Hamlet Self Control Analysis

Everyone knows that one person who freaks out if they have no control over a situation. In the play Hamlet there are two characters with this personality flaw who also happen to have opposing interests. The effects of control are the most apparent in the character Hamlet. Hamlet’s self control depends on his situational control: when he has a plan he has relatively high self control, when he is distracted his control falters. Good people, regardless of their social status, can be driven to act and speak in an insane manner when circumstances spiral out of control.

As Hamlet loses control over a situation, he loses control of himself. Before the play begins, Hamlet’s father dies in a suspicious and vague event. His reaction to

In contrast to his grieving depression and vengefulness, the confidence resulting from making a plan restores his self control so that he can to enact his plan. As planners know, nothing builds confidence like a self-authored plan falling into place. Hamlet’s planning returns his rational thought and enables him to devise a plausible scheme using the resources available to him at that given time. The presence of a traveling company of players inspires him to stage a scene that might startle a confession out of Claudius. He convinces the players to “study/ a speech of some dozen or sixteen lines which I would set/ down and insert in’t” by implying that he is uncertain of their ability to do so after establishing himself as their friends and a drama enthusiast (II.ii.540-542). This devious use of seemingly innocent resources is often frowned upon, yet frequently employed. Unfortunately, his temporary recovery of control comes at a price: the consequences of his

Having control over a situation gives Hamlet the self control he needs to plan rationally and regain some level of control over the formerly puzzling situation. When Hamlet knows that he has no control, he loses his own control and plunges into an irrational frenzy of attempts to recover his already limited control. The concept of outside influence on inner control, especially mental state, was not a new one; Shakespeare gave even his less insightful characters the notion that Hamlet’s madness was based on grief and rejection. This is important because it means he expected the audience of Hamlet to understand that any person’s sanity is affected by