Preview

Hamlet Horatio Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
675 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Hamlet Horatio Essay
Hamlet is a play about the tragedy of a young man, who is put in the dilemma of having to avenge the death of his father by killing his own uncle. The tragedy of Hamlet is the consequences of achieving the goal of avenging the death of King Hamlet. In the process of killing Claudius, his uncle, most of the people that played a major role in Hamlet's life end up dying, even himself. Through this entire aspiration of killing Claudius and avenging the death of his father, Gertrude, Ophelia, Polonius, and Laertes all end up dead even before Claudius is finally killed and the goal has been accomplished. The tragedy of Hamlet is all the blood that must be shed (even his own) in order to accomplish his goal of avenging his father's death. Horatio …show more content…
He is responsible for the play, for he chooses to tell Hamlet about the apparition of his dead father, and is responsible to retell the story of Hamlet at the end of the play; without Horatio there would be no play. Horatio portrays a character that Hamlet lacks, and thus sticks next to him throughout the whole play in order to keep him in check. Horatio's character portrays patience and endurance throughout the whole play for his friend Hamlet, while Hamlet is impatient and acts on his impulses instead of analyzing the situation and consequences that his actions may have. He is a truly loyal and honorable friend, and demonstrates the necessary qualities required in a true friendship. Horatio serves to illustrate the characteristics that Hamlet was lacking in order to have avoided his own tragedy. If Hamlet were more like Horatio, he could have avoided his tragedy, yet the constant influence that Horatio has on Hamlet, keeps a hold on him to the reality of the situation that no good will spring forth from his actions. His purpose is to show that Hamlet is not insane, but that instead Hamlet portrays characteristics that lead him to act spontaneously and without impulse. Horatio is the only person Hamlet can fully trust, and is necessary for him to have someone who constantly has his back and is willing to support,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Rough Draft Essay

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hamlet falls into the grave and freaks out over Ophelia's death. Intense music plays in the background. It's raining with the moon shining enough to give Hamlet a white glow on his face due to the moisture on his skin. His hair is down on his forehead because of the impactful rain. In the play, Hamlet by WIlliam Shakespeare, the young man standing in the grave is Hamlet. The grave he is standing in belongs to Ophelia; Hamlet's girl. Even though she is dead, his feelings are true.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Essay

    • 948 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, through his protagonist, he explores ideas relating to conflict. Using detailed textual evidence, how has your personal response to Hamlet been shaped through the composers use of dramatic techniques?…

    • 948 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Essay

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A revenge tragedy was a popular form of writing during the Elizabethan age, in this form of writing the main character is directed by a ghost of his murdered father or son and the ghost inflicts retaliation, amongst a powerful villain. Revenge tragedies usually include the following; violence, bizarre criminal acts, insanity, a hesitant protagonist, and the use of soliloquy. Thus Hamlet becomes a Revenge of Tragedy it follows all the guidelines and in some cases go above and beyond.…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tragic Flaws In Hamlet

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hamlet by William Shakespeare focuses on the drive of a young prince, prince Hamlet, who is driven to act out revenge on King Claudius for his role in the death of King Hamlet, Hamlet’s father, and the many who get trapped between the familial battle and power struggle between Uncle and Nephew. Throughout this tragedy, it is the realizations and the hidden truths that trap many of the characters for their ineludible death. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet and Gertrude are perfectly capable of hearing and seeing, yet they are deaf and blind to the truth of their circumstances. Their lack of sense eventually leads to their own demise. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses the senses, especially hearing and sight, to reveal the tragic flaws of both of these characters.…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Horatio tells no one, of what Hamlet has told him, and he plays along with Hamlet’s idea of pretending to be mad or insane. I believe this exhibits that Hamlet trusts Horatio more than the other characters. I believe that Hamlet can go to Horatio for anything.…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hamlet Critical Lens

    • 391 Words
    • 1 Page

    In the William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet the Prince of Denmark is plotting to kill his uncle, who is the king because he poisoned his father, the previous king. The theme of the play is revenge and the protagonist, Hamlet is characterized as being fully devoted to avenging his father, no matter the cost. After two months of mourning for his dead father, Hamlet encounters his father’s ghost, who tells him that it was his brother, King Claudius who killed him. Hamlet then promises his father that he will get revenge on Claudius however, his inability to act prolongs Claudius’s death. Hamlet must first find out if it was actually his father’s ghost and not Satan trying to trick him so he modifies a play that shows a similarity to the murder of Hamlet’s father at the hand of Claudius. Claudius leaves before the play before it ends and berates himself for the murder, “Oh, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven. It has the eldest primal curse on it, a brother’s murder.” Therefore, Claudius will pay the price for killing Hamlet’s father by losing his throne, his wife, and even his own life. Hamlet will also pay greatly for avenging his father. He will lose Ophelia, the woman he loves who drownes herself after her father, Polonius is killed by Hamlet who thought it was Claudius. He will lose his mother, Gertrude who drinks wine that was poisoned by Claudius and intended for Hamlet. Hamlet will also lose his own life after being stabbed with a poisoned sword by Larates in a fencing duel, who was seeking…

    • 391 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Foils of Hamlet

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hamlet's friend Horatio is a foil for him because he brings out the revenge and betrayal in Hamlet. He is a listener for Hamlet. Horatio seems to be the only one who is sympathetic of Hamlet concerning the death of his father and his mother's quick remarriage. He is very loyal to Hamlet. Horatio, through conversation, develops Hamlet's image. He is the only person Hamlet can come and talk to about all that is going on in his life. Hamlet uses Horatio as a release and tells Horatio some of the plans he has in order to take revenge. In act 2, scene 1, Hamlet tells Horatio that however odd he may act, it is just that, an act. Hamlet trusts Horatio not to tell his secret and not to give him away. He also tells Horatio of his plan to catch Claudius during the play, and he asks Horatio to watch every emotion of the king. When Hamlet came back from England and his terrible trip, Horatio is the character that Hamlet first went to see. Hamlet tells Horatio how he was tricked by the king, and how the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern came to be. Horatio is seen as the window or insight into what Hamlet feels and what he does.…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Old Hamlet is killed by his brother Claudius. Only two months after her husband's death a vulnerable Gertrude marries her husband's brother Claudius. Gertrude's weakness opens the door for Claudius to take the throne as the king of Denmark. Hamlet is outraged by this, he loses respect for his mother as he feels that she has rejected him and has taken no time to mourn her own husband's death. One night old Hamlets ghost appears to prince Hamlet and tells him how he was poisoned by his own brother. Up until this point the kingdom of Denmark believed that old Hamlet had died of natural causes. As it was custom, prince Hamlet sought to avenge his father's death. This leads Hamlet, the main character into a state of internal conflict as he agonises over what action and when to take it as to avenge his father's death. Shakespeare's play presents the reader with various forms of conflict which plague his characters. He explores these conflicts through the use of soliloquies, recurring motifs, structure and mirror plotting.…

    • 2512 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Horatio serves as a good friend to Hamlet as a result of his loyalty and general level-headedness in tense situations. From the beginning of the play when Hamlet encounters the ghost until Hamlet’s eventual death, Horatio remains faithful to Hamlet, helping to guide him. For instance, when Horatio first sees the ghost of Hamlet’s father, he states, “Let us impart what we have seen to-night / Unto young Hamlet” (1.1.184-185). Immediately after viewing something of great concern, Horatio’s reacts immediately by thinking of Hamlet, demonstrating a deeply ingrained loyalty. Rather than tell someone else such as the king, who by law serves as his true ruler, Horatio determines to inform Hamlet whom he trusts and respects.…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hamlet and Horatio

    • 1537 Words
    • 7 Pages

    We are shown from the beginning of the play that it is Horatio’s wisdom as an educated man that gives him the power of truth throughout. When Horatio joins the night watch to see first-hand the apparition they claim to have encountered, Marcellus explains to Bernardo “Horatio says ‘tis but our fantasy/And will not let belief take hold of him/Touching this dreaded sight twice seen of us./Therefore I have entreated him along” (1.1.28-31). It is with intelligent authority that Horatio is observed to be trusted by many as an educated and wise man. Because Horatio confirms the existence of the Ghost, Hamlet is justified in his future confrontations with it even when those around him cannot see it. It is Hamlet’s faith in Horatio as a friend that substantiates their shared experience more relevantly than that of Marcellus and Bernardo having seen it as well. Additionally, by confirming the ghost’s existence, it is only Horatio’s observance that…

    • 1537 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Essay

    • 1408 Words
    • 5 Pages

    During the second scene, the information that Horatio foreshadowed proves to be correct. King Claudius received a message from Fortinbras demanding Denmark to give up their lands. Claudius sends…

    • 1408 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Analytical Essay

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare is a tragic story about a prince named Hamlet attempting to get revenge for his father's murder. As Hamlet only to slowly destroy his life in the process. As Hamlet attempts to get revenge, he ultimately ends up destroying himself and the people around him. But before his death, Hamlet slowly decides what he wants to do with his life. Hamlet goes from thinking the world holds nothing for him but not wanting to kill himself because he fears god in the first Soliloquy, to living to avenge his father if needed in the second Soliloquy, to fearing death in the third Soliloquy. Hamlet slowly decides what he wants to do with his life, through his first three Soliloquies in the play…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Horatio In Hamlet

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hamlet, like most of Shakespeare’s plays are dramatic and end in tragedy. The play first starts off with Hamlet finding out his father is dead, but he suspects that his uncle Claudius murdered his father. Like many other plays by Shakespeare, all if not most of the main characters are killed off. Old Hamlet is murdered, Polonius is stabbed, Laertes is poisoned by his own sword when fencing with Hamlet, Ophelia drowns herself, Rosencranz and Guildernstein are killed because Hamlet found out about his impending death and changed the contents of the letter they had, Claudius accidently poisons Gertrude with Hamlets wine and is later poisoned himself, and Hamlet is stabbed with the poisoned sword and dies as well.…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hamlet Questions

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages

    With knowledge of the book from previous research and actually reading the play itself in my opinion, the play “Hamlet” is about a troubled man going through very difficult time in his life after his father is murdered by his uncle which is now married to his mother (which would have been his sister in law). Hamlet throughout the play seeks revenge on Claudius for the murder of Hamlet’s father.…

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet is a play that involves a lot of contemplation and self-realization in both the characters and the readers. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is the story of a man’s inner conflictions about killing his uncle Claudius. Hamlet is told by the ghost of his late father, the once king of Denmark, that he must avenge his death by the poison of his own brother, Claudius. He also tells hamlet that Claudius had the intent to marry Hamlet’s mother, the queen, and become king of Denmark after the king's death. Distraught, Hamlet is now furious at Claudius, but is still not fully committed to murder his uncle.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics