In the beginning of William Shakespeare’s introspective play, Hamlet’s first soliloquy finds him as a more melancholic and more desperate character. He faced conflicts involving himself, the people around him, and his environment–how the events that have occurred in his surroundings negatively influenced his character. In Act 1, after enduring an unpleasant encounter at his mother and Claudius’ court, then being asked by his parents not to resume his studies in Wittenberg and rather stay in Denmark, Hamlet starts to have his suicidal thoughts for the very first time. For Hamlet, existence itself is a burden; he desires for his flesh to ‘melt’ and wishes that God had not made ‘self-slaughter’ a sin. Hamlet, then characterizes the world as “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable.” (1; 5) Claiming that suicidal is the only alternative way out of a painful world but it is however forbidden by his religion. In a quote from the text, “O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn’d longer,—married with mine uncle, My father’s brother; but no more like my father”, (1; 21-24) Hamlet describes his intense disgust at Gertrude’s decision of marrying Claudius, her vastly inferior former brother-in-law. As matter of fact, this is specifically
“ Everything that moves hamlet to ponder suicide is his mother and claudius`s fault (Source 5,Point1).“And Hamlet's grief itself is indirectly expressed in his sense of loss and his idealization of his father.”Hamlet is lost without his father and traumatized at what happened to him (Source 5,Point2).Hamlet contemplates the advantages and disadvantages of death because of he is under immense grief from his father's death and is trying to find a way to end it but his conscience keeps him from committing what he believes is a noble
As a prince, Hamlet has undoubtedly led a sheltered, comfortable life. He may not have had anyone close to him die suddenly before. The loss of a parent is a huge affliction, but it may be much worse because it could be the first time someone close to Hamlet has died. His gloominess starts to aggravate the queen and his new stepfather. They urge Hamlet to stop grieving for his father. Gertrude tells Hamlet that it is normal for people to die (1.2.72-73). She then asks Hamlet why he seems so concerned with death (1.2.75). Hamlet responds in a haughty way. He says he does not seem obsessed with death, but that he is completely grief-stricken. He tells his mother that she cannot understand how deep his thoughts go (1.2.76-86). This statement shows that Hamlet is not only concerned with his father’s death, but death in general is weighing heavily on Hamlet’s
Hamlet's behavior begins to change drastically as the play advances. The reader can really start to question Hamlet's madness as he speaks to himself in his most famous soliloquy, where he contemplates whether or not to commit suicide. “
Hamlet integrates metaphors seamlessly, insuring that they are not overpowering, while also provoking the listener to question and consider the arguments he presents. While Hamlet’s dialogue expresses his own opinion, it also aims to inculcate his ideas on the listener, shifting from beginning with “But to my mind,” to decisively stating
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. He expresses his feeling in his “heart, for I must hold my tongue” (1.2.160). This is an important quote because it is important to understand because it allows to the reader to see that Hamlet cannot speak to anyone about how he feels. As an effect to his decision of not speaking out, this allowed for rage and discomfort to grow inside him which will be one of the main reasons as to why he is legitimately going insane. With these various stressors in his life, it gives more evidence and reasoning to why he often experienced constant signs of depression and suicidal thoughts. The signs of distress he showed throughout the play are highlighted tremendously since he experienced major signs of depression. He
In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the main protagonist, Prince Hamlet, is tangled with the theme of death. During the play, he presents how his life is surrounded with death after his father, King Hamlet, dies. Death theme is the most occurring theme Shakespeare writes about in his plays, which most of his plays have a very dramatic death ending and involve the death of the main protagonist. Throughout the play, Shakespeare presents the idea of life, which is the never ending cycle of revenge and death. Shakespeare starts the death theme with the death of King Hamlet, which stimulates Hamlet to seek for revenge with his various soliloquies considering death from various points of view and certainly leads to a dramatic ending. In William
Your father has just passed away and your best friend is off to college. To make matters worse your mother remarries extremely fast to your uncle. In the midst of all this, you find yourself lost and and confused. Just like Hamlet was in his soliloquy to be or not to be. Hamlet’s father's ghost appears and ask to avenge his death. Hamlet is torn between killing his uncle or not because it is a sin. Dealing with all this, Hamlet contemplates suicide. Hamlet's choice of diction reveals his tone of uncertainty toward life and death.
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.
In addition, Hamlet’s perspective on life is formed from multiple events that had occurred. At the beginning of the play we learn that Hamlet’s father has died and this saddens him. He is later disgusted by his mother’s quick remarriage to his uncle, Claudius, almost two months after the death of his father who was also his mother’s husband. After Hamlet’s conversation with his father’s ghost in which Hamlet was told that his father was murdered by Claudius, he became filled with even more grief because he has a difficult duty of killing his uncle in order to avenge his father’s death. This is seen in the “to be or not to be” soliloquy.
Within the play Hamlet a variety of events occur that could have psychological effects on a person. Hamlet clearly demonstrated signs of depression which could be linked to several events within the play, but can most likely be traced back to one event in particular. Many of the outburst can be due to losing his father while still at a young age. Although Hamlet is not a very young child, he is only entering the adult world. Many of the things he is experiencing, such as depression, manic episodes, and delusions can all be related back to the loss of his father. At times Hamlet is contemplating committing suicide to escape from the pain that he is feeling. Hamlet simply states, “to be, or not to be,” questioning whether he should continue to live or simply kill himself with the use of a dagger (Shakespeare 53). Throughout the play Hamlet expresses many emotions that can be linked back to his father’s death.
In Act II Scene 2, as Hamlet berates himself for his irresoluteness and cowardice and contemplates vengeance for his father, the concluding soliloquy vividly portrays Hamlet’s transition from irritation to insanity. Shakespeare extensively utilizes analogies and carefully chosen diction and syntax to dramatize the state of uneasiness in Hamlet’s conflicted mind.
Hamlet’s hesitant nature is well presented in the play. For one, Hamlet cannot bring forth the strength to end his own life; his indecision of whether or not to commit suicide plagues him for more than half the play.
In William Shakespeare’s classic, Hamlet, the question concerning Hamlet’s underlying sanity is a major element in the interpretation of the text. In the play, Shakespeare portrays Hamlet as a dynamic character to cause a mental state conundrum among the audience and explore the themes of suicide, spying, friendship, madness, providence, love, hate and humour. Furthermore, by utilising literary devices such as soliloquy, characterisation, dialogue, personification, metaphor, dramatic and situational irony Shakespeare exploits these themes and questions Hamlet’s sanity. In the beginning, Hamlet is portrayed as an overthinking person, claiming to act an antic disposition. However, as the play advances his manic rage and irrational acts such as Polonius’s murder and
Hamlet is a very diverse character that goes through several different emotional stages throughout the novel. Some think that he is depressed because of his father’s death, and some think that his breakup with Ophelia has made him go mad. Though Hamlet does seem out of control at times, it is because he is keeping a secret about his father’s death. The average person does not usually deal with the death of their parent well, and knowing that it was intentional makes Hamlet even more emotionally unstable. From the beginning of the novel, Hamlet proves to be very melancholy, and upset with his life. His father’s sudden death, and his mother’s quick remarry did not help his case. That being said, his emotions lead him to his insanity.