Student: Ben Huang date: Sep 24 2013 the conflicts in Hamlet
I think conflict is so important for drama like the heart of drama . you can even say without conflict , there is no story. Because conflict is the suspense and the excitement that makes drama from the begainning to the climax. The inward confilct tells us about the character, his weaknesses, how he thinks. The outward conflict tells us what happens in the drama.
At first, the inward conflict is Hamlet wants to kill his uncle, Claudius. The reason why because he knows Claudius has murdered his father and the fact has been sure by Claudius' altitude in the play. Also, the hasty marriage between Claudius and Gertrude is another reason that leads to Claudius' death. So His mother's marriage to Claudius deeply hurts Hamlet and he feels that it may break his heart. Hamlet decides to revenge for his father. But hamlet does not kill Claudius when Claudius is praying, because Hamlet does not want to see Claudius' sins is forgiven by god and he is send to heaven after he dies. Revenge to Hamlet is not so much about just killing Claudius, it’s about making sure he suffers in Hell.
In addition, the fake friendship that Hamlet has with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is also another outward conflict throughout the play. A lot of tension between Hamlet and his friends has risen because Claudius uses Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet to find out if he is actually mad or not, which makes Hamlet feel distrusted because they were working for Claudius behind his back. With Hamlet being mislead, he says to his friends, “…You were sent for, and there is a kind of confession in your looks, which your modesties have not craft enough to color: I know the good king and queen have sent for you" Hamlet’s friends try to deceive him, which only makes him lose trust for them and causes Hamlet to be against them from then on. Moreover, with the anger that Hamlet has for his friends, he sets both of them up to be killed. Hamlet gladly admits to Horatio how he got revenge on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by Claudius’ previous letter for his death,and forcing it on his friends.
The inward conflict is Hamlet's struggles with suicidal thoughts, Hamlet's father comes to him as a ghost and tells him that King Claudius has murdered him. The ghost tells Hamlet to seek revenge for him. Hamlet is distraught by the death of his father and also by the marriage of his mother to his uncle. All of the grief that he experiences leads Hamlet to contemplate suicide. We see his famous soliloquy, "to be, or not to be; that is the question:" Hamlet is grief-stricken yet he is uncertain that if he were to end his life, things would be any better.
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