In literature there are great stories and great heroes that make the stories memorable because of their individual characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. This essay will focus on the protagonist Luke Skywalker from George Lucas’ film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and Hamlet from William Shakespeare’s play drama Hamlet. Luke is a common farm boy from Tatooine that wanted to go off to join the Imperial Academy, but has to stay to help his aunt and uncle tend to the farm. Hamlet, however, does not come from very humble beginnings. He is the Prince of Denmark, and is dealing with his fathers recent death along with his mothers remarriage to his uncle. Luke Skywalker and Hamlet are both the heroes of their stories. Both of these characters …show more content…
Luke and Hamlet share that they came from home culture that they weren't fully at ease with but thought they couldn't change, Luke’s being that he was going to stay a farm boy forever and Hamlets that he will have to live without his father and his uncle married to his mother controlling the kingdom. However once they have their call to adventure you start to see their character differences in the way that they react to their refusal of the call. Luke takes a very realistic approach to the refusal of the call, telling Obi Wan ‘Ben’ Kenobi that he can’t go on this epic journey because he needs to stay with his aunt and uncle tending to the farm. Hamlet takes a more dramatic approach. He starts by asking himself, “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them”(Hamlet, Act III Scene I). Hamlet is asking himself what he should do with finding out that is his Uncle Claudius had killed his father to take over the throne and marry Hamlet’s mother. Hamlet is contemplating whether he should just continue life like normal always knowing this information, to get revenge as his father asked him to, or to just end it all by committing suicide so he doesn't have to deal …show more content…
Luke has many allies in his story that greatly excel his journey, such as: R2D2, C3PO, Obi Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca. With his allies there are also enemies that Luke has to face being: Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, The Imperial Empire, and the actual Death Star itself. Hamlet’s allies are a little bit shorter, he has his father’s ghost, the actors that act out “The Mouse Trap”, and Horatio who is really his only true ally that continuously helps him. Hamlet’s list of enemies far surpasses his allies, he has Claudius, Polonius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Laertes, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. The circumstances with these two heroes allies and enemies are very different, from just comparing the two lists there are significantly more allies on Luke’s list rather than on Hamlets and the opposite when it comes to the enemies lists of each character. When taking an even deeper look it shows that the reason that Luke has so many allies is because he allows and even seeks out help from others, just like when Obi Wan and Luke met up with Han Solo and Chewbacca so that they could get help flying to Alderaan to get the plans to the Death Star to Princess Leia’s father and help defend the Rebel Base there. Hamlet really only has one true
The morality of the hero also plays a key role in the nature of his heroism. Hamlet holds himself to high moral standards and ethics. “We, the ...
Hamlet and a popular amount of Disney movies share many parallels. The Lion King was actually based entirely off the play Hamlet. There are many themes in this play that are relevant in many other pieces, such as Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, and Hercules. Beauty and the Beast helps convey betrayal among people who care for each other, while Mulan allows people to see a deeper meaning in Hamlet’s own personal passion. Furthermore, Hercules allows one to connect the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia to a romance that is almost as complicated. While constructing this essay, I was able to discern a deeper meaning from the wise words of Shakespeare by taking the minute details, and linking them back to something similar and familiar.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, protagonist Hamlet, experiences many rises and falls throughout the play that have a major impact on his mentality decline. The way in which readers interpret the character, Hamlet, can vary in many ways. For instance, Hamlet delivers many soliloquies throughout the work, giving readers a better insight of his state of mind. Additionally, two significant soliloquies in both Acts II and III show a clear view of Hamlet’s mental and emotional state.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play. Most of the characters in the play have selfish motives at heart. Lust, greed, pride, and revenge are just a few sins that are committed in the play. There are few instances within the play that show goodness and kindness. Hamlet has so many people around him trying to bring him down, but he had one friend that was loyal to him, and that was Horatio. The other key characters in the play were only out for their own good. However Horatio was looking out for Hamlet. Unfortunately, Horatio was the only one.
Shakespeare uses a variety of characters in his famous play, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, who effectively demonstrate family loyalty, one of the values relevant to our society. The play focuses on the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and actions of this young prince, Hamlet, seeking revenge for his father’s death. When Hamlet decides to act on the information the angered ghos...
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Shakespeare utilizes his ability to use words to paint emotion, the story, and characters into the readers mind. Shakespeare creates the memorable character of Hamlet Junior in his poem, Hamlet, through the characteristics of insanity and madness and suicidal tendencies or thoughts of suicide. His capability of doing so enlarges the ability of the reader to understand the story, but also to construct the storyline.
As the play’s tragic hero, Hamlet exhibits a combination of good and bad traits. A complex character, he displays a variety of characteristics throughout the play’s development. When he is first introduced in Act I- Scene 2, one sees Hamlet as a sensitive young prince who is mourning the death of his father, the King. In addition, his mother’s immediate marriage to his uncle has left him in even greater despair. Mixed in with this immense sense of grief, are obvious feelings of anger and frustration. The combination of these emotions leaves one feeling sympathetic to Hamlet; he becomes a very “human” character. One sees from the very beginning that he is a very complex and conflicted man, and that his tragedy has already begun.
In conclusion Hamlet is portrayed as a different type of tragic hero, one that is not undermined only by his own fatal flaw but by the direct result of faith in a system that is, in itself, flawed and unjust that holds power over the universal man. Hamlet is idolised because it is commendable for any heart to try, even if they sometimes stumble, to remain honourable and just when confronted with all the wicked things that surround us.
Shakespeare’s most famous play Hamlet resonates with the hearts and minds of audiences through the dramatic treatment of struggle and disillusionment. Author, John Green commented, “Hamlet struggles because he is human.” It is these human characteristics and behaviors that have kept an audience transfixed through the years. Hamlet’s disillusionment with women, introduce modern day themes of love and marriage. His inability to act introduces his disillusionment with his uncle. Lastly his disenchantment with himself brings about questions of self-doubt and philosophical ideals of death.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is arguably one of the best plays known to English literature. It presents the protagonist, Hamlet, and his increasingly complex path through self discovery. His character is of an abnormally complex nature, the likes of which not often found in plays, and many different theses have been put forward about Hamlet's dynamic disposition. One such thesis is that Hamlet is a young man with an identity crisis living in a world of conflicting values.
Through the elements of technique portrayed in this essay, it is clear to see that Shakespeare is able to influence the reader through soliloquies, imagery, and dual understanding. This overall influence being both the communication of a deeper meaning, and a more complex understanding of the events and statements within Hamlet.
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.
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.
The tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most popular and greatest tragedy, presents his genius as a playwright and includes many numbers of themes and literary techniques. In all tragedies, the main character, called a tragic hero, suffers and usually dies at the end. Prince Hamlet is a model example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Every tragedy must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero must own many good traits, but has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. If not for this tragic flaw, the hero would be able to survive at the end of the play. A tragic hero must have free will and also have the characteristics of being brave and noble. In addition, the audience must feel some sympathy for the tragic hero.