Hamlet Theme Essay

Meiqi Wang
June 6 2014 In the play “Hamlet,” by William Shakespeare, the main theme is that followed through plans of revenge lead to tragedy. Hamlet, is the story about the Prince of Denmark’s struggle for revenge against his murderous uncle, who is now the new King of Denmark. Hamlet is stricken blind with revenge and has even controlled by madness. Hamlet’s fall into insanity is a result of many different tragic reasons. Throughout the entire play, Hamlet seems to be a loner, with a lack of true companionship. He does not fully trust anyone, which will ultimately lead to his downfall. Hamlet does in fact have a tragic flaw that may lead him to disaster. Hamlet has a tendency to over think every thing he does. With every thought and process he goes through; it must have a reason of doing it the way he does, and if they are not done how he likes, he will not attempt the task. Hamlet is portrayed as intelligent. This is shown through Hamlet’s use of his obviously superior mind and knowledge to deceive most everyone in the kingdom. His intelligence does get him into a great deal of trouble though since he must always prove for himself every thing that he is told. He cannot take anyone’s word for granted that others are think Hamlet is mad. However, without seeming crazy, Hamlet would not have the opportunity of revenging his father’s death. Hamlet’s pseudo madness is the very means for his revenge. Hamlet seems to be a loner throughout the play. The first time that this is seen is through Hamlet’s mistrust and even disgust of his uncle and mothers wedding. In Shakespeare’s time, this wedding was considered incest, even though they were not blood relatives. Hamlet shows his dislike by saying “A little more than kin, and less than kind” (I, ii, 65). This shows that he has an initial dislike to his uncle, which will later help Hamlet with achieving his revenge. The next time is when Ophelia is talking with Laertes and later Polonius. They both tell her that Hamlet and her cannot and will not be together, it is not possible because of the difference in class. This is confirmed when Laertes tells her, “Perhaps he loves you now… but you must fear, His greatness weighted, his will is not his own…” (I, iii, 14-24). He tells her not to trust Hamlet’s false love, for he is a subject of the kingdom, and must marry royalty and do what the state requests of him. Polonius furthers this claim by adding “Ay, springes to catch woodcocks… You must not take for fire,” (I, iii, 115-120). In this he basically tells her that she is stupid, and should not believe Hamlets words nor his vows. Hamlet’s trust further dwindles when he encounters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, whom were sent to him by the King. He knows that these “friends” are acting under the kings control, and the conversation that starts “Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thank,” and ends “My lord we were sent for,” (II, ii, 283-306) which shows the mistrust building even more. At this moment, Hamlet now knows that he cannot trust these men anymore both because they lied to him and become spies. All of these examples are proof of Hamlet is a loner. In additional, Hamlet has another problem throughout the play that both inhibits and assistances Hamlet in obtain his goal since he over thinks everything. Hamlet’s obsession with perfecting everything to what he wants is a good and a bad thing for him. The first instance of Hamlet’s over thinking would be after he talks with the ghost of his father while he tells him that Claudius is the one who murdered him. The passage that starts “Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast…” (I, v, 42-91) states that Claudius kills him. He over thinks the death of his father and his situation when he goes to Claudius’s closet to get his revenge. Hamlet says “O, this is hire and salary, not revenge,” (III, iii, 79-96) when he finds Claudius is praying. Hamlet over thinks it because he believes that after Claudius has committed a sin, his soul may not find its way into heaven. Another instance of Hamlet over thinking occurs during a soliloquy “O, what a rogue and pleasant slave am I...” (II, ii, 585-641). In this soliloquy he questions himself over and over again. “Am I a coward?” (II, ii, 606) Hamlet hates on himself saying he is weak, and even calls himself a whore to words for he cannot act. Over thinking and never doing could be a cause for Hamlet to look insane while Hamlet is so obsessed with his revenge. Moreover, this is probably the most intelligent way to go about plotting revenge for no one takes a crazy man seriously. Hamlet is the most intelligent individual in the play, and uses this to his advantage as much as possible. Hamlet is witty, and this is first seen when Claudius asks why he is in mourning still, in which Hamlet replies “I am too much in the sun,” (I, ii, 62). It is seen later in the play when he hides the body of Polonius and is asked where the body is buried in which Hamlet replies “At supper, not where he eats, but where he is eaten,” (IV, iii, 18-20). This shows that he is witty and likes to mess with other people in the play. Hamlet also shows his superior intelligence in other ways. When he is speaking with Polonius Hamlet insults him “you are a fishmonger,” (II, ii, 174). Later in this exchange of “words, words, words,” (II, ii, 194) Hamlet continually insults the old man, but Polonius takes these insults as a sign of insanity. Hamlet uses his intelligence to catch and make fun of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern for their ignorance. “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” (II, ii, 290 – 294). With this quote he is outright telling them that they are idiots, and that he knows why they are with him. One event that supports hamlets intelligence would be the idea Hamlet has of getting the players to reenact his father’s death. On the other hand, he believes that his mother knows of Claudius’s betrayal and will try to force it out of her. “I will speak daggers to her, but use none… how my words soever she be shent, to give them seals never, my soul, consent!” (III, ii, 396 – 399). He says he will cause her pain, but only with words, so that she may tell what she knows. Hamlet uses his intelligence to mask his plans, and everything he is meaning to do. He has to be smart, or else he would have already been caught and taken away. Hamlet’s intelligence is the key to his plan. If Hamlet was not the smartest person in the play, or of any less intelligent than he was, he probably would have been killed many times before. Hamlet is the most human like character Shakespeare created, and he has very human like characteristics such as the use of intelligence. This is seen in every day life. People lie, and people catch those lies, such as a child lying to his mother so he will not get into trouble. This is essentially what Hamlet is doing; he catches the lies of Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and the King. For Hamlet, if he was not for the over thinking he may have had his revenge much sooner. This over thinking does get his deed done in the fashion Hamlet wants, but it does cause other fatalities, including him own. People over think things every day and over thinking usually lead to problems. Moreover, mistrust is common theme in the play, and it plays a major role throughout Hamlet. It seems that no body really trusts each other. He does not really trust anyone, and no one really trusts him, so there is nothing to lose. This is seen in life with friends. If you know or trust someone, you try harder not to hurt their feelings. If you don’t know them then hurting their feelings is not quite as important since you do not have a strong bond with that person. Hamlet uses these advantages he has to create a mad persona of himself, which is believable to gain his revenge.