Hamlet is one of the most intriguing and perplexing characters ever created. Some people see Hamlet as a witty, heroic and brave while others see him as irrational, corrupt and cowardly. To me, what makes Hamlet so intriguing is that he has all of these characteristics. He ends up being relatable to every reader because the reader tends to somewhat understand Hamlet on a personal level at different points in the book. What makes Hamlet so confusing is that he seems to change every time we read about him. One moment he’s melancholy and the next he’s cheerful. One moment he’s vengeful and the next he’s compassionate. Hamlet is such a complete character that the relationship we have with him changes every single time we visit him. You just never know what Hamlet is going to do next. Will he get revenge on Claudius or will he let him be? The readers are instilled with great intrigue of the character that is Hamlet.
At first when the reader meets Hamlet, he is mourning over his father’s death and vows to avenge it. As the play goes along, the reader notices that the story isn’t really just about avenging his father’s death. The play is mainly focused on Hamlet’s inner struggle to take action. In the beginning of the story when Hamlet is talking to the ghost of his father he says, "Speak; I am bound to hear." It is Hamlet’s duty to listen to his father’s spirit. The ghost says that it is Hamlet’s duty to avenge his father’s death: "So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear.” Soon after that, the ghost says the exact same message, but with more emphasis. The ghost says that if Hamlet ever truly loved his father, Hamlet will "revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” Hamlet promises to show his love for his dead father by killing t...
... middle of paper ...
...y when he was praying. Hamlet’s death is neither disgraceful not heroic. Hamlet ends up getting his revenge his revenge on Claudius but in the worst possible way. His revenge ultimately lead to himself and his mother dying alongside Claudius. In the end, Hamlet is a victim of his own cowardliness and trepidation.
To me, Hamlet is the perfect model of a tragic hero. He becomes trapped within his thoughts throughout the story and overthinks the smallest things, yet he is the one who brings about his own downfall. I think Hamlet should have just killed Claudius when he saw him praying. Hamlet was incredibly intelligent, but he still made some really brash and unintelligent decisions that ended up costing him in the end. In the end, Hamlet ended up being a flawed individual who just wanted to get revenge on his father’s murderer, but who ultimately died in the process.
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 Hamlet, William Shakespeare presents the main character Hamlet as a man who is fixated on death. Shakespeare uses this obsession to explore both Hamlet's desire for revenge and his need for assurance. In the process, Shakespeare directs Hamlet to reflect on basic principles such as justice and truth by offering many examples of Hamlet's compulsive behavior; as thoughts of death are never far from his mind. It is apparent that Hamlet is haunted by his father's death. When Hamlet encounters the ghost of his father, their conversation raises all kinds of unthinkable questions, for example murder by a brother, unfaithful mother, that triggers Hamlet's obsession. He feels compelled to determine the reliability of the ghost's statements so that he can determine how he must act. Ultimately, it is his obsession with death that leads to Hamlet avenging the death of his father by killing Claudius.
Hamlet wonders whether to live or die, to suffer or take arm. Given to the pain he feels at his father's murder, and his mother's hasty remarriage to his uncle, to the murderer. he wonders if it is nobler to bear his grief, or to take action. His dad’s ghost has told him what really happened at the night his father died and told him to revenge. Now Hamlet has another choice to make. To trust the ghost or not. When Hamlet made the choice to listen and believe the apparition of his dead father, he willingly buys into the spirit's claim that he has been murdered by Claudius. This decision has huge repercussions for the rest of the play.
...became a man, he is still left with uncertainty that ultimately results in his death. Unfortunately, this uncertainty of Hamlet's is one that cannot be overcome. Hamlet is a story of realizing that the world is not what we thought it was, that everything is not good, and that there are bad people in the world. It is a story about searching for the meaning behind it all and about trying to figure out how to make a decision. It is a story about becoming a man and Hamlet is the kind of character that keeps us enthralled until the very end.
Hamlet was not sure if the ghost was really his father or if it was the devil trying to trick him to commit a crime. He needed to prove to himself that what the ghost said was true or not. Therefore he is going to stage a play that will reenact the killing of his father to see if the King is guilty.
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).
Who is Hamlet? This is a question that I asked myself frequently while reading Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Hamlet is a very complex character, not only to other characters in the play, but to the reader as well. He has an intriguing personality that makes critical thinking very important while reading the play. The ethics of Hamlet are very questionable due to his inconsistency. It is not directly stated in the text if Hamlet is a good or bad person. It is up to the reader to decide what kind of person Hamlet is depending on their personal experiences and how they relate to him.
Foremost, is the character of Hamlet: the causes and effects of his actions, or lack thereof. Hamlet is a very thoughtful person by nature, and often spends more time thinking than acting. However, Hamlet does realize that "...conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue of resolution/ Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought"(III.i.84-85). Although Hamlet recognizes the fact that too much reflection could end poorly, he does it nonetheless. Every situation he is faced with he insists upon planning it out first, and rarely actually acting upon these plans. Additionally, since Hamlet is considered to be a tragedy, there must be a tragic hero. All tragic heroes have some kind of flaw or blemish, which, according to the article "Characters", "Hamlet's weakness may be that he 'thinks too much' and cannot make up his mind. The resulting inactions leads to his death" ("Characters"). Because Hamlet spends so much time pondering his surroundings, he sometimes misses the chance to act on them. This inability to accomplish anything slowly pulls Hamlet to a point where no amount of thought or action could possibly help him. However, at one point in the play Hamlet comes very near to followin...
Taking revenge against his enemy can be a difficult task for young Hamlet, especially when the circumstances and conditions he is under require him to reevaluate his morals of life and soul. The delay in Hamlet’s revenge of his father’s death is caused by three main reasons: he is under strict and almost impossible guidelines laid out by the ghost of his father, King Hamlet, he is afraid of death either suffering it or inflicting it on someone else, and his lack of reasoning in committing a murder that he did not witness himself.
Throughout the play Hamlet is in constant conflict with himself. An appearance of a ghost claiming to be his father, “I am thy father’s spirit”(I.v.14) aggravates his grief, nearly causing him to commit suicide and leaving him deeply disgusted and angered. Upon speaking with his ghost-father, Hamlet learns that his uncle-stepfather killed Hamlet the King. “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown”(I.v.45-46) Hamlet is beside himself and becomes obsessed with plotting and planning revenge for the death of his father.
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.
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 Hamlet Prince of Denmark young Hamlet is left facing the outcomes of the conflict his father had with his brother. Old Hamlet is dead, killed by his own brother for the thrown of Denmark. Young Hamlet is in deep morning over the loss of his father and now he has to handle the remarriage of his mother to his own uncle, the man who in cold blood killed his father. Hamlet, with the death of his father, is acting strangely but his whole outlook changes for the worst when his father's ghost visits him. He finds out the true causes of his death and he is influenced by his father to seek revenge. Hamlet's father tells his son to kill his uncle, Claudius because he is the cause of his death. Hamlet loved his father deeply and would do anything for him. He becomes enraged with anger and hate for Claudius and begins to plot his revenge, Claudius' own death. Throughout the play his father's ghost visits Hamlet. Even after his death he has a great control over his son and his actions. These visits are a constant reminder to Hamlet of the truth. Knowing the truth of his father's death has driven Hamlet to the brink of insanity. The only thing he can think of is revenge. His father's death and prior conflict with his brother has left Hamlet in a position of honoring his father and doing right by him, and the only thing he sees fit to do is rid himself of the man that brought about the anger Hamlet is feeling. In the end Hamlet finally gets the revenge he sought with the death of Claudius.
In the beginning of the play, Hamlet has returned from Wittenberg to honor the death of his father, King Hamlet, and the ghost of his dead father suddenly confronts him. The ghost of King Hamlet has returned to inform his son about the murder that his brother has committed. While King Hamlet was asleep, his brother, Claudius, placed poison in his ear and left him suffering to die. The ghost of King Hamlet sets the main conflict of the play into motion and puts the idea of revenge into Hamlet’s mind. He says to Hamlet:
In a typical revenge tragedy, a hero is called upon by the ghost of a family member to avenge his death ("Revenge Tragedy"). Hamlet is the main protagonist and hero called upon by his father's ghost to "revenge his foul and most unnatural murder" (1.5.31). When Hamlet first hears that his father was murdered, he exclaims, "Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift...may sweep to my revenge" (1.5.35-37). He is hungry to avenge his father; however, Hamlet does nothing and at the end of Act II he scolds himself that "this player...could force his soul so to his own conceit...all for nothing...yet, [he]...can say nothing for a king upon whose property and most dear life a damned defeat was made" (2.2.578-598). Hamlet is upset that he hasn't yet acted to avenge his father, but some mere actor can build up so much emotion for nothing. Shakespeare complicates the plot because revenge tragedies are supposed to have a courageous and aggressive protagonist who swiftly carries out his deed of revenge; instead, Shakespeare modifies the hero and portrays Hamlet as an indecisive and contemplative man.