His sudden and infamous demise creates a domino effect of murder, anger, and distrust. The downfalls of each character can be concluded as a direct and indirect effect of the King; without meaning to or not, the Ghost has affected almost every character, whether through immediate contact or through another character. His most significant effect is, without a doubt, his son’s tragic downfall. As a famous tragedy of Shakespeare, this play’s largest focal point is the failing of its hero, Hamlet. 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.
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Shakespeare uses range of literary techniques such as soliloquies to express Hamlet’s depression and anger. Hamlet’s emotions play a crucial role to achieve his secret ambitions. Events such as King Hamlet’s death, Hamlet’s mother’s expeditious marriage, conflict between Hamlet and Ophelia. Hamlet’s depression and anger is expressed throughout the play but what are the causes. The root of Hamlet’s feelings of depression and anger was his father’s death.
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.
This third soliloquy brings forth the theme of frustration in the play. Hamlet here struggles with himself to gain the courage to carry out what he must do, and it slowly tears him apart inside. But, the young prince shows that he is determined to convince himself to kill his uncle, and he hopes that “his passions will halt his better judgement,” (Mabillard). Shakespeare’s ultimate goal with this scene is to make Hamlet more relatable to the crowd, and he does so with
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).
However, he murdered Polonius impulsively. Hamlet’s inability to make decisions properly led to his impulsive actions, which caused the death of the people he cared about. He had many opportunities to kill Claudius and complete his revenge before anyone else died, but he refused to act. Hamlet himself realized that and said, “But I am pigeon-liver 'd and lack gall / To make oppression bitter.” Hamlet didn’t feel he was capable of righting the wrong Claudius committed. If Hamlet had accepted Claudius as king and forgiven his mother or had completely committed to carrying out revenge, the play would have ended much differently, but Hamlet’s indecisiveness presented him from doing either.
In particular, Shakespeare displays how Hamlet’s identity is shaped: during his mourning phase, as he relies on his closest allies, and when he faces Laertes at the end of the play. Hamlet faces a torrent of emotions when his father dies. He feels despondent and as though his life is worth nothing. Thus, adversity shapes his identity – bringing out his deepest, darkest qualities. In the beginning of the play Hamlet wishes that his “too sullied flesh would melt”, and this is an indication of his desperation and dissatisfaction with life.
In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet proves many of times that he is truly going mad. Hamlet had a rough start in the beginning of the play with his father 's passing and with his mom moving on so quickly and marrying his uncle. It is understandable that Hamlet is not in the right state of mind with everything he has gone through and continues to go through during Shakespeare’s play. Hamlet sees his father, King Hamlet’s ghost and the ghost explains to Hamlet that Claudius was the one that murdered him. Hamlet must seek revenge for the murder of his father and he will do this at any cost.
Many tragic heroes holds pride as their primary cause to his downfall, but Hamlet’s hesitation throughout the play is his key weakness. During the play of The Murder of Gonzago schemed by Hamlet to confirm Claudius’s act of crime, himself was overwhelmed by self-contempt and guilt. Hamlet blames himself for just standing around cursing like a whore, and urges to seek revenge by heaven and hell. After the performance, Hamlet observes Claudius and found him guilty and prays for forgiveness. But Hamlet give up the good opportunity of killing Claudius because he hopes that his revenge for his father for a moral sake, not committing an impulsive revenge.
In Act 5, the tension rests when Hamlet and Claudius are both eliminated. This act of violence also leads to many other acts of violence, including the deaths of Polonius, Ophelia, and Laertes. It puts a lot of pressure on Prince Hamlet, because he feels he must devote his entire life to getting justice for his father. Since Hamlet was the King, it also creates a theme of betrayal that carries itself throughout the play. Betrayal in a tragedy is not uncommon, and it is one of the many reasons that so many acts of violence take place in Hamlet.