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Loyalty In Hamlet Analysis

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In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, loyalty conflicts between family, friends, and even the country. Hamlet showed that the only person who we owe loyalty to is ourselves. Putting other’s loyalties above your own will only benefit the other person. We only owe loyalty to ourselves. Our family, lover, and our state will not always be there for us, but we will never be without our body. Throughout the play, the characters give their loyalty to other people and they have to deal with consequences because of it. Loyalty is not owed to your family. Hamlet’s mom married the person who killed Hamlet’s father. If he were to give his loyalty to his mother he would be disloyal to his father. This would lead to a conflict of loyalty for Hamlet. Hamlet made the right decision here putting his own self-interest over his loyalty to his family. This strains his relationship with Gertrude. He began to insult and mock her “HAMLET: Madam, how like you this play? QUEEN GERTRUDE: The lady protests too much, methinks. HAMLET: O, but she 'll keep her word. (3.2.253-255)(Shakespeare)” Laertes picked a different approach, however, he showed loyalty to his family when he came back to Denmark to defend their family’s name. This …show more content…

Hamlet was giving his loyalty to Ophelia. If this continued it would 've ended badly for Hamlet because she was giving her loyalty to her father. Ophelia was trying to set Hamlet up because her father asked him to. “POLONIUS: […] (to OPHELIA) Read on this book That show of such an exercise may color Your loneliness.—We are oft to blame in this, 'Tis too much proved, that with devotion’s visage And pious action we do sugar o 'er The devil himself”( Act 3, Scene 1,44-52) (Shakespeare). Alternatively, King Hamlet lover was Queen Gertrude who was cheating on him during their marriage. He gave her his loyalty and it got him killed. This is what would 've happened to Hamlet if he continued to give Ophelia his

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