Why Is Hamlet Admirable
"Hamlet shows us no admirable human relationships." Discuss, supporting your views with detailed evidence from the play.
"We are arrant knaves, all..." Hamlet, written by the ever observant William Shakespeare, certainly seems to prove this true. Embroiled in corruption, Denmark the "prison" is barely the place for admirable relationships to flourish. Any claim that "Hamlet shows us no admirable human relationships," would therefore, on the surface, be mostly justifiable. The play's four kinds of relationships: in blood, in name, in romance, and in friendship, reflect the rotten state from which they spring. Hamlet's mother disregards his grief, Polonius disregards his daughter's love for Hamlet, Hamlet uses Ophelia, Claudius values power over his wife, and Hamlet …show more content…
Admirable relationships where mutual trust, respect, loyalty, and selflessness are key values shared between human beings are few and far between in Hamlet. The only relationship which comes close in Hamlet is the friendship between the Danish prince and humble Horatio. This gloomy reality not only reinforces central thematic concerns such as corruption, but also justifies Hamlet's brutal actions. Most importantly however, Shakespeare makes the concerns in the play relevant and important to our own lives. We learn to value and nurture the admirable relationships we do have, for the improvement of our own lives and the wellbeing of a society.
One of the closest and most impacting relationships that we have is that with our family. There is often no stronger bond than between a parent and a child. At the beginning of Hamlet, however, Shakespeare hits us with a mother and son whose relationship is far from admirable. Hamlet's first line refer to his Uncle and new step-father as "a little more than kin, a little less than kind," showing no respect for his mother's second choice of husband. Referring to his mother when proclaiming "frailty, thy name is
"We are arrant knaves, all..." Hamlet, written by the ever observant William Shakespeare, certainly seems to prove this true. Embroiled in corruption, Denmark the "prison" is barely the place for admirable relationships to flourish. Any claim that "Hamlet shows us no admirable human relationships," would therefore, on the surface, be mostly justifiable. The play's four kinds of relationships: in blood, in name, in romance, and in friendship, reflect the rotten state from which they spring. Hamlet's mother disregards his grief, Polonius disregards his daughter's love for Hamlet, Hamlet uses Ophelia, Claudius values power over his wife, and Hamlet …show more content…
Admirable relationships where mutual trust, respect, loyalty, and selflessness are key values shared between human beings are few and far between in Hamlet. The only relationship which comes close in Hamlet is the friendship between the Danish prince and humble Horatio. This gloomy reality not only reinforces central thematic concerns such as corruption, but also justifies Hamlet's brutal actions. Most importantly however, Shakespeare makes the concerns in the play relevant and important to our own lives. We learn to value and nurture the admirable relationships we do have, for the improvement of our own lives and the wellbeing of a society.
One of the closest and most impacting relationships that we have is that with our family. There is often no stronger bond than between a parent and a child. At the beginning of Hamlet, however, Shakespeare hits us with a mother and son whose relationship is far from admirable. Hamlet's first line refer to his Uncle and new step-father as "a little more than kin, a little less than kind," showing no respect for his mother's second choice of husband. Referring to his mother when proclaiming "frailty, thy name is