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
Firstly, Hamlet is a play of a man by the name of Hamlet, whose father was murdered by Claudius, his uncle. Claudius murdered the king by pouring poison in his ear to claim the throne for himself. Hamlet is then told by a ghost to murder Claudius for revenge, and he struggles within himself for the length of play whether to do it or not. When Hamlet begins to hesitate it does more damage than good and causes a chain reaction of tragic events, and makes the readers question whether Hamlet is truly sane or not. Claudius’s corruptness begins to show when he uses his authority to order those around him to rid of Hamlet. In the end Hamlet steps up to plate, killing Claudius and putting the fate of Denmark in good
Hamlet is comparable to the way many teens’ families work in their regular everyday life. I honestly think Hamlet is very comparable to teen’s family dynamics.
In Act 2, Scene 2, a theatrical troupe arrives at the castle to perform a speech from Aeneid. Impressed with the player’s performance, Hamlet asks that the player act out a short speech he has written for the next day. Once alone, Hamlet undergoes an introspection that sheds light to his cowardly disposition. The soliloquy is divided into three sections: problem, cause, and resolution. Through his initial self-condemnation for being passive, Hamlet realizes the essence of his internal struggle and devises a plan to take action without having to go against his true nature.
Killing someone for the throne? Is this Envy? Pride? Greed? Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain. Claudius was the first person to start off the greed train, after that it became a tumbleweed of greed centered events. The book Hamlet is focused on Greed. Everyone in the book wants something that someone else has. They are never happy about what they have. Greed is wanting what others have and the book hamlet is centered around just that, murder, sacrifice, and mischief.
Firstly, the conflict between Hamlet and his stepfather, Claudius, shows how their family is flawed causing
Hamlet’s perspective causes him to stall and make excuses as to why he should wait to kill Claudius such as waiting till Claudius has sin, in order to ensure that he wouldn’t go to heaven. His perspective on life through his soliloquy “to be or not to be” allows us as readers to interpret to the development of Hamlet’s character. It reveals his inner thoughts and adds more quality to the play. In this soliloquy, Hamlet is contemplating suicide, but is haunted by the unknowns of the
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.
After King Hamlets passing, Hamlet entered an unknown state of mind that not only feared others for his wellbeing, but also feared himself. Hamlet no longer wanted to live in this life despair and pain. Another illustration of his indecisiveness is during the play when he had a clear chance to avenge his father by killing Claudius but choose not to do so, because he thought that Claudius was repenting for his
The main character of William Shakespeare’s tragedy is actually a confused person that’s stuck between two choices. Some may argue that he feels guilty for his father’s death and so it’s his duty to avenge it. While others may disagree and conclude that he is just a maniac who is both violent and dangerous. Hamlet passes through the lane of hesitancy, where he hesitates to kill King Claudius. As a matter of fact, the main conflict of Hamlet is that he feels both the need to solve the crime and punish the responsible. In addition, he suffers from hesitancy in the correctness of their actions. Throughout the play, Hamlet says, “That I, the son of a dear father murder'd, /Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell.” (2.2.581-587) This
This is what causes Hamlet to compromise his love for Ophelia, as she is stunned and disrespected by his attitude. Similarly, Claudius wanted to gain power, and uses his ambitious attitude to murder his brother, quickly marry his widow, and take the throne himself. Despite their similar nature the two men are driven by different goals. Claudius works to gain and keep power, while Hamlet is working to seek revenge for his father. However, Claudius continues to rule in his power, and dwell in his wronged achievements allowing himself to pursue his
With regards to the loss of his father, Hamlet lost his sense of self-worth/value. He began to question life and whether it was specifically for him as a result of his mother marrying his uncle, Claudius, in a month's time after her husband’s death.Through the visitation of Old King Hamlet’s ghost, Hamlet was able to find purpose in life which, destroy his core issue of an insecure/unstable sense. Likewise, Hamlet had the ability to control his psyche in order for his antic disposition to work; this all lead for his quest to murder Claudius to be successful. After the encounter with the Old King’s ghost, Hamlet says, “The time is out of joint. O cursèd spite,/ That ever I was born to set it right!” (1.5.188-89). As a result of the truth concerning his father’s death, Hamlet feels as though all the gruesome occurrences happened because he only, can fix them. Hamlet receives a new meaning of self-worth. As the play goes on, Claudius realizes that Hamlet has discovered the truth about the Old King and beings to repent. As Claudius repents, Hamlet feels as though it's the best time to kill him until he says: And so ’a goes to Heaven; And so am I revenged. That would be scanned. A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his son, do this same villain send To heaven (3.3.73-78) Essentially, Hamlet wanted to murder Claudius because he was the Old King’s murderer. But, after he realized that Claudius was
The true differentiating character between the effectiveness of Hamlet and Claudius’ leadership is their individual resilience. Claudius is ruthless in his attacks towards Hamlet; he does not become discouraged at any point. Hamlet’s emotions deteriorate leading up to the end of the play, and with it goes his resilience. Claudius’ brutality and wisdom combine to create a tough and determined leader, while Hamlet’s emotions often create barriers for him in his quest for what he wants. Claudius’ cold-hearted techniques are what truly make him a better leader than Hamlet. Though Hamlet may earn love from the people of Denmark, Claudius earns respect. Some may argue it is better to be loved than feared as a leader, but Claudius’ resilience in his quest to murder Hamlet proves
The final thing that motivates Hamlet is his thirst for revenge. For example, when Hamlet sees Fortinbras’s army going to fight over nothing and says to himself “My God! Everything I see shows me how wrong I am and tells me to hurry up and get on with my revenge.” ( Shakespeare 231) In this scene,Hamlet watches Fortinbras’s army march off a boat to go fight over a small piece of Poland that no one really cares about. It is then Hamlet realises that everything he is currently doing is wrong and is telling him to hurry on with his revenge plan. Another example is when we see Claudius praying at a alter and Hamlet behind a pillar debating whether or not to kill Claudius when he says this “So is it really revenge for me if I kill Claudius right when he is confessing his sins in perfect condition for a trip to heaven? No away sword and wait for a better moment to kill him.” (Shakespeare 193) Hamlet does not want Claudius to go to heaven but instead for him to go to hell. But this would have been a good time to kill Claudius because he did not put his thoughts behind his words and as the book says words without thoughts behind them will never make it to Heaven, With clear quotes from the characters, it is clear that depression, anger, and revenge are the three emotions that motivates Hamlet throughout his
Furthermore, Claudius has no emotion towards his family, this is because his mind is only focused on obtaining power. This trait that Claudius displays shows by how he did not initially kill Hamlet. Before Claudius develops a plan to kill Hamlet, he tells Laertes, “O, for two special reasons, which may to you perhaps seem much unsinewed, but yet to me they’re strong. The Queen his mother lives almost by his looks and for myself… She is so conjunctive to my life and soul... The other motive why to a public count I might not go is the great love the general gender bear him” (IV.vii.11-20). In this quote, Claudius talks to Laertes and reveals the only two reasons why he will not kill Hamlet which was because his mother, Gertrude, is his wife who loves her son Hamlet, and that he is admired by all the citizens of Denmark. Also anything Claudius says against Hamlet will end up hurting him and his power, rather than the one he was targeting for. Additionally, when Claudius is planning the murder of Hamlet, he is showing intelligence because he thinks ahead to all outcomes of the fencing match against Laertes and Hamlet. He decides that having another plan would be smart to make sure his plan is fully accomplished. While thinking, Claudius says, “When in your motion you are hot and dry, and that he calls for drink, I’ll have prepared him a chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping, if he by chance escape your venomed stuck, our purpose may hold there” (IV.vii.179-185). In this quote, Claudius is going through actions in his head as to what he believes should happen after the match. Claudius thinks that after the match, he will be dehydrated and ask for a drink. Claudius will then hand Hamlet a chalice containing poison that will kill him, if the original plan does not go well. Additionally, Claudius displays his unthoughtfulness by trying to put his plan of killing Hamlet but he ends up killing his wife Gertrude instead, along with Hamlet and Laertes. Gertrude picks up