In William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Hamlet, Shakespeare recounts the story of a prince who is given the task to avenge the death of his father.
The play is centered around Hamlet, a student whose studies are interrupted by his father’s death. After returning to the kingdom, Hamlet encounters a ghost claiming to bear the soul of his father. Upon this confrontation, Hamlet is faced with evidence that his uncle, Claudius, murdered his father, Hamlet I. As a result, Hamlet strategizes to perform revenge on Claudius for his malefaction.
Hamlet, the main protagonist, displays a multitude of dynamic traits that emerge as the play develops. In the tragedy that follows, Hamlet is recognized for being indecisive and is often drawn to difficult questions that cannot be answered with any certainty.
The build up of Hamlet’s indecisions begin to become apparent when he questions whether the unknown beyond of death is easier to bear than life. Hamlet’s thoughts of contemplation is shown when he uncovers the internal struggles of life and death. Unable to accept the separation from his father, Hamlet feels deep pain and sorrow. In the process, he becomes overwhelmed by the grim events, and begins to question whether “to be or not to be.” (Act 2) Contemplating suicide, he questions himself philosophically if it is justified to live
…show more content…
Without sufficient evidence of the murder, he grows uncertain to the outcomes that killing Claudius would entail. Hamlet sees death as an empowering act to which killing Claudius is a way of taking action, taking up arms, opposing and defeating the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” (Act 2) He wonders whether he should endure the hardships of the situation he is in, or take aggressive action to combat the problems. The decision Hamlet chooses will determine whether Hamlet will commit to avenging his
Hamlet sparks an internal philosophical debate on the advantages and disadvantages of existence and whether it is nobler to live miserably or to end one's sorrow with a single stroke. Hamlet is in a state of madness that leads him to question get suicide, comparing it to a peaceful sleep. Through Hamlet's internal struggle with suicide his conscience guides him to live. Hamlet is contemplating suicide because he is going mad over the truth of his father's death, and his mother remarrying so quickly. ” Hamlet is suffering” due to the loss of his dear father “and he wants his anguish and strong passion abundantly evident to the audience”(Source1,Point3).
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet struggles to cope with his late father’s death and his mother’s quick marriage. In Act 1, Scene 2, King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, and Hamlet are all introduced. Hamlet has just finished publicly speaking with his mom and the new king, and after he is interrupted by his good friend Horatio, who reveal the secret about King Hamlet’s ghost. Hamlet’s soliloquy is particularly crucial because it serves as his initial characterization, revealing the causes of his anguish. Hamlet’s grief is apparent to the audience, as he begins lamenting about the uselessness of life.
“To be or not to be - that is the question:” (3.1.64) describes the mood in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In the first part of Hamlet within the third act, the king and Polonius are spying on Hamlet to find the true meaning to his madness when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are unable because “he will by no means speak” (3.1.6). The quotation describes how Hamlet has conflict about whether he should commit suicide or not, but after a while, he realizes if he dies, then his uncertainty of where he will be in the afterlife kept him from committing suicide. The significance of this quotation shows the dilemma of Hamlet’s choice between life and death.
Hamlet pushing away others causes his descent into madness. As he slowly loses his sanity, the idea of death looks more and more appealing. Shakespeare shows this idea through Hamlet’s soliloquy: “To be, or not to be: that is the question” (Shakespeare, line 57). The fact that Shakespeare used a soliloquy in this scene shows how much Hamlet’s solitude has affected how he views his life. His thoughts of suicide race as he finds himself alone, separating himself from the betrayal in his family.
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the dead king’s son Hamlet avenges his father’s murder, but his madness and indecision takes its toll on everyone. Hamlet’s father, the King Hamlet, was murdered by Claudius because he was ambitious for the throne and Queen Gertrude. In Act 3 of the play, Hamlet begins to test Claudius for any sign of guilt in the murder of his father. After watching a play disguised as a reenactment of the murder of King Hamlet, Claudius begins to confess his sins to God. In Claudius’ confession soliloquy, Shakespeare reveals Claudius’ inner duel between his rational desire to act virtuously by relieving his guilt and his gravitation toward material gain and selfishness by following his ambitions through the use of
a consummation devoutly to be wished!” (3.1.64-72). His thoughts about the reasoning behind committing suicide is that perhaps it is more honorable to endure all the trials faced in this life but to die would end them all, which would prevent oneself from ever feeling another
Like many things, Hamlet is intelligent and honorable, but his indecisiveness is the cause of his tragic downfall. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare portrays that Hamlet is very incapable of finishing the task at hand. Throughout the drama Hamlet faces many trials and tribulations due to his late father Hamlet, who was murderously killed by Claudius. His inability to kill Claudius and himself is one grand flaw of an epic hero. After King Hamlets passing, Hamlet entered an unknown state of mind that not only feared others for his wellbeing, but also feared himself.
Throughout Hamlet, Prince Hamlet is faced against many situations that question his mental stability and ability to make decisions. His indecisiveness comes from the way he reacts to the situations he is put in and the way his mind presents these situations to him. The most important indecisive moments are Hamlet’s suicidal thoughts, his father’s ghost, and his vengeance to Claudius. When Hamlet is told by a ghost that has a resemblance of his father that Claudius had killed him, he vows to take vengeance and revenge his father’s death.
To add on to Hamlet’s stress is the possibility that something might lie “after death”(III.i.79). The fear that whatever comes after death is unknown is one of the many reasons Hamlet does not want to kill himself. Hamlet is sane because some people today still have a fear about how what comes after death is unknown. Hamlet’s behavior begins to change when they prepare to show the play that Hamlet wrote to everyone in the castle. Hamlet acts disrespectful towards his mother once again declining the seat she offered him and sitting next to Ophelia instead.
Hamlet describes the troubles he is facing and how suicide could be a better option than to keep on suffering. Hamlet compares his troubles to a sea of troubles and debates whether or not facing them is better than dieing, which proves the overall message. Furthermore, in Hamlet’s speech, Hamlet continues to debate whether or not
Throughout the play, Hamlet is forced to make difficult decisions; as he is conflicted with almost every decision he makes, his uncertainty and unsophisticated thoughts will eventually lead to his downfall. Man vs. Self is a common theme in Shakespeare’s work, and Hamlet is no exception. The most distinct example of this sophisticated concept is Hamlet himself. When analyzed thoroughly, Hamlet is his greatest obstacle and enemy. The earliest of his internal conflicts is when his mother married his uncle, Claudius, in such a short window of time after his father’s death.
In the “To be or not to be” soliloquy, Hamlet says, “To die, to sleep/ No more—and by a sleep to say we end/ The heartache and the thousand natural shocks/ That flesh/ is heir to—’tis a consummation/ Devoutly to be wished!”(3.1 61-64) Proving that he is so distraught about taking action against his uncle that he believes that death would be an easier alterative to losing his purity and innocence. He ultimately decides that suicide is not the answer, “With this regard their currents turn awry/ And lose the name of action,” (3.1 88-89) because he cannot take the uncertainty of the afterlife. This entire soliloquy also highlights Hamlets delayed action to his problems.
Revenge is a very strong and powerful theme found in stories across all ages and all cultures. During the course of this class two books have also held this theme, Shakespeare's Hamlet and Shelley's Frankenstein. Revenge seems to be such a large theme for both Hamlet and Frankenstein's monster because they both feel utterly betrayed by the people closest to them. In Hamlet, King Hamlet is murdered by his brother, his ghost reveals this to Prince Hamlet.
Hamlet is William Shakespeare 's renowned tale of mystery, intrigue, and murder, centered on a young misguided prince who can only trust himself. Some may say that the actions of Prince Hamlet throughout the play are weak and fearful, displaying a tendency to procrastinate and showing an apathetic nature towards his family and peers. Others spin a tale of a noble young scholar, driven mad by the cold-blooded murder of his father by his uncle. In truth, I believe Hamlet is neither of these things. Hamlet is a sort of amalgamation of the two, a bundle of contradictions thrown together into one conflicting but very human mess of a character.
Hamlet’s ability to overthink situations or decisions makes him conclude that committing suicide might be the easy way out of his indecisiveness. Hamlet overthinks every problem that is happening. He overthinks so much that he cannot make up his decision about what to do with the problem. The cluelessness that is going on within his mind makes him lose his mental status, life and the love of his life. Hamlets actions are hypnotized by his thoughts: “Thus Conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pitch and moment, With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action” (3.1.85-90).