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hamlet relationship with his father
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No one in life has the choice to pick his or her family that they are born into. When he or she is brought into this world, their status is already placed upon them as a result of their parents. As one of the most well-known plays in history, William Shakespeare’s tragic story Hamlet looks into the themes of families and roles. Delivered into a household of royalty and poise, the young prince Hamlet collides with negative emotions that spur from the unforeseen affliction of his father’s death and hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. Sprung forth from these events, other families were affected and tested to see if their love for each other could keep them together. Every family has a choice to remain as a whole no matter what life throws …show more content…
He came back to ask his own son to avenge his death. The ghost told Hamlet “List, list, O list! / If thou didst ever thy dear father love / Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.29/31). It is very clear that Shakespeare wants readers to pay attention to the father-son relationship. King Hamlet chose to corrupt Hamlet even more by asking him to murder and Hamlet chose to listen and obey in return. Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother grieved in only a short 2 months before marrying his brother Claudius. As if it wasn’t traumatic enough that Hamlet lost a father, and Gertrude a husband, he now has lost his mother to an “incestuous, that adulterate beast / with witchcraft of his wits, with traitorous gifts--” (1.5.49-50). Claudius was Hamlet’s uncle and Gertrude’s brother-in-law. Hamlet’s relationship with his own father, even in death is stronger than the one that he has with his step-father. Claudius tried in the beginning to establish a bond but Hamlet of course, denied it. Claudius said “Time be thine, / And they best graces spend it at they will.-- / But now, my cousin Hamlet and my son--” (1.2.65-66) to which Hamlet replied “A little more than kin and less than kind / I am too much in the sun” …show more content…
In the beginning it is shown that they have the strongest bond. Laertes asks King Hamlet to leave Denmark to be in France. King Hamlet agrees without hesitation. This unknowingly begins the tear in their household. Before departure, Laertes expresses his farewells gives Ophelia a big lesson about loving a royal; Hamlet. “Perhaps he loves you now, / And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch / The virtue of his will; but you must fear, / His greatness weighed, his will is not his own / (For he himself is subject to his birth)” (1.317-21). Hamlet is subject to his birth and acts as a spoiled royal. His father, Polonius also exchanges words to his son before he goes. As Polonius enters Laertes says “ But here my father comes, / A double blessing is a double grace. / Occassion smiles upon a second leave” (1.357-59). This confirms a strong bond is made between his father as well. Laertes choice to leave impacts his family. If Laertes had not left, maybe Polonius wouldn’t have gone as far as spying on Hamlet after seeing he was not mad out of love. Polonius’ relationship with his daughter impacted his decision to go talk and act with the murderous king. “I will go seek the King. This is the very ecstasy of love, / Whose violent property fordoes itself” (2.2.113-115). Their rapport also impacted Polonius’ to further his investigation with Hamlet. Ophelia’s relationship with her father impacted her decision
Hamlet was told by the ghost of king hamlet to get back at Claudius for his death, or his soul will travel on earth forever. Even before hamlet knew about Claudius killing his father he had problems. It made hamlet mad that his mother would marry so fast and with his uncle. What Claudius did was an outrageous, back stabbing, and unbelievable thing. It was clearly an act of jealousy for his brother's throne and the wife. Claudius did pay back for his actions. Claudius lost his wife, his messenger, and died and even after his death kept loosing because he lost his castle to Fortinbras.
David Scott Kastan points out that “for Hamlet, however, to accept the filial obligation sounded in his name is to disregard and dismiss all other relations he has established” (1). He is trying to convey here that if Hamlet does step up and take revenge on his father’s murderer, he would be destroying his previous relationships with anyone he knew if they found out he fought murder with murder. This worsens Hamlet’s situation, because his relations to his father are so strong he feels he must avenge him, but as Kastan suggests, Hamlet is “only the son, sworn to remember and revenge his father” (1). Hamlet, however, commits himself to his father, to symbolize him; as his son and as his agent (Kastan 1). According to the ghost King Hamlet, “to be Hamlet, to deserve the name” “is to be a revenger” (Kastan 2).
Hamlet was very disappointed with his life because he knew that becoming king was one thing that he didn't have in common with his father, because his stepfather was king, “married with my uncle, my father's brother" (I. ii. 151-2). Hamlet was very upset by his mother's marriage, and as he learns later, his father was as well, "It is not nor it cannot come to good: But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue" (I. ii. 157-8). The ghost of Hamlet's father advises his own opinion, "Let not the royal bed of Denmark be A couch for luxury and damned incest" (I. v. 82-3).
Hamlet is a man of words not actions. His delay to react after finding out Claudious is behind his fathers murder is hesitated due to his desire to validate the information from Old Hamlets ghost to see if what he had told him was really the truth: “I’ll have these players play something like the murder of my father before mine uncle... The play’s the thing where in ill catch the conscious of the king.” (p.31) Hamlet believed the play will expose Claudius’ guilt through the actor’s emotions and talent on stage. Hamlet’s plan turned out perfectly causing Claudius to react suspiciously towards this act because of his guilt. Claudius’ reaction gave Hamlet the proof that he needed to point fingers at Claudius for the murder of his father. Hamlet can now seek revenge on his uncle and cause him to suffer the way Hamlet has been ever since this tragic event with his father. Although with this proof Hamlet still holds off the killing of the killing of Claudius and decides to confront his mother about it instead of taking action. In act 3 scene 4, while Hamlet is speaking to his mother he he...
Hamlet is first tormented by the death of his father, the king of Denmark. Then he is cast into utter agony when Gertrude, the mother he loves dearly is hastily married to his uncle, Claudius. Through a ghostly revelation, Hamlet learns that his suspicions that Claudius murdered his father are true. He becomes incensed and wants to enact revenge upon the guilty party. From this point on, Hamlet struggles with his plan for revenge that conflicts with his opposite contemplative nature.
Prince Hamlet feels a great obligation to carry out the direction of the ghost of his father to avenge his father's death. Here we see a bit of his conflict. Since there doesn't seem to be much description of interaction of King and Prince, it is left to us to decide if Hamlet loved his father or he has agreed to avenge the death of his father due to a sense of filial duty.
The role parents play in a child’s development is critical. They are the people who have the most influence on them, effecting most aspects of even their adult life. When too controlling, the role of a parent can have lasting negative consequences for the child. In the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the author shows that loss of an authoritative parent leaves people trying to replace the loss of that control in unhealthy ways that destroy the person. This can be seen in the lives of Ophelia, Hamlet and Laertes, who all loose a controlling father.
In my readings of Hamlet, sexism was a immense element in the story. It is not fairly unambiguous where the incest comes in and who is involved, but the unorthodox relationships that have taken place shows how things were during the Elizabethan Age, or were they? My goal in this paper is to research the gender roles between the males and females in the story and to prove how women were treated during these times, and to determine who was involved in incest and sexism. The characters in focus will be Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, and son of the deceased King Hamlet; Polonius, counselor to Claudius; Laertes, Polonius’ son who has returned home due to King Hamlet’s death; Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother and Queen of Denmark; and Ophelia, daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes, also Hamlet’s girlfriend.
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet the king of Denmark is murdered by his brother, Claudius, and as a ghost tells his son, Hamlet the prince of Denmark, to avenge him by killing his brother. The price Hamlet does agree to his late father’s wishes, and undertakes the responsibility of killing his uncle, Claudius. However even after swearing to his late father, and former king that he would avenge him; Hamlet for the bulk of the play takes almost no action against Claudius. Prince Hamlet in nature is a man of thought throughout the entirety of the play; even while playing mad that is obvious, and although this does seem to keep him alive, it is that same trait that also keeps him from fulfilling his father’s wish for vengeance
Hamlet's father, Old King Hamlet who he looked up to was recently killed, and his mother married his uncle within a month. He receives a visit from the ghost of his father which urges him to "revenge [Claudius'] foul and most unnatural murder" (I, v, 32) of Old Hamlet. It is only logical that under these circumstances, Hamlet would be under great duress, and it would not be abnormal for him to express grief. Fortnibra and Laertes also have to deal with the avenging their fathers' death.
In the beginning of Hamlet, the Prince behaves as any normal person would following the death of a loved one. Not only is this a loved one, but an extra special someone; it is his loving father whom he adored. Hamlet is grief stricken, depressed, and even angry that his mother remarried so soon after his father’s death. Having witnessed how his father had treated his mother with great love and respect, Hamlet cannot understand how his mother could shorten the grieving period so greatly to marry someone like Uncle Claudius. He is incapable of rationalizing her deeds and he is obsessed by her actions.
As you begin to read and understand the tragedy of Hamlet, you should begin to see how the many characters affect what happens as the story progresses. The further you get into the plot, however, it is quite clear that there is one strong supporting character that shapes the role of the main character of the story. When Prince Hamlet, the main character learns that his uncle Claudius was the person who had killed his father, Prince Hamlet becomes enraged by this and vouches to honor his father's death by slaying his uncle for his wrongdoing. Prince Hamlet is further enraged and disgusted by the acts of his mother, Queen Gertrude who has most hastily agreed to marry the brother of the former king of Denmark. When this occurs, we begin to see the mental constitution of Prince Hamlet unravel. As the play progresses, we further see the toll that all of this plays on the main character when he begins to doubt whether or not the apparition that he is seen is really that of his father or not and begins to think that the specter is possibly evil in some way or another.
Once Hamlet has learned of his father’s death, he is faced with a difficult question: should he succumb to the social influence of avenging his father’s death? The Ghost tells Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.31) upon which Hamlet swears to “remember” (1.5.118). Hamlet’s immediate response to this command of avenging his father’s death is reluctance. Hamlet displays his reluctance by deciding to test the validity of what the Ghost has told him by setting up a “play something like the murder of (his) father’s” (2.2.624) for Claudius. Hamlet will then “observe his looks” (2.2.625) and “if he do blench” (2.2.626) Hamlet will know that he must avenge his father’s death. In the course of Hamlet avenging his father’s death, he is very hesitant, “thinking too precisely on the event” (4.4.43). “Now might I do it…and he goes to heaven…No” (3.3.77-79) and Hamlet decides to kill Claudius while “he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in th’ incestuous pleasure of his bed” (3.3.94-95). As seen here, Hamlet’s contradicting thought that Claudius “goes to heaven” (3.3.79) influences him to change his plans for revenge. Hamlet eventually realizes that he must avenge his father’s death and states “from this time forth my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth” (4.4.69). From this, Hamlet has succumbed to the social influence and has vowed to avenge his father’s death.
In the play, Hamlet seeks revenge on his uncle Claudius. Claudius killed Hamlet’s dad and then married his mom to become the leader of Denmark. Later in the play, Hamlet sees his dad’s ghost and is informed of the horrific act committed by his uncle. Hamlets’ dad’s ghost says, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (I. V. 25). Hamlets’ dad says this to Hamlet so that his uncle could get retribution for his action. Hamlet has many opportunities to kill Claudius but is unable because of the wrong timing. While Claudius is praying, Hamlet has an opportunity to slay him but doesn’t because if he killed him in his prayers he will make him go to heaven instead of hell. Another minor reason for Hamlet’s revenge against his uncle is his affection towards his mother. As the play progresses, we are able to determine that Hamlet’s relationship with his mom is close to incest status. With this information, we are able ...
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.