Self-Consciousness In Hamlet

Everyone has to deal with loss and Shakespeare understood that within his play Hamlet. Throughout the play Hamlet is dealing with the loss of his father, in fact he gives several soliloquies about it. Perhaps the most famous soliloquy given is the one from Act III, scene i. Hamlet begins with the famous line, “To be, or not to be, that is the question:”(1). Although there are many literary devices used within this excerpt, the most prominent are syntax, diction, and imagery, and Shakespeare creatively uses each to portray Hamlet’s state of mind.

In the beginning of William Shakespeare’s introspective play, Hamlet’s first soliloquy finds him as a more melancholic and more desperate character. He faced conflicts involving himself, the people around him, and his environment–how the events that have occurred in his surroundings negatively influenced his character. In Act 1, after enduring an unpleasant encounter at his mother and Claudius’ court, then being asked by his parents not to resume his studies in Wittenberg and rather stay in Denmark, Hamlet starts to have his suicidal thoughts for the very first time. For Hamlet, existence itself is a burden; he desires for his flesh to ‘melt’ and wishes that God had not made ‘self-slaughter’ a sin. Hamlet, then characterizes the world as “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable.” (1; 5) Claiming that suicidal is the only alternative way out of a painful world but it is however forbidden by his religion. In a quote from the text, “O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn’d longer,—married with mine uncle, My father’s brother; but no more like my father”, (1; 21-24) Hamlet describes his intense disgust at Gertrude’s decision of marrying Claudius, her vastly inferior former brother-in-law. As matter of fact, this is specifically

Man vs. Self is a common theme in Shakespeare’s work, and Hamlet is no exception. The most distinct example of this sophisticated concept is Hamlet himself. When analyzed thoroughly, Hamlet is his greatest obstacle and enemy. The earliest of his internal conflicts is when his mother married his uncle, Claudius, in such a short window of time after his father’s death. He expresses his feeling in his “heart, for I must hold my tongue” (1.2.160). This is an important quote because it is important to understand because it allows to the reader to see that Hamlet cannot speak to anyone about how he feels. As an effect to his decision of not speaking out, this allowed for rage and discomfort to grow inside him which will be one of the main reasons as to why he is legitimately going insane. With these various stressors in his life, it gives more evidence and reasoning to why he often experienced constant signs of depression and suicidal thoughts. The signs of distress he showed throughout the play are highlighted tremendously since he experienced major signs of depression. He

The question of whether or not Hamlet was insane is of a never-ending debate. Was he always crazy? Was he always faking it? Or was he somewhere in between? In this paper I will share three different views and provide my own interpretation of Hamlet’s sanity.

Many characters show signs of intelligence throughout William Shakespeare’s Hamlet as they conjure plans to achieve their goals. However, Hamlet’s intelligence is far superior to that of all the other characters. He is capable of altering the kingdom’s perception of him to his advantage by adjusting his behaviours. The schemes he devises outsmart everyone and leave him to appear innocent. Most importantly, Hamlet miraculously escapes his own death and instead brings an end to those involved in his execution. His detailed plans and keen mental ability make him the most intelligent character in the entirety of the play.

When you say your going to do something, you better do it. Words may indeed lie, but actions always tell the truth. In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet the protagonist Hamlet goes through numerous tragedies that cause him depression. His father dies, and his mother marries his uncle. This stress put on him is what essentially created his tragic flaw. Hamlets tragic flaw is his indecisiveness to make decisions. This trait is demonstrated through the entire play and causes Hamlet to his own demise. When Hamlet has immediate suspicious of his fathers murder and later proof, he delays the murder, which is puzzling because the play is about revenge, and one would expect him to have done it earlier as he had ample amount of opportunities to do so. His indecisiveness has puzzled many. Shakespeare uses the indecisiveness of Hamlet to demonstrate that human life is about acting, not thinking.

To be or not to be morally ambiguous is to have the lack of coherence in making moral life decisions. In Shakespeare's play Hamlet, the main character Hamlet goes through a great transformation. Hamlet seeks revenge toward Claudius who he believes killed his father for the throne. In many of Shakespeare’s play there is always a hero and a villain, but in Hamlet, Hamlet plays a pivotal role because he can be viewed as both the hero and the villain. Hamlet is seen as a morally ambiguous character due to the decisions he makes throughout the plot of the novel that ends up leading him to his demise. In this paper, the audience will understand how Hamlet’s moral ambiguity is significant to Shakespeare’s play as a whole.

William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet around 1600, telling the story of a prince dealing with the death of his father and the quick remarriage of his mother to his uncle. The play uses mental health, both real and faked, as a way to show human behavior. Commonly studied in high schools all over America, this tale has had a profound effect on the way mental health is viewed.

In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet assumes the disguise of a man that has lost his mind. Hamlet uses this madness to masquerade around in such a way as to not draw attention to his true plan, to avenge his murdered father. Many readers debate as to whether Hamlet is truly mad, or whether he is fully aware of his actions and what he is doing. However, both sides of the debate can agree that Hamlet’s apparent madness is a key element of the play, Hamlet.

In the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare reflects the common early modern beliefs and perspectives about madness by using the character development of the protagonist who feigns madness throughout the play. Given Hamlet 's status as a prince, current knowledge of madness during the time period, and the contrast of the different types of madness of other characters in the play, Elizabethan audiences would have found it plausible that Hamlet feigns madness as part of his plot to avenge his father 's death. This new historicist perspective steers the modern reader away from anachronistic psychological interpretations of the play.

Shadow theory is the understanding and analyzation of characteristics that the subject is unaware of: weaknesses, repressed ideas, desires, instincts, and shortcomings. The side of a any given personality which is not consciously displayed in public may have positive or negative qualities, and this is the Shadow self. When the Shadow remains unconscious, it causes problems for the person that holds that Shadow and the people that interact with them. Baker believes, “The Shadow self also embodies many darker aspects of the main character’s personality as well as deeply repressed impulses that aren’t always conspicuous to the reader” (1). When reading Hamlet, readers may not pick up on Hamlet’s Shadow. Hamlet himself is unaware that he behaves instinctively as a killer and doesn’t realize that his actions are morally wrong, and the reader can easily take from this that Hamlet is truly in the right and that the actions he takes are justified due to his problematic relationships. Claudius tells Gertrude, “When sorrows come, they come not in single spies, but in battalions” to remind her that bad things normally happen in quick succession after long periods emotional rest (IV, v, 61-62). In Act 1, the Ghost says, “Murder most foul, as in the best it is. But this most foul, strange, and unnatural” when Hamlet is becoming gung-ho about murdering his father’s killer (who he does not yet know is Claudius). Hamlet is pushing the Ghost toward telling him about the murder so that he feels like he has the right to move forward with his plan of revenge. He does not see that as the beginning of his Shadow and lets his Shadow overcome him in the end. Jungian Psychology was the basis behind the song “Forty Six & 2” by the metal band Tool, and the lyrics can be applied to Hamlet as well. One of the lyrics is

Hamlet is one of the most memorable Shakespearean plays due to the focus on a young prince`s struggle with obeying the ghostly figure that we witness briefly on stage. The ghost is certainly an important figure in shaping the outcome of this revenge tragedy. Thus, we must ponder what is the ghost and how it can be interpreted in a plethora of ways. It is arguably seen as the spirit of Hamlet`s father, a figment of his imagination and being Shakespeare himself. Therefore, this essay will examine these potential answers to the question.

The ghost of Old Hamlet fuels “Hamlet” as gasoline fuels a car. The importance of the death of Old Hamlet appears evident, for it receives recognition in the first scene of “Hamlet.” The Ghost also appears in the first scene, but his actions remain limited throughout the play. Even though he owns a limited role, the Ghost makes a major impact on “Hamlet” through several ways. Furthermore, without the Ghost, no action would take place in the play. By motivating Hamlet’s actions, the Ghost of Old Hamlet affects the development of Hamlet through many ideas.

Hamlet’s hesitant nature is well presented in the play. For one, Hamlet cannot bring forth the strength to end his own life; his indecision of whether or not to commit suicide plagues him for more than half the play.

Shakespeare through the play Hamlet portrays many complex themes through the various characters in the play. Hamlet, the protagonist is in particular a mesh of various complexities and ideas. He is often caught in between his own opposing characteristics and these ultimately affect the course of his actions.