Murder And Death In Shakespeare's Hamlet

Murder and death are the driving forces to one character’s motives. In The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, a play about a young prince, Hamlet, whose father is murdered prior and the trials of confirming who the killer is, go wary after a play sparks the new King’s attention. Hamlet is in and out of a grievous time trying to understand his father’s death while not a single soul mourns the loss. Power is what consumes King Claudius as he plots for Hamlet’s death with unexpected deaths to follow. Hamlet is consistently perceived as insane for trying to grief his father and avenge him. Hamlet duels the brother of his beloved with the king’s underlying motive to bring death upon Hamlet. Hamlet is the only character who

Hamlet confides in his two childhood friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Showing that he has people he can open up to about his life and issues. Hamlet confesses that “[he is] but mad north-north-west. When the wind southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw”(II.ii.402-403). Hamlet claims he is pretending to be insane, but by telling his friends he is pretending to be insane to be a distraction shows Hamlet is actually sane. His actions of insanity are a distraction to trap the king into revealing his guilt to eliminating Hamlet’s father. He has clearly thought of this plan and is acting it out intricately proving he is thinking and not acting on an impulse. Hamlet then creates a play, The Murder of Gonzago, in order to catch the attention of his father’s murderer. Hamlet’s claim is “the play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king”(II.ii.632-634). He has written out how Claudius actually killed the king in hopes to stir discomfort within the Claudius’ conscience to show everyone that Claudius is a cold blooded killer. A play of such sophistication takes thought and intelligence to be put together in such a way to draw attention. It takes sanity to have a goal and be determined to achieve it. Hamlet later gets into an argument with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern due to suspicion. Hamlet is infuriated at the betrayal he claims “‘sblood do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you (-- removed HTML --) fret me, you cannot play upon me”(III.ii.399-404). His mocking abilities towards his childhood friends about not being able to deceit him prove he is sane. Therefore, Hamlet’s continuous behavior toward his fellow peers continue to prove his