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…
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 Ophelia thinking that Hamlet has gone mad, really shows how serious Hamlet is with this plan to get revenge for his uncle killing his father. Hamlet had planned to pretend to be crazy, so that no one would find out that he was plotting to kill his uncle Claudius and get revenge for the lose of his father. Ophelia has gotten the impression that Hamlet is crazy in love because of how she saw him acting, and what her dad told her. Hamlet's plan is to stage a play which will re-enact the murder of his father and then to discover whether Claudius is guilty of the murder or not based on his reaction to the play. As the play goes on it develops that…
Hamlet’s suspicious behavior causes the people of Denmark to begin to assume there is a certain drive that is causing him to lose his mind. One consideration is Ophelia. who Hamlet takes great interest in. Polonius and Claudius work together to try and manipulate Hamlet and stop him and his crazy actions. Hamlet acts this way in order to satisfy his father. He has a talk with his mother, and suddenly forces her to look into her soul which were marks of sin; Gertrude was reflecting on her actions she has done, due to the truth Hamlet gave…
Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a revenge tragedy play that primarily focuses on Hamlet’s quest to avenge his father’s death. The tragedy of Hamlet, while mostly revolving around Hamlet himself, also concerns the character of Ophelia, and Hamlet’s relationship with her throughout the play. Despite of her absence from all but five scenes, Ophelia manages to receive a considerable amount of attention, as her character becomes truly tragic with her realization that she is powerless politically, socially, and psychologically amongst the men in her life, and without them. As a woman with limited options in a patriarchal society, this realization drives her mad, ultimately resulting in her death.…
Hamlet tarnishes his image and sacrifices his dignity as a result of his ploy to fool those around him and avenge his father’s murder. Initially, the character of Hamlet is portrayed as “a soldier” and “a scholar” with “a noble mind”. This description by Ophelia is one that the citizens of Elsinore including friends and family of Hamlet would have open-heartedly agreed to. After all, as Claudius said to Hamlet: “You are the most immediate to our throne...” Hamlet must act in a presentable state at all times so can be in favor with the people in the event that he were to become king. However, after the revelation by the Ghost that “The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown,” Hamlet is shocked but at the same time confused. He is forced into a conflict between acting and not acting on the Ghost’s demand that he avenge his father’s “foul and most unnatural murder” by…
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…
The character of Ophelia plays the role of Hamlet’s love interest and is easily manipulated by her family; portraying various themes of the play through her actions and behaviour. At the onset of the play Ophelia appears to have her wits about her, with the ability to be objective and coherent when she recognizes the mad behaviour of Hamlet. In act 3 scene 1 during a contentious conversation between Ophelia and Hamlet, he expresses his disgust with Ophelia and women in general, insisting that “it hath made me mad”. Ophelia is able to identify the frantic behaviour of Hamlet proclaiming “oh what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!” Although Ophelia is of sound mind during this portion of the play, she quickly spirals out of control, losing her mind as a result of the murder of her father. Ophelia’s insanity is witnessed during act 4 scene 5 when she proceeds to sing everything she says “How can you tell the difference between you true lover and some other?” Ophelia’s madness is also described by Horatio when he tells the queen “she is importunate, indeed distract...says she hears there’s tricks I’ th’ world, and hems, and beats her heart, spurns enviously at straws, speaks things in doubt that carry but hald sense”.…
Time and time again we see throughout literature a tragic hero who possesses some fatal flaw which inevitably leads to their downfall. I believe that as humans we all possess our own “tragic flaw”, but unlike these great tragic heroes, we learn to cope with and embrace these flaws. This sentiment I find especially true in myself, noting that my own “tragic flaw” is my extreme volume and talkative nature. Throughout these past seventeen years, I have been learning to come to terms with my loud voice, even coming to love it.…
A controversy occurs over whether Hamlet’s behaviour displays craziness or planned insightfulness when deciding on his revenge on King Claudius. Prince Hamlet’s life unfortunately spirals out of hand when his father mysteriously dies. Suspicion of the possible murder of the king rises when his mother immediately marries King Claudius. Hamlet becomes extremely skeptical believing that his father did not die of murder and concludes that King Claudius could be held as a suspect. He contemplates his plans on revenge on many occasions alone, in literature, known as soliloquies. “ major purpose f Shakespeare’s use of Soliloquies in Hamlet is to provide views of the prince at crucial moments in the course of his experience”(Newell 134) His pursuit to find out officially causes Hamlet’s change of behaviour, a crazy behaviour in which he claims he acts on purpose. Yet many in the story claim Hamlet’s rash decisions, sudden hatred towards Ophelia, and the killing of Polonius, emerge out of a mental disease he developed naturally after his father’s death. The reader makes their own opinions when observing how he acts by himself reflecting on his journey towards revenge. Hamlet progresses from indecisiveness and confusion when handling the matters of revenge towards King Claudius observed in Act 2, Scene 2; Act 3, Scene 1 and Act 4 Scene 2. This is due to his religious morals sometimes, and other times he’s so blinded by revenge that he wants to i the king when he’s in a position of unholiness.…
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.…
To be a tragic hero, the character must show a great strength of heroism, including a vulnerability, that could lead to his or her demise. Sophocles, the great ancient playwright of the Greek Empire was as popular then as he is today. Antigone, one of his many plays, is still appreciated in modern day literature. Sophocles’ main characters Antigone and Creon are both similar and diverse in which they could qualify as tragic heroes.…
In different ways, these characters put the lives of their significant others in jeopardy and eventually both their life ends. In Hamlet, Hamlet is greatly affected by his guilt. His happiness is depleted and his clouded thoughts cause ruthless intentions. Due to his overwhelming remorse, Hamlet speaks to Ophelia with words like daggers when he tells her, “Get thee to a nunnery, farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them”(3.1.138-40, Shakespeare). In turn, this has an immediate effect on Ophelia as her mind descends into a whirlpool of madness. As a result, Hamlet who cannot cope with his guilt, indirectly kills whom he truly loved, Ophelia. On the contrary, King Claudius utilizes a different approach in dealing with his guilty conscience. He anticipates that his power of manipulation will insure his position and alleviate his guilt. By the time Hamlet discovers Claudius is the murderer during the play, “The Murder of Gonzago”, it becomes apparent to Claudius that Hamlet is convicting him of murder. Since Hamlet is the living personification of Claudius’s impeding guilt, he urgently acts to send Hamlet to England. Claudius, knowing his crown and his life is at stake, plots a plan to eliminate and in the process Claudius exploits other characters such as Rosencrantz,…
For example he is aware that Ophelia is acting as a spy for her father and for that reason he feels betrayed by someone he trusted the most. "If thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry. Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, go. Farewell. Heavenly powers, restore him!" (3.1, 146-149) He wants to make her feel helpless in defending herself and responsible for his craziness. Depending on the character he is around, he adjusts his persona to each character. Hamlet uses her as part of the plan in tricking Polonius, Gertrude, and Claudius but all the while he is hurting. His rude remarks and outbursts are not only directed to Ophelia but Claudius and Polonius as well in that way he hurts her the most. This is one of the few times that Hamlet lets his emotions get the better of him and potentially ruin his…
In the play, Hamlet is the son of the former king. When King Hamlet dies, Claudius inherits the throne because Hamlet is too young to be King. Afterward, Hamlet finds out that it was Claudius that killed his father, so he devotes himself in avenging his father's death. Although he is trying to set the chain back to normal, but also disturbing it, since Claudius is King. While Hamlet finds a way to kill Claudius, he acts mad in front of people he does not trust. Polonius, being nosy and ambitious, volunteers to spy on Hamlet while he speaks to his mother. When Polonius thought Gertrude was in danger, he screams for help. Hamlet mistakes him as Claudius and kills him without even thinking. Polonius' death and Hamlet neglecting Ophelia causes her to feel lost, and go insane. "We know what we are, but know not what we may be"# This quote foreshadows how she feels lost in this world, and do not now what she is going to do in the future. She feels there are no place in the world for her anymore, so she chooses to leave it and drowns herself. Hamlet disturbing the chain has caused Polonius and Ophelia's death. This is also how it leads to how Laertes and Hamlet dies.…