In act 2 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the prince expresses his disappointment with himself due to his lack of courage. “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I,” (2.2.123) says Hamlet in his third soliloquy. He begins to question whether he has the strength to go through with his plans to kill the king. In this emotional speech Hamlet expresses his feeling that he is “a coward because he feels he has done nothing to take revenge on Claudius,” (Newell). This third soliloquy brings forth the theme of frustration in the play.
Throughout the play Hamlet uncovers horrible deeds his uncle has committed, which were “Remorseless, Treacherous, lecherous”. Hamlet wished to punish Gertrude but was prevented by his father’s ghost. In Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act 3 scene 2, Hamlet will “speak daggers to her but use none” representing his future interactions with Gertrude. Shakespeare uses this metaphor to show Hamlet’s hatred towards his mother and to create tension. In Act 3 Scene 4, Hamlet reveals Claudius’ involvement in his father’s death to his mother, but she thinks Hamlet has turned into a madman.
He lived the rest of his life in nightmares and fears which denounced his actions. He realized how unscrupulous his actions were and his souls is long huanted by it. After the murder, he does not dare to put the dagger back. We could see, from this point, The warrior and Duncan’s “worthiest cousin” (1.4.15) is so terrified by his own action that a sound would scare him. While he is haunted by guilt, Macbeth has to secure his throne by murdering Banquo and Fleance.
“Thus conscience does make cowards of us all” (3.1.87) Hamlet is angry with himself that he has let his conscience come in the way. Hamlet was not only obsessed with his own conscience but the conscience of others as well. "The play's the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." (2.2.617) Hamlet wants to know what king Claudius is thinking in terms of his conscience before Hamlet acts. Here, Hamlet is thinking with his conscience, instead of just killing Claudius like he wanted to do from the beginning, he needs to confirm the conscience of Claudius to convince his own conscience it is the right thing to do.
Although many can argue his downfall is due to his lack of trust, selfish acts, or hesitant manner, they all have one quality in common: Hamlet goes mad, and his father is the one to blame. His downfall commenced from the very beginning, starting with his father’s dark and spiteful confession: “But know, thou noble youth, the serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown,” (1.5.39-41). In this scene, the Ghost takes advantage of his grieving son’s vulnerability, knowing that Hamlet will do or say anything in honor of his dead father. His strategic use of pathos in his long
The ghost of his father leads him to contemplate murder; this is an emotional decision for him due to the apparent lack of evidence. Commanded by his father’s ghost to, “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder,” by his brother Claudius, who has robbed him of his wife and throne as well as his life. At this point, his inner turmoil has left him emotionally unavailable and completely disenchanted with humanity in general. Hamlet is so bent on doing it but swears that “with wings as swift/ As meditation, or the thoughts of love,’ he will ‘sweep to [his] revenge”, but keeps on the procrastination due to the voice of reason within him. These two sides within Hamlet offers a spectacle of conflict, that is, whether he wants to avenge his father’s murder or not.
Furthermore, teens often seek revenge on one another without understanding that vengeance is a poor response to another person’s action. In the play, Hamlet balances his emotions poorly, and, in turn, serves as an exceptional illustration of the consequences of vengeance. He is furious at Claudius for murdering his father, and is desperate for retribution. Hamlet’s first act of retaliation is forcing Claudius to admit the truth. He achieves his goal by writing a play closely based upon his father’s murder (and ensuring Claudius is in attendance).
Motifs of metadrama in Hamlet can be described as revenge, identity, and self-reflection, because the devastating events in his life. Depress can be used to relate to describe the murder of his father, and his brother marrying his wife. In Act I scene ii Shakespeare took a play from “The Murder of Gonzago”, to demonstrate the intensity between his mother and him: “ “ Seem,” Madam ? Nay, it is - Nor customary suits of forced breath, - together with all forms, moods, shade of grief-”. Hamlet become down and ignores his mother when she worry about why his grief seem so important.
Hamlet argues, “And so am I (revenged.) That would be scanned: / A villain kills my father, and for that, / I, his sole son, do this same villain send / To heaven. (3.3 80-83)” While many rush to fault Hamlet for failing to stab Claudius right at this moment, Hamlet asses the situation as one where he still doubt’s Claudius sin. Therefore, from Hamlet’s perspective, it is rational to wait until a time when Claudius has been proven guilty to kill him. A time where he will not be granted direct access to heaven and will be forced to roam the Earth, much like his father’s ghost.
In the Shakespearean play, Hamlet, the tragedy of a young prince’s attempt to extract revenge upon the man who murdered his father is the central idea. Throughout the play, the audience is shown Prince Hamlet’s internal conflict over who killed his father. The internal conflict Prince Hamlet brings upon himself is his hesitancy to trust his own judgement and act upon it. Prince Hamlet’s instances of self-doubt and indecisiveness correspond to the idea that tragic heroes lack important decision-making skills in times of distress. Prince Hamlet’s inability to make crucial decisions ultimately leads to his tragic death, and that is what makes him a tragic hero.