathers proposed ghost, Hamlet attempts to distance himself from the thought or evidence of death. Hamlet notifies his friends, Marcellus and Horatio, of his plan to distract the kingdom from his real intentions. Although Hamlet proposes this as a way to fool those in Denmark, in the last lines of his meeting with Horatio and Marcellus, he curses that this revenge be placed upon him. This is the first indication of Hamlets reluctance to perform murder. Hamlet then returns to Claudius and Gertrude, at the castle, and acts out his madness for them and for the visitor, Polonius. Upon speaking to Polonius, Polonius picks up upon Hamlets 'madness', yet decides that this unnatural nature is because if Ophelia's behavior toward Hamlet. Indication of Hamlets fear is presented when Polonius asks leave of the prince. Hamlet then states that Polonius can take anything from him, anything but his life. Hamlet repeats thrice this idea of taking anything 'except [his] life.' Not only does this indicate how compulsive Hamlets fake insanity is becoming, but how afraid he is of dying. During the 'To be or not to be' soliloquy, Hamlet contemplates his view of death. As he go...
During the first act, Prince Hamlet meets the ghost of his father, King Hamlet. His father's ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius poured poison in his ear while he slept. The spirit also explains that he wishes for Hamlet to avenge his death, but not to punish Queen Gertrude for marrying Claudius. He tells Hamlet that she will have to answer to her conscience, and eventually God for her incestuous actions (absoluteshakespeare.com 1 of 4). It was believed during these times that when a person died, especially in such a tragic fashion, that their spirit lingered about while suffering in Purgatory. This could cause a normally virtuous person's spirit to become filled with malevolence and begin to meddle in living men's affairs (en.wikipedia.org 4 of 9). This belief caused Prince Hamlet to want to investigate his father's spirit's claims to ensure that they were indeed true. In order to do this, Prince Hamlet feigns madness in order to remain hidden from members of the court's suspicions while he plots his revenge on King Claudius (www.sparknotes.com 1 of 3). He also takes advantage of a group of actors who come to Elsinore Castle to perform by rewriting a play to recreate the scene of his father's murder. He does this with the hope of flushing a confession out of Claudius' guilty conscience. When Claudius sees the play, he stands up and leaves the room (en.wikipedia.org 5 of 9). After many more events, Claudius' guilt becomes more obvious. Claudius then begins to change his focus towards killing Hamlet, as he is beginning to become aware of the Prince's plans to kill him. Claudius then arranges a fencing match between Hamlet and Polonius' son Laertes and has Laertes poison the blade of one of his swords to be used in the match (Hamlet).
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.
Hamlet as Victim of a Corrupt World 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.
Hamlet, a young prince preparing to become King of Denmark, cannot understand or cope with the catastrophes in his life. After his father dies, Hamlet is filled with confusion. However, when his father's ghost appears, the ghost explains that his brother, Hamlet's Uncle Claudius, murdered him. In awe of the supposed truth, Hamlet decides he must seek revenge and kill his uncle. This becomes his goal and sole purpose in life. However, it is more awkward for Hamlet because his uncle has now become his stepfather. He is in shock by his mother's hurried remarriage and is very confused and hurt by these circumstances. Along with these familial dysfunctions, Hamlet's love life is diminishing. It is an "emotional overload" for Hamlet (Fallon 40). The encounter with the ghost also understandably causes Hamlet great distress. From then on, his behavior is extremely out of context (Fallon 39). In Hamlet's first scene of the play, he does not like his mother's remarriage and even mentions his loss of interest in l...
One single moment or event during the course of an individual’s life can effectively alter their priorities and transform their identity drastically. In The play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare introduces the readers to the protagonist Hamlet who is draped in anger and emotions and has a new-found mission in life. Initially, Hamlet is portrayed as an individual in mourning over his father's death and his mother's haste in remarrying to her brother-in-law and Hamlet's uncle, Claudius. However, Hamlet’s character and personality were drastically altered after meeting the Ghost and discovering the true nature of his Father’s death. Hamlet is now a man with a lust for revenge and a willingness to do anything that will enable him to accomplish this goal. When burdened with the task of killing Claudius, Hamlet chooses to sacrifice all he holds dear by transforming his identity in a noble effort to avenge his father’s death.
Hamlet’s dogged attempts at convincing himself and those around him of Claudius’ evil, end up being Claudius’ best moments. The audience doesn’t have just one view of Claudius; the other characters favorable ideas of Claudius as king and person lets them see the humanity, good and bad, in Claudius. An allegory for the human soul, Claudius is many things: a father, a brother, a husband, and a king. He, like anyone else, has to play the role to the best of his ability, but is still very human and susceptible to the evils of human emotion ranging from concern to jealousy, all of which could have easily fueled his decisions. Page 1 of 6 Works Cited Hamlet, Shakespeare.
In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the protagonist, Price Hamlet, uses several ways to defend himself against his oedipal desires, his animosity towards his uncle, as well as his own inner conflict . Hamlet's hatred towards Claudius stems from two crimes committed; Claudius' murder of his brother and his incest with Hamlet's mother. Because of the seriousness of both crimes, as well as the fact that both persons affected are closely related, there is evidence of an interrelation between both of the crimes; which can further explains Hamlet's reaction. Following his father, King Hamlet's death, his mother, Gertrude proceeds to marry his Uncle Claudius; this causes a surge of Hamlet's oedipal desires towards his mother. Hamlet attempts to reconcile his incestuous urges using his relationship with Ophelia. Furthermore, his need for vengeance for his father's death causes Hamlet to experience great anger towards his Uncle; Hamlet incorporates the Oedipus Complex in his revenge against his father's murderer, who is presently his mother's husband. At the same time, Hamlet experiences an inner conflict. He is torn between his duty to avenge his father's death and his inability to kill his uncle; which can be seen in relation to his Oedipal Complex as well.
In the story Hamlet, there was very much unnecessary bloodshed because of his (Hamlet’s) irrational anger towards Claudius who killed his father to become king himself. The king came back as a ghost and commanded Hamlet to avenge his death by killing Claudius who conspired against him. Hamlet, out of both anger and defence, killed not only Claudius, but Polonius, which resulted in the death of Ophelia, Laserates, had a part in the death of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and even his own mother! I guess you could say he avenged his father… Sevenfold?! (wink)
Old Hamlet is killed by his brother Claudius. Only two months after her husband’s death a vulnerable Gertrude marries her husband’s brother Claudius. Gertrude’s weakness opens the door for Claudius to take the throne as the king of Denmark. Hamlet is outraged by this, he loses respect for his mother as he feels that she has rejected him and has taken no time to mourn her own husband’s death. One night old Hamlets ghost appears to prince Hamlet and tells him how he was poisoned by his own brother. Up until this point the kingdom of Denmark believed that old Hamlet had died of natural causes. As it was custom, prince Hamlet sought to avenge his father’s death. This leads Hamlet, the main character into a state of internal conflict as he agonises over what action and when to take it as to avenge his father’s death. Shakespeare’s play presents the reader with various forms of conflict which plague his characters. He explores these conflicts through the use of soliloquies, recurring motifs, structure and mirror plotting.
King Claudius, as illustrated in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, displays both charm and eloquence. Claudius is an intelligent person and is able to deceive people into believing he is innocent and morally guided. He is adept at manipulating people in order to advance and maintain his own power and fails to show any remorse for his actions. Claudius utilizes his linguistic skills to portray himself as an innocent and prudent leader; however, upon further inspection his diction is a mere smoke screen that hides his manipulative and cunning nature.
The insanity Hamlet adopted led to ruthlessness and errors of judgement as Hamlet was blinded by the revenge of his father. As Christina Autiero asserts in a paper given at a conference held in Westchester - Putnam School, “Blinded by [his] passions,...Hamlet indirectly causes the death of Ophelia and his mother...revenge and Hamlet’s method of madness primarily cause his death and actions. Unfortunately, the only approach [he] felt would vindicate [his] honorable name essentially destroyed [him]” (Autiero 53). Young Hamlet believed that the only choice to redeem his father was to murdering the murderer. In doing so, however, Hamlet became mad, and struck out at any and all who crossed his path. At one point in the play, Hamlet stabs Polonius, believing him to be King Claudius. And yet, no remorse is felt. In addition, Hamlet drives Ophelia, his lover, over the edge and leads her to suicide. Throughout the play, young Hamlet toys with her emotions, trying t...
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.
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.