Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Hamlet's Elegy

Good Essays
413 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Hamlet's Elegy
Who is Hamlet? He is a thirty year old Prince of Denmark. Hamlet is the son of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet, and the nephew of the present king, Claudius. Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and cynical, full of hatred for his uncle’s scheming and disgust for his mother’s sexuality. A reflective and thoughtful young man who has studied at the University of Wittenberg, Hamlet is often indecisive and hesitant, but at other times prone to rash and impulsive acts. Hamlet was a very calm and understanding person until he comes to know that his Uncle Claudius killed his father so he can become the king, he finds out about this through his father’s ghost. He met the ghost and it told him them that Claudius pours poison in King Hamlet’s ear and gave him a torturous death. That is when he decides to find out if that’s true, he does that by laying out a trap for Claudius. The trap includes a play that will replay the scene how Claudius killed King Hamlet which will make Claudius guilty and admit that he has killed his father. But along with laying a trap for Claudius he has to act a little crazy so when he kills his Uncle it won’t look intentional it look totally unintentional. He hires actors to do a play about a man who kills his brother to become king to see Claudius' reaction. Hamlet confirms that Claudius was responsible, ends up being abusive to his mother Gertrude for shacking up with the murderer of his father, and murders his girlfriend Ophelia's dad thinking that it's Claudius. Ophelia goes insane from having her boyfriend kill her dad and dies. Her brother Laertes is pissed and is convinced by Claudius to kill Hamlet. The two duel, and both are fatally injured. Gertrude accidentally drinks the poison that Claudius had prepared for Hamlet and dies. Hamlet manages to kill Claudius before finally dying. By killing Claudius, Hamlet proved how much he respected & loved his father. Hamlet was a guy who did take time to avenge his father’s death but he only took time so he could make sure that Claudius did kill King Hamlet. He was always a good son, good nephew and a good lover. Through this journey he does make some mistakes, and does lose some close people such as Ophelia and his mother. He was a legendary man who will be told about to every generation.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Hamlet returns home after he receives the devastating news about the death of his father. When he arrives in Denmark, he is welcomed by the incestuous marriage between his mother and uncle, Claudius. Hamlet cannot wrap his head around the fact that his mother was able to get over the death of his father after one month. Due to his inability to understand his mother, Hamlet starts to ponder the idiocy of the world, "How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world" (1.2.137-138). This is the start of the sense of morality and ethics around Hamlet begins to decay. He is angry at his mother and begins to isolate himself from everyone else. King Hamlet's ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius murdered him. The rest of the play consists of Hamlet trying to prove that Claudius murdered his father. However, Hamlet always seems to be reflecting in deep thought , sometimes even ruminating. He overuses his intellect while disregarding what he believes "feels…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles In Hamlet

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the book Hamlet, it shows that Hamlet doesn't know how to handle and cope well with situations and ends up making it complicated. Hamlet who lost his father, Old Hamlet, grieves over his death and the fact his mother, Queen Gertrude, marries his father’s brother, Claudius a month after. It was just too much for him to handle. Hamlet feels resentful towards his Uncle Claudius because Hamlet should’ve been king, be on the throne and follow his father’s footstep. It upset him even more when he found out that his uncle was responsible for his father’s death. In act 1 scene 5, the ghost said “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown. " this quote talks about who was responsible for the death of old hamlet. Which sets the stage for Hamlet to plot is revenge on King Claudius. After being shipped to England by Claudius, you would think Hamlet would give up on his revenge. Hamlet liked Ophelia but he didn’t want to commit to her because…

    • 791 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

    Hamlet’s odd behavior demonstrates his isolationist attitude that he developed after the death of his father. By internalizing what the ghost had told him and his emotions, the theme of insanity becomes a large part of the play. Even his mother comments on how crazy that he has been acting “ [He is as] mad as the sea and wind when both contend, which is the mightier.” The audience pities the fact that Hamlet concealing his revenge and hatred has caused him to become unstable and mad. Hamlet continues to internalize his anger and sadness when Ophelia tragically commits suicide. Hamlet finds this is out in the most horrible way when he notices a burial taking place at the graveyard and realizes that it was his ex-girlfriend. The many deaths that have occurred around Hamlet cause him to realize the inevitability and sorrow of death. He had even questioned if suicide was worth it earlier in the play with his to be or not to be soliloquy. Hamlet begins to rapidly decline after Ophelia’s death and seeks to release him emotion and anger by killing Claudius. While Hamlet continues to plan the murder of the King, the King and Laertes also strategize the death of Hamlet. Laertes becomes another foil for Hamlet as he seeks to avenge the accidental death of Polonius. His irrational behavior and anger for Hamlet accidentally killing Polonius make the audience more inclined towards the cause of Hamlet, not Laertes and Claudius. Laertes is used as a comparison to Hamlet because both of their father had been killed, but Hamlet's father was killed with lustful…

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Father and Sons

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hamlet was a man that looked up to his father throughout his life, during and after his father's death. The younger Hamlet tried to follow in his father's footsteps, but as much as they were alike, they were very much different. The man named Hamlet had a son named Hamlet and after everything was over, that is one of the few things that they had in common. Although they may exhibit some similar traits, all fathers and sons are individuals. They are, or will become, their own man. This development is based on life experience, which is never the same for any two people. In the case of King and Prince Hamlet, this is true.…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Ethics of Hamlet

    • 546 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Morality plays a major role in the decisions we make in our daily lives. Often times, emotion alters our ability to make coherent choices. In the play "Hamlet", by William Shakespeare, Hamlet encounters difficulty in making decisions as he deals with his nemesis, Claudius. In Act III Hamlet proves to be a cautious and contemplative person through his delay in avenging his father's death.…

    • 546 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlets father was killed by his Uncle Claudius due to jealousy of the kingdom. Claudius poisoned his brother while he was sleeping in the garden. Hamlet finds out his father was murdered by meeting is ghost in the yard of the kingdom. Hamlet decides to plan out his revenge by first acting like he has gone mad because of his father’s death. He breaks his loves heart in the process but doesn’t stop his revenge. He orders for a play to be presented to the royal court, including his uncle and his mother. This play is supposed to simulate his fathers death and he wants to see how the king reacts to the play. This is where he realizes that the ghost was telling the truth. Claudius then figures out that Hamlet has been suspicious and decides to send him to England to be killed. While speaking to his mother, Hamlet hears someone spying on them and kills his loves father, Polonius. This was the beginning of the tragedy. Hamlet has a moment to kill Claudius before he leaves for England but questions himself and his actions. He then leaves only to return after finding a letter of his execution and being “attacked” by pirates. Claudius and Polonius’s son, Laertes, have come up with a plan to kill Hamlet when he arrives. They are going to challenge him in a fencing battle with poison at the end of the sword. If this plan fails, they will have poisoned wine for Hamlet to drink.…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Characters in Hamlet

    • 2062 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Hamlet succeeds in troubling Claudius, and because of this, Claudius decides to act. Claudius plans to send Hamlet to England where Hamlet would be executed upon arrival. The fact that Claudius could so easily organise Hamlet’s death shows the fear and panic that exists within Hamlet and Claudius’ relationship. While it is believed that Claudius would have always feared Hamlet, and what he would do if he learnt of the King’s murder, this scene, where Claudius discovers Hamlets murderous intentions and utter madness drives him to action.…

    • 2062 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet and Grief

    • 1357 Words
    • 6 Pages

    There are five famous steps or stages to grief. Originally written by a Swiss psychologist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in 1969 in her book On Death and Dying, these five stages have since been modified to feel less rigid and more adaptable to all of us. Elisabeth Kubler Ross and David Kessler collaborated and wrote a new book On Grief and Grieving which takes on this task. The five stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. However, these are still just a model for what people will go through during death and the process of grief. Everyone experiences these five stages in their own way and in their own order, sometimes even coming back to some stages before moving on to the next. Even though these stages were not identified until the 20th century one of the earliest examples we can look at is in Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” where the main protagonist, Hamlet, goes through these five stages. However, with Hamlet, like many of us, he experiences these in his own order.…

    • 1357 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For this reason and based upon his reasoning, Hamlet starts acting crazy to lead everyone astray and for them not to think that greatly of his actions. However, this is seen as a double edge sword in degrading his credibility and also leading to the breakdown of Ophelia and the relationship which was formed. He then devises a plan in writing a play whereby to is knowledge, would play out the way his father had been killed to bring about a persuasive reaction of King Claudius. At the scene of the poisoning of the play written by Hamlet, the king gives himself away when he suddenly becomes uncomfortable and takes his leave. This therefore confirms his guilt for taking…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet is in a situation where his sanity is turning into insanity. He is like one of those people who tell so many lies that they start believing their own lies. Hamlet's acting is so vivid to him that, unconsciously, his state of mind has become irrational. He is turning against everyone in order to follow the orders of revenge from his father's ghost. In order to do so, he is finding any possible way to bring out the guilt in everyone due to his father's murder. In Act III, scene ii, Hamlet has written parts for players to put on a show for Claudius in order for him to bring out the guilt within Claudius. The play doesn't affect Claudius until it is revealed that Lucianus, the kings nephew, is the one that kills the king. Claudius then cries out due to the fear of Hamlet killing him. Also, in this scene, Hamlet admired Horatio's level-headedness and calmness because those are some qualities that Hamlet lacks. Hamlet tries to break his mother down in Act III, scene iv, Hamlet comes to speak to his mother because she believes that he has offended Claudius. In return, Hamlet tries to break her down by putting her sins in front of her because she married the king's brother so soon after his death. When she cries for help, innocent Polonius enters and Hamlet says "How now! A rat?" and kills Polonius because he thought that it was Claudius. Hamlet's insanity is like a blind rage. He is so focused on revenge that he doesn't realize what he is doing. Hamlet is taking sick…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prince Hamlet, having returned home from school in Germany arrives to an upsetting scene to say the least. His father, King Hamlet is dead and his mother Gertrude has already remarried. Not just to any man either, the king’s brother Claudius who has already taken possession of the throne. As the gravity of the situation continues to sink in for Prince Hamlet he begins to suspect correctly that his uncle Claudius was responsible for his father’s death.…

    • 577 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hamlet

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages

    To start with, Hamlet’s antics start out as a ruse to find out more about the murder and confirm that Claudius was the real killer, but as time goes on there are delays as to acquiring the information due to Hamlet’s indecisiveness. By over-thinking Hamlet loses control over reality and his purpose, also he drifts off in thought which clouds his mind of reason. He acts disarranged when Polonius comes to question him, giving him odd answers laced with minute observations about him. Later on his antics just become self destructive when he denounces Ophelia. His ruse during the play is too convincing, but the real proof of his madness is his rash murder of Polonius, when he says “How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!” (3,4,25) this can be interpreted in a variety of ways but a closer look at the lines that follow reveal he has lost his rationale. Later on when his mother Gertrude says “Oh, what a rash and bloody deed is this!” (3, 4, 29) this quote shows that it is against Hamlet’s nature to act without knowing all the facts. This act clearly shows signs of mental deterioration due to his extravagant ruse of madness. The contributing factors to his mental deterioration and antic ruse are, the loss of his father, his depression, the supernatural-ghost of his father sending him a mission, and his…

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hamlet V. Claudius

    • 1179 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the literary classic, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, controversy meets corruption. The monarch of Denmark, King Hamlet, is murdered by his jealous brother, Claudius. While the son of the king, Prince Hamlet, is away at school, Claudius seizes the throne and marries the adulterous Queen Gertrude. Hamlet returns to Denmark finding his father dead, his mother remarried, and his uncle the king. Grief succumbs Hamlet and his only relief is from the truth told by the ghost of his late father. The ghost reveals the true nature of his death and relies on Hamlet to avenge his wrongful end. The plot thickens, as Hamlet must find a way to expose Claudius' evil ways and regain the throne as the rightful ruler. Throughout the play, the true characters of Hamlet and Claudius are revealed in their entirety, both exhibiting the potential to be good or evil. One in the same, yet the two sides of every man, Hamlet and Claudius must survive each other.…

    • 1179 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In ‘Hamlet’, major antagonist is a shrewd, lustful, conniving king who contrasts sharply with the other male characters in the play. Whereas most of the other important men in ‘Hamlet’ are preoccupied with ideas of justice, revenge, and moral balance, Claudius is bent upon maintaining his own power. The old King Hamlet was apparently a stern warrior, but Claudius is a corrupt politician whose main weapon is his ability to manipulate others through his skillful use of language. Claudius’s speech is compared to poison being poured in the ear, the method he used to murder Hamlet’s father. Claudius’s love for Gertrude may be sincere, but it also seems likely that he married her as a strategic move, to help him win the throne away from Hamlet after the death of the king. As the play progresses, Claudius’s mounting fear of Hamlet’s insanity leads him to even greater self-preservation; when Gertrude tells him that Hamlet has killed Polonius, Claudius does not remark that Gertrude might have been in danger, but only that he would have been in danger had he been in the room. He tells Laertes the same thing as he attempts to soothe the young man’s anger after his father’s death. Claudius is ultimately too crafty for his own good. In Act five, rather than allowing Laertes only two methods of killing Hamlet, the sharpened sword and the poison on the blade, Claudius insists on a third, the poisoned goblet. When Gertrude inadvertently drinks the poison and dies, Hamlet is at last able to bring himself to kill Claudius, and the king falls to his own cowardly doings.…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays