Hamlet
Is Hamlet heroic? Hamlet, the main character of Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet, is an angry man who dazzles the audience with his wicked wit and lust for vengeance. He appears to be mad throughout the whole play, leaving the audience with an uncertain feeling toward him. The answer to the question of rather or not Hamlet was crazy plays a key role in the answer to our main question, is Hamlet heroic? Only when it is known if Hamlet is mad or not can a person find or deny the heroisms in his actions.
So is Hamlet crazy? From the very beginning Hamlet is shows characteristics of being very disturbed. In act I scene two Hamlet expresses his melancholy, “Oh that this too too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into dew! Or that thy Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter!” (I. ii. 129- 132). Hamlet speaks on his feelings, telling us of how he wishes to die because of his sorrow. He recently lost his father, and in less than a month his mother has remarried to his uncle. Hamlet feels lost and no one understands. Confused by the incestuous behavior of his mother and hasty marriage, Hamlet thinks there was foul play in his midst. Upon hearing of the appearance of his father’s ghost, he is certain that treachery is to be found somewhere. He states,” My father’s spirit in arms! All is not well; I doubt some foul play:” (I, iii,253-254). The next night he meets with the ghost and it tells Hamlet that he was murdered and “ The serpent that did sting thy fathers life Now wears his crown,” (I, v, 37-38), then he asked Hamlet “ Let not the royal bed of Denmark be A couch for luxery and damned incest,“ (I. v. 82- 83). Hamlet agreed at once to avenge his father and country. From this point on Hamlet l...
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...ter achieving his goals Hamlet dies. Hamlet seemed to be a sane man with the knowledge to make everyone think he was insane. He showed his sanity through his ability to control himself and make reasonable decisions even when faced with great opportunity.
If Hamlet was sane, like the information I gathered from the text suggested, then his actions prove him to be less than heroic. A man who allows his father’s brother to get away with murdering his father for so long, do to his fear to speak, is not heroic. He is a coward. A noble heroic man would fight for what is right, even if it meant his own life could be lost. Hamlet only acted on behalf of his father when he knew his life was lost either way. Before this time he only contemplated idly over the situation. A hero is a man of noble thought and action not just thought.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, Willaim. Hamlet.
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 by William Shakespeare is one of the world’s most revered literature. The main character, Hamlet, is arguably one of the most intriguing characters the playwright ever developed. Hamlet is daring, philosophical, mentally unstable at times, and clever. Throughout the play though, these characteristics change and/or diminish as Hamlet is put through a plethora of unfortunate events. His father is murdered by Claudius, his mother soon after marries Claudius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern betray him, and his girlfriend most likely commits suicide. While Hamlet is incredibly philosophical, indecisive, and full of resentment in the beginning of the play, he becomes violent, instinctive, caring and sympathetic towards the end of the play.
... way for him to escape his criminal deeds. Insanity is when a person cannot decipher right from wrong or know the effects of their actions. They are generally unaware of what they are doing. If in a state of insanity you commit a crime, the charges are dropped and this has been done throughout history. However, in Hamlet’s case all evidence shows that not only do Hamlet’s actions have reason behind them, but he is well aware of the result that they would trigger. In all the points given, it is seen, that the motif behind Hamlet’s disposition is carried out sanely, even though to others they may seem mad, to Hamlet and those who know his intentions they are not. Therefore, the evidence that has been presented proves that Hamlet was in a normal state the entire time, and hence, he should be punished for the deaths of the three people for which he is responsible for.
In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet the main character Hamlet experiences many different and puzzling emotions. He toys with the idea of killing himself and then plays with the idea of murdering others. Many people ask themselves who or what is this man and what is going on inside his head. The most common question asked about him is whether or not he is sane or insane. Although the door seems to swing both ways many see him as a sane person with one thought on his mind, and that is revenge. The first point of his sanity is while speaking with Horatio in the beginning of the play, secondly is the fact of his wittiness with the other characters and finally, his soliloquy.
Even in his madness, he retorts and is clever in his speech and has full understanding of what is going on around him. The characters might have learnt to never trust anyone, because your best friend can be spying on you and your uncle can be your fathers murderer; you should be careful of the people around you. Through all this, Hamlet is able to use common sense, rationalize, and think like a normal man. showing his is in fact not crazy. Hamlet acts no more crazy, than any other man would in a situation like that.
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the title character is one of histories greatest examples of a tragic hero. Hamlet is born a prince and is seen throughout the play as a hero, but soon the reader begins to see a flaw emerge. Throughout the play, Hamlet exhibits indecision and procrastination. These two traits are his tragic flaws that lead to his death. Hamlet at many times during the play has a chance to avenge his fathers’ death and kill Claudius. At one point Hamlet gives a whole soliloquy debating on whether or not to kill his Uncle, “And ...
In act three, he even admits that his actions are insane, horrible and evil. He says, “I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft” (3.4.191). For Hamlet to admit that his actions are mad or insane, is the most insane trait of Hamlet. For him to openly admit that he is fully aware that his actions are mad, only ignites the flame of his insanity. This quote seals the deal for the reader that Hamlets mind is a wasteland of madness, but also of planned insanity and horrible actions.
At the opening of the play Hamlet is portrayed as a stable individual . He expresses disappointment in his mother for her seeming disregard for his father's death. His feelings are justified and his actions are rational at this point, he describes himself as being genuine. As this scene progresses it is revealed that Hamlet views himself as being weak: "My father's brother, but no more like my father/ than I to Hercules" (1.2.153) The doubts that Hamlet has concerning his heroism become particularly evident in his actions as the story progresses. These doubts are a major hindrance to his thoughts of revenge.
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 certainly isn't a hero in this play. He exhibits many of his weaknesses that contradict other characters in the play. A hero is a person who shows great courage through his actions and one who is noble and self-sacrificing. He does exhibit courage in parts like when the ghost came and Hamlet followed it, but yet he certainly isn't self-sacrificing. He sacrifices other characters lives to benefit his chance of getting revenge with Claudius. I thought Hamlet was a selfish, self centered, weak and crazy person. How can you call a person a hero after killing friends and family in order to get what one wants?
Hamlet is still a young man of great intellectual abilities, but whose mind and heart are both clouded by anger and sorrow, resulting in actions that might be viewed as madness. Hamlet’s affliction began even before the contact with his father’s ghost, and was worsened when the truth about Claudius was revealed to him by the apparition of his late father. Hamlet’s actions are not results of insanity but outcomes of the pain he suffers because of the loss and betrayal of loved ones.
Webster’s dictionary defines tragedy as, “a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (such as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror.” A tragic hero, therefore, is the character who experiences such a conflict and suffers catastrophically as a result of his choices and related actions. The character of Hamlet, therefore, is a clear representation of Shakespeare’s tragic hero.
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet’s actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his ‘outsider’ outlook on society, coupled with his innate tendency to over-think his actions, leads to an unfocused mission of vengeance that brings about not only his own death, but also the unnecessary deaths of nearly all of the other main characters in the revenge tragedy.
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.