Dialectical Journal For Hamlet Act 1

Towards the start of the play, Hamlet expresses that, “Am I a coward? / Who calls me ‘villain’? Breaks my pate across? / Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face?” (2, 2, 595-597). Hamlet has not acted upon the request of the ghost therefore he feels guilty for being too wimpy to kill. The questions that he is asking himself are challenging him to act instead of just thinking about doing the deed. Hamlet makes excuses by saying he does not know if the ghost told the truth or is a devil in disguise. At the end of Hamlet’s last soliloquy, he states “Which is not tomb enough and continent/ To hide the slain? O, from this time forth/ My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth” (4, 4, 67-69). Hamlet is explaining that he wants to stop thinking about getting revenge on his uncle and actually execute it. He cannot hide anymore because his uncle wants to get rid of him by sending him to England so he is compelled to act. Hamlet’s lost opportunity to kill Claudius makes him regret it since he will be separated from the new king. Hamlet yearns to actually start doing something. By questioning himself whether to act or wait, he strengthens his motivation to kill since Hamlet is lost and this gives him purpose in life.

This quote shows that Hamlet was jealous of the things that Claudius has done because it the things that he wanted to do. Hamlet is in his mother’s bedroom telling her not to be with Claudius. Hamlet is jealous if the affection his mother gives that Claudius and not him.

We are told throughout the play that Hamlet is not himself lately, Hamlet himself says: “I have of late - but wherefore i not not- lost all my mirth forgave all custom of exercises”. We know Hamlet as a melancholic character, but it is implied his is actually a very enthusiastic character usually. In Act 5, Scene II, Claudius says he is loved and respected by the people of Denmark: “he was likely, had he been put on, to have prov’d most royally” and In Act 3, Scene I, Ophelia says hamlet had been a soldier and a scholar: “the glass of fashion and the mould of form”. Originally he loved life, enjoyed fencing, the theatre and world adventure. Hamlet has been triggered by the murder of his father and his mother 's remarriage to his uncle. He has begun to question his morals and the nobility of mankind. He has developed a bitterness towards the world, describing it as “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable”, it is “an unweeded garden”. His mother is a large part of his life and so when he described “the world” he could be talking about his mother. He is disgusted by his mother for remarrying to her brother in law. He tells her in Act II, Scene IV: "Mother, you have my father much offended. She seemed to love him, yet she supposedly fell in love with his brother? Perturbed at this rash, almost incestuous act”. He believes she lied to his father about her love, otherwise she would not have fallen in love with

As he is more of the thinking type, meaning he will rarely speak his thoughts aloud, he admits he’s weak. However, this is seen in contrast when Hamlet shows his split personality by killing Polonius, thinking it is Claudius instead of being the coward he usually is. He proves that he actually has some of his father’s heroic traits. “Now might I do..” “..now I’ll do 't” “...so am I revenged” his evident procrastination suggests the weakness of his character and that he cannot bring himself to serve justice for his father 's death. Hamlet’s desire to follow his father’s ghosts wish is strong, he thirsts for revenge yet he can’t figure out a way to kill Claudius as he cannot find the right time. “Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed;” The constant repetition of “incestuous” suggests the deep pain of Hamlet and his disappointment in his mother for sharing a bed with Claudius. This makes Hamlet rage even more against Claudius, yet he keeps a ‘poker face’ to not portray his plans. Also, his madness adds to the contemplation, as it manages to take over him. Hamlet is controlled by his own game, and when he thinks about the consequences of killing Claudius he refuses to do it at the current

Hamlet states this quote to himself in Act 4, Scene 4. At this point of the play, Hamlet, Guildenstern, and Rosencrantz on their way to the ship and the captain informs them about Prince Fortinbras permission to travel through Denmark in order to attack Poland. The captain explains that their conflict between one another is due to a small part of land. Hamlet is then by himself and realizes their violence over a little patch of land, which is when his quotation occurs. In this quote, Hamlet is implying that everything around him is telling him to hurry up and continue with his revenge. He finds it boring just to be eating and sleeping, he knows he is given a greater power and he must enact them as soon as possible. Hamlet was inspired

During Act 1 Scene 5, a ghost arrives who is actually Hamlet’s father. He informs Hamlet that Claudius is the murderer of his father. Then, Hamlet thinks of a mischievous plan for revenge. In the play of Shakespeare, dramatic irony is key in shaping the play as the audience feels various emotions and are kept away from the truth.

The excerpt begins on an expressive note with the inclusion of questioning and exclamatory phrases, “What else? / And shall I couple hell? O fie!” (1.5.92-93). Hamlet not only asks a question to an absence, but he also replies to by himself. The unresponsiveness of memories, relate the expressive outburst from Hamlet. It shows his frustration and that frustration trailed into madness. The OED defines madness as a moment of psychosis, which is where connections with the external world are lost because of mental and emotional impairments. The mental impairment that effected Hamlet was the memory of his father. Hamlet was unable to see the other characters as he once had because the memory of his father occupied his perception. During Hamlet’s apology to Laertes, this form self-communication was also seen. Hamlet stated in the apology, “Wasn’t Hamlet wronged Laertes? Never Hamlet” (5.2.179). In this instance, Hamlet asks and responses to questions from the third person perspective. This appears to be an elevated form of the earlier round of questioning and answering, which shows the progression of Hamlet’s. It is as if Hamlet realized that the answers to his questions would go unanswered by his memory, so he turns to himself for

There is no way it could be a demon, not with the compassion it had shown to Gertrude. The audience at the time would not have thought that the spirit was a demon for a moment because of how docile he was, in only wanting revenge on the one who had slain him. That and the fact that it had waited for Hamlet to appear to him, goes to show. If he was a demon, then he would have tormented him with constant thoughts of revenge, flooding and breaking his mind until he was truly driven insane. In all of when it could have reappeared, it chose then, when Hamlet was tearing into his mother for what she had done in ‘betraying’ the former king. He reminded Hamlet that it was not she who had really done anything wrong, because of her naivety, because King Hamlet’s apparition did not want harm to come to

In the play “Hamlet”, written by William Shakespeare, King Claudius and his step son Hamlet had a great amount of tension between each other. Most of the tension was brought from Hamlet. Based on several events that occurred throughout the play, we can see that the King’s personality illuminated the actions of Hamlet.

Revenge-- the only answer to Hamlet’s grief. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet matures throughout the play and he becomes more aware of the revenge he needs to carry out. Hamlet learns that in order to become a better leader he needs to be just and patient. As Hamlet matures, he realizes that in order for him to carry out the most suitable revenge for his father he needs to be able to pick up clues, be patient so that he can fulfill his duty, and accepting of his fate so that the revenge can come together. In order to be a good leader, he needs to be able to do these things so that he can have a just revenge.

William Shakespeare wrote many stories and novels about love, tragedies, and mystery. The story that I will be focusing on is "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Also known as Hamlet, this is a story written by William Shakespeare somewhere between 1599 and 1602(the exact date is unknown).The play

Hamlet was an extremely diverse character. His thought process was like no other, making him stand out. He stood his ground in defending his father. Even though he is the cause of his own death, he gave an exhilarating fight. Although he ultimately lost himself throughout the entire play, he soon realizes his fate at the

At this point in the play, my impression on Hamlet is that he his remorseful, yet ambitious. He shows these qualities throughout act two on multiple occasions. Exploring Act two, one will find most of the time Hamlet is either mourning his father’s death, or working very diligently to show the Queen that the King is at fault for Hamlet’s father’s death.

One of the most important quotes from Hamlet is "As I perchance hereafter shall think meet, To put an antic disposition on"(1.5.191-192). This quote is crucial to the story as a whole because it tells the audience that from then on Hamlet will only be acting mad. This is part of

Imagine you come home from college and your father is dead and your mother has married your father's brother. Would you be on the verge of insanity? Would suicide be an option? Throughout Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, The characters discover a sense of excitement and suspense. New discoveries lead to new awakenings and a constant change in consciousness. Shakespeare goes back and forth on the topics of death, love, and revenge. Hamlet is having a difficult time choosing between life or death, not only for himself, but for others as well. Discoveries such as finding out his father's ghost has appeared and new awakenings such as realizing he needs to murder to succeed in honoring his father, are points that are expanded upon throughout the play,