Both of these views presuppose a precise discovery of Hamlet’s motivation. However, Renaissance drama is not generally a drama of motivation, either by psychological character or moral predetermination. Rather, the Renaissance tendency is to present characters with well-delineated moral and ethical dispositions who are faced with dilemmas. It is the outcome of these conflicts, the consequences rather than the process, that normally holds center stage. What Shakespeare presents in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is an agonizing confrontation between the…
By definition, honor is the “quality of knowing and doing what is morally right” (Merriam-Webster). In Hamlet, three sons of three murdered fathers - Hamlet, Fortinbras, Laertes and Hamlet - are subject to the obligation of honoring their fathers’ deaths. Despite all three of these characters having to seek revenge for the deaths of their fathers through the murder of another person, the kinds of honor that these three sons are fulfilling are unique. Hamlet is avenging the murder of his father by his uncle, Laertes is avenging the muder of his father by Hamlet, and Fortinbras is avenging the death of his father, by Hamlet’s…
In using the conventions of the revenge tragedy genre, expectations are created for an audience who understand the conflict that looms under Claudius’s leadership unless Hamlet revenges his father’s ‘most foul and unnatural murder’. Yet Hamlet is conflicted over the moral dilemma that confronts him, expressing this through his Judeo Christian perspective of ‘O cursed spite that ever I was born to set it right’. His powerful use of soliloquy throughout the play explores the paradigm shift between Renaissance and Judeo-Christian ideas on life and life after death. ‘To be or not to be...’ asks Hamlet, reflecting the philosophical existential concerns of this context and supporting the plays longevity for these paramount concerns remain relevant to every context. Here Shakespeare has successfully mirrored the ferment and change in his society, whilst modern directors mirror theirs in ways that reflect their values and beliefs. It is for this reason that Shakespeare’s work is described as ‘not of an age, but for all time’ (Ben Johnson).…
The story of Hamlet is undoubtedly one of the most famous stories in the whole wide world of literature. It features everything one would wish for in a tale: death, love, injustice, revenge, doubt, and eventually, (in)sanity. How is it with the latter, though? Was the main protagonist of Shakespeare’s most famous play a real madman? Was he faking lunacy to baffle the others? Or did periods of sanity and insanity fluctuate throughout the course of the story? These are the questions that will be looked at and answered in the following paragraphs, and perhaps the enigma of Hamlet’s mental health will finally be resolved.…
Any Christian knows that as humans we are all sinners and we are forgiven every day. Hamlet in this story ends up killing two men which are Polonius, and Claudius the present king of Denmark. The act of murdering another human is the ultimate sin to most Christians however, I think hamlet did what he thought was right to avenge his father’s unfair death. Hamlets father comes to him as a ghost asking him to seek revenge. Hamlet is unfairly pressed to a sinful act. Hamlet also has a thought of suicide. Suicide is a sin that will send whomever straight to hell. Hamlet does not act on the thoughts of self-death. The time period and legal aspect of this story also has a little to do with the act of murder.…
A huge evolutionary leap is about to take place in our world. Children being born now should be nurtured and cared for with loving arms, so that they can unlock their full potential. “Namastecafe.com” says, “these children are here to show us the way, and so the information can be applied more generally to all of us as we make the transition to the next stage of our growth and evolution”. These children are known as “The Indigos”, Indigo because in the psychic perspective they emit an indigo color light or aura in the spiritual world. The Indigo’s have a warrior’s spirit and they are here to abolish government, educational, and legal systems that lack integrity. Every society undergoes evolutionary change to better the world in which we live in. The generation of Indigo’s is the next evolutionary step, they live by the “Law of One” meaning everyone is equal and everything they do is to better the community as a whole. This “Unity Consciousness” will help reveal to us our inner power and divinity. Our world as we know it is in a dysfunctional state of authority and power, it is falling apart. We should acknowledge these extremely powerful children, with their reluctant force of love and peace, they will be the next generation to bring the light onto our planet.…
In Shakespeare's "Hamlet", Hamlet, the main character, displays a very indecisive and uncertain demeanor throughout Hamlet. This recurrent behavior is displayed when: Hamlet first encounters the Ghost of his father, to learn that Hamlet's Uncle, the King, killed Hamlet's Father, also in Shakespeare's most prolific monologue of Hamlet and lastly when Hamlet stabs one of the King's confidants, Polonius. Hamlet's wavering decision making as well as his uncertainty in everything leads to Hamlet's apparent insanity; although he is not completely insane, just to a certain degree that allows him to be somewhat sane.…
A great number of lessons can be learned from Hamlet by Shakespeare. A very important lesson is that not everyone wants a leader, but every kingdom needs one. What is meant by this is that in a kingdom there will always be people who are not in favor of the person in charge. However, in a functioning kingdom a strong leader is of essence. The arrival of Fortinbras in Act 5 Scene 2 of Hamlet is clear evidence that Shakespeare was in hopes of a noble leader replacing Elizabeth. Shakespeare believed that corruption was swarming in the state of England, and a noble leader was needed to replace her.…
Hamlet is a legendary character, with many aspects to his personality. The biggest and most important one being his insanity. There were moments in his life that made him this way.. They were crucial to the increase of his hysteria, and therefore his identity.…
The play entitled The Tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is all about the life of Prince Hamlet, beginning with his father’s unexpected death and ending with his very own catastrophic death. One of the main themes of the play is Hamlet’s sanity. There is controversy about whether Hamlet eventually becomes insane towards the end of the play or he is simply pretending to be insane the entire time. Prince Hamlet is not crazy; however, the difficulties he is faced with cause him to appear crazy.…
“Most people who drink alcohol do not become alcoholics.”(Gale pg.2 Para 2) An alcoholic addiction stems from other personal problems of the past or a current problem. Many people may think that an alcohol addiction is a disease or they may not. Alcohol has become a self-medication so that people can dismiss their problems for the time being. If someone feels they have an alcohol addiction, or others do, there are different treatments to help the matter but someone who is addicted to alcohol is usually in denial and treatment will only help a person if they are willing to except it themselves.…
Throughout Hamlet, many characters develop showing their change of mind and emotions. Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark and Hamlet's mother, is an exception. Throughout the entire play she thinks only of herself. Even when she tries to think of or help others, her final decision revolves around her life and how the situation will affect her. Gertrude's selfishness is displayed in her marriage to Claudius, her forcing Hamlet to accept Claudius as his father, and her betrayal of Hamlet to Claudius after Hamlet sees his father's ghost.…
A foil character is a character who provides a contrast to another character. In the play, Hamlet by William Shakespeare there are multiple foil characters who not only provide a contrast to one another but share some similarities as well. All the foils in this book are foils of none other than the main character, Hamlet. The first foil character is Fortinbras, although he is not a major character in the play he does play an important role. Like Hamlet, Fortinbras’ father has also passed away and his uncle has taken over as the King of his country, Norway. However, unlike Hamlet he is not set on vengeance due to the death of his father. Fortinbras also takes leadership into his own hands by creating his own army and taking on the land of Poland when Hamlet can’t even make the decision to kill his uncle or show his true feelings about the marriage between Gertrude and Claudius. Laertes, son of Polonius and brother to Ophelia is also a close foil to Hamlet in this play. Although he does not truly become a foil to Hamlet until act 3 he still plays an important role. In act 3, Hamlet murders Polonius thinking that he is Claudius when coming out from behind the curtain. It is shortly after this scene that Laertes becomes enraged and is then made into a foil of Hamlet. They are both in similar situations of dealing with the murder of their fathers as well as the belief of having to avenge those murders. With Laertes’ revenge he does not wait patiently and think about what he must do like Hamlet does throughout the play, instead he acts on impulse and without thought. He knows and believes that he has to avenge his fathers death and has the passion and dedication to do so right away unlike Hamlet. Hamlet is patient with the avenge of his fathers death and for many logical reasons. He has to make sure what he is being told by the ghost is in fact what happened and by changing himself to act crazy and planning the play to catch Claudius’ reaction was a smart way of…
Hamlet is one of the most complex characters and stories in western literature. Shakespeare has loaded this play to the brim with philosophy and ideas far beyond his years. Hamlet himself can be dissected and interpreted in thousands of different ways; but most notably he is dramatic. Dramatic in every sense of the word, he enjoys acting and plays and he is extremely animated in all of his interactions. The same drama that impassions him, tortures him; so much so that he often contemplates suicide. Possibly the most significant drama in the play and in Hamlet surrounds the sanctity of the, and specifically, Hamlet’s mind. Hamlet doesn’t allow anyone to intrude his mind for many reason none more important then the other. The reasons that seem the most profound all surround the validity of his own sexuality and the judgments of the gender relationships he is apart of. Hamlet seemingly blames his mother for parts of his fathers death. He knows she didn’t actually kill him but he blames her for her lack of grief and also her marriage to the swine that is Claudius. He even goes as far as to say to her “aye madam, it is common” right after Gertrude told him about how all life ends he basically calls her a hooker. (I, ii, 13) It is peculiar that he has such a reaction to a mother trying to comfort her grieving son. Throughout the play Hamlet comes up against many trials but none greater then the challenge of accepting who he is versus what he is trying to be. All of Hamlet’s greatness and all of his flaws come from the same source his extreme aversion to the gender relationships posed in his world. In order for us to truly understand hamlet we have to penetrate what he so actively tries to protect; which in Hamlet’s case is his mind and his understanding of love, and his own sexuality.…
One of humanity's most basic instincts is that of revenge. Revenge is one of the defining traits…