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“A man does what he must — in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers, and pressures — and that is the basis of all human morality,” John F. Kennedy once stated. In the tragedy, Hamlet, William Shakespeare presents Hamlet as one of the most distinguishable characters due his quest to avenge his father’s death. Hamlet Throughout the play, he is given various voices: as an avenger, as a moralist, and as a philosopher. In this essay, I will be explaining these personalities of Hamlet in depth.
The voice of Hamlet as an avenger is observed across the play after the ghost of old king Hamlet reveals that Claudius is the individual who murdered him. Hamlet commences his quest to kill Claudius by initially, acting insane in order to distract everyone from his actual plans of murder. He states that he is “but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw,” (Hamlet) meaning that he acts crazy purposely with the intention of avenging his father. Throughout the play, Hamlet attempts to kill Claudius but is prevented due to unfortunate...
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 ...
In life, one goes through different experiences which makes and shapes us into the person who we become. Whether something as little as a "hello" by a crush or a death in a family, they contribute to the difference, as they are all equal in importance. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the protagonist Hamlet struggles throughout his life as he is in search of his true identity. The Webster's dictionary, under the second definition, defines identity as "The set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group." As life only moves forward for Hamlet, he struggles to find his place in life, nonetheless to revenge the murder of his father.
Does Hamlet stand alone? Does this magnate of English literature hold any bond of fellowship with those around him, or does he forge through his quandaries of indecision, inaction and retribution in solitude? Though the young Dane interacts with Shakespeare's entire slate of characters, most of his discourse lies beneath a cloud of sarcasm, double meaning and contempt. As each member of Claudius' royal court offers their thickly veiled and highly motivated speech Hamlet retreats further and further into the muddled depths of his conflict-stricken mind. Death by a father, betrayal by a mother, scorn by a lover and abhorrence by an uncle leave the hero with no place to turn, perhaps creating a sense of isolation painful enough to push him towards the brink of madness.
Shakespeare portrays the protagonist, Hamlet, as someone with a great emotional and physical capacity for self-sacrifice. Burdened with a heroic task of avenging his father’s murder, Hamlet chooses to put on an “antic disposition”. This leads him to willingly transform his identity by altering his values, beliefs and his self-image. Hamlet also chooses to sacrifices true love for Ophelia, his right to freely express himself, and ultimately his life as well. Shakespeare shows how an individual, when burdened by a difficult task, will sacrifice anything including his own life for the purpose of fulfilling that goal.
In this play we read about a young prince named Hamlet who devotes himself to avenging his father's death. As the play progresses we see that Hamlet is contemplative and demonstrates his true desires and feelings. Hamlet begins to show signs of weakness and his indecision to seek vengeance in his soliloquy “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!”(2.2.560). Hamlet throughout the play is perceived as a weak, emotionally unstable, and cowardly individual.
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.
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.
The puzzling tragedy that is Hamlet will forever be speculated, which is why it has attracted such attention and praise. The madness in which Hamlet lives draws decisions of polarizing weight. Stay righteous and live out your life with your father’s killer? Or do you slay him and suffer before god and the law? It bears moments of wisdom, followed by inexplicable actions and Vis versa. One moment you find the protagonist staring at his girlfriend with his pants at his ankles, the next you find him contemplating the value of life. It’s hard to determine what the message behind the wildcard character that Hamlet is. William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet” unravels opposing subjects, superstition instead of righteousness, private revenge or public revenge; it portrays the contradictions emerging in the religious revival of the Renaissance as “Christian humanism” was taking form in Western Europe. An aspect of the play reveals and mocks the hypocrisy of the kingdoms as they exert authority and pose as the ideal of religion. The king is a murderer who prays to god without belief. The one who attempts to remain righteous is an outcast amongst his kingdom. The biggest speculation is drawn on the rectitude of revenge. Does Hamlet have the right to kill his uncle? If so, does Laertes then have the right to kill Hamlet? Is Fortinbras the only exception of just revenge when he is motivated by honor, while the others rage over personal revenge? In the wake of these quarrels, the most evident and obvious Christian Humanist belief is held true...evil never wins. The punishment of those who died in Hamlet is virtuous and deserving. Those who stooped to treachery suffered the consequence.
In Hamlet Shakespeare is able to use revenge in an extremely skillful way that gives us such deep insight into the characters. It is an excellent play that truly shows the complexity of humans. You can see in Hamlet how the characters are willing to sacrifice t...
Hamlet is a scholar, speaker, actor, and prince. For some reason, Hamlet is not able to avenge his father's death without considerable delay. There is one major flaw in Hamlet's character which causes him to postpone the murder of Claudius. I believe that this flaw is Hamlet's idealism. While his idealism is a good trait, in this case, Hamlet's environment and his...
The Complex Character of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Upon examining Shakespeare's characters in this play, Hamlet proves to be a very complex character, and functions as the key element to the development of the play. Throughout the play we see the many different aspects of Hamlet's personality by observing his actions and responses to certain situations. Hamlet takes on the role of a strong character, but through his internal weaknesses we witness his destruction.
In the play Hamlet, Hamlet has many different personality traits. Three of these characteristics are that Hamlet is depressed, clever, and hesitant. Throughout the play you can see these characteristics in Hamlet many times.
Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet’s behavior and actions cause readers to question his sanity. Hamlet’s character can be interpreted in many different ways. It could be said that he is indeed insane, or it can be disputed that he, as he made known, is simply putting on a good act. The complexity of knowing Hamlet’s true character derives from the fact that we, as readers, are unable to read Shakespeare’s or Hamlet’s minds. Therefore, judgments could be made solely by reading and interpreting his behavior and coming up with a satisfactory conclusion. Taking into consideration incidents such as Polonius’ murder and Hamlet’s contemplating suicide, it is natural for individuals who perform such acts to be categorized as crazy. Ignoring Hamlet’s actual actions, and paying keen attention to what altered his character, one can debate that Hamlet is not at all insane. It is important to consider the situations which triggered Hamlet’s different actions. By giving discreet thought to Hamlet’s position and what he endures, one will realize that he is not demented, but he is actually an angry, betrayed and emotionally devastated fatherless son.
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.
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.