In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the antagonist Hamlet finds himself lost and confused. His father is dead, his mother marries is uncle, and to add even more confusion, his father’s ghost asks him to avenge his death by murdering Hamlet’s uncle. With his life losing meaning, Hamlet must figure out his place in the complex world of Denmark. Also, he must weigh his religious beliefs against his own personal morals. To discover these, Hamlet begins a journey of self understanding.
Gladwell in his piece, David and Goliath Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, suggests people should use their negative situation to their advantage. He discusses this idea exemplifying people with dyslexia who used their unique abilities to their advantage when they struggled with reading and writing. Gladwell’s theory of overcoming difficult situations does not apply to Shakespeare 's character Hamlet because he is unwilling to overcome and improve, after his father’s death, leading to his ultimate downfall. At the beginning of Hamlet, King Hamlet has suspiciously died and his son, Hamlet is overcome by the death of his father, causing him to constantly grieve and not heal.
He is depressed and suicidal as indicated in his infamous quote, “To be, or not to be: that is the question.” (3.1.57). However, while many may choose to carry on after the death of a loved one, Hamlet chose to hold on to his sorrow and pretended to be mad so he can know the truth behind his father’s death. Hamlet’s tragic life is not the cause for his madness. Hamlet drives himself to the brink of insanity
From the fate of a nation to the love for his father, Throughout the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, there are several instances of Hamlet 's on going inner and outer conflicts. Hamlet is the price of a nation who had lost its king and was on the brink of war with the rebellious Norwegians led by the young Fortinbras. Not only was Hamlet and the nation of Denmark confronted with the constant threat of war, but also a murderous King Claudius. Unbeknown to the people of Denmark, their former king Hamlet was assassinated by his brother Claudius. However, the restless spirit of King Hamlet returned to tell of his fate to a single sole, his son Hamlet.
In the same way, Hamlet is faced with a lot of challenges in a series. It all starts with Polonius, who was spying on Hamlet with his mother in the queen’s chamber and Hamlet stabs him. When King Claudius learns about it, he punishes Hamlet by sending him to exile in England. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent by the king to make sure that Hamlet is handed to the King of England for execution, but he learns about it and arranges for their hanging. Then, Ophelia dies out of depression over his father’s death and Hamlet’s behavior, and her brother dies while trying to wrestle with Hamlet.
In frustration, Hamlet then undertakes the task to avenge his father's murderer. Emotions holds the greatest power in Hamlet, the tragedy. The reasons being is that Hamlet takes revenge on his uncle, Ophelia commits suicide as a result of her father's death, and both Laertes and Hamlet show their affection for the deceased
Shakespeare differentiates Hamlet from the rest of the Danish Court through his eloquence of speech and ambiguity in the opening play. Arriving back home from Wittenberg, Hamlet is still in mourn about his father’s death whilst becoming familiar with his mother’s sudden remarriage with Claudius, the present king of Denmark. Hamlet’s initial impression on Claudius is “A little more than kin and less than kind”, utilising the effect of an aside with a riddling comment that plays with his family relationship with Claudius and with a pun on ‘kind’, suggesting that Claudius is both ungenerous and unnatural and reveals Hamlet’s eloquence and extraordinary quickness of mind. The increasing focus on the issue of Hamlet’s mother’s remarriage is developed through his repetitive exclamations of “O God, God” and “Oh most wicked speed” in his soliloquy “O that this too solid flex”. The exclamations reveal that the speech develops a series of disrupted, broken and interrupted thought and feeling that concentrates on his reaction to his mother’s incest, oblivious to the Danish Court.
Death is a scary thing to Hamlet because nothing is really known about it. He says death "puzzles the will" in line 25 showing that if it weren't so uncertain his will would be to die. Because of the same uncertainty, he says "conscience does make cowards of us all" (line 28), reinstating that if he didn't have a conscience that made him scared of the uncertainty he would already be dead.
Hamlet also could’ve resolved the Ophelia situation if he would just talk to her. Instead, Hamlet messed with her and made this worse for both of them. Hamlet was clearly depressed about the death of his father, and his mother marrying his uncle just a few months later. Those factors added along with heartbreak, made Hamlet contemplate
Queen Gertrude hopes that Ophelia will be the cause of Hamlet’s unexpected madness, but this is part of Claudius being able to use all at his expense to spy and keep power. Claudius is also exceptionally good at keeping secrets which allows him to maintain his kingdom. The major secret Claudius keeps is the murder of his brother, King Hamlet, and how Claudius was the one to kill him. To keep this secret Claudius acts upset that his brother was killed and tells the kingdom that it is a great lost but they will grow from this. He also goes to great lengths to keep the murder a secret in which he tries to send Hamlet away after he finds out of Claudius’ actions.
In William Shakespeare 's play The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark there are a variety of different characters with similar motives for their actions. Most of the characters’ motives stem from love, whether it be lust, family ties, romance, loyalty, or devotion. Hamlet, out of devotion for his father, promises to get revenge for his murder when his ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius killed him, and that he wants Hamlet to kill Claudius for revenge. Ophelia’s family ties to her father, Polonius, make her betray the love of Hamlet. Horatio’s loyalty makes him the only character that Hamlet trusts.
To be, or not to be..." is the opening phrase of a soliloquy in the "Nunnery Scene"[1] of William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet. In the speech, a despondent Prince Hamlet contemplates death and suicide. He bemoans the pains and unfairness of life but acknowledges the alternative might be still worse. The speech functions within the play to explain Hamlet 's hesitation to directly and immediately avenge his father 's murder (discovered in Act I) on his uncle, stepfather, and new king Claudius.
The ghost of Hamlet’s father later appears on the battlements of the castle before a group of guards, who then summon Hamlet to speak with the spirit. The Ghost leads Hamlet away from the guards and informs him that he was murdered by his brother Claudius, the new King. The knowledge imparted from the ghost causes Hamlet to go mad and form a plot to kill the King, “which even in Elizabethan times was not allowed by law or religion…”
Hamlet, the play written by William Shakespeare, is the story of a young adult struggling with not only the recent death of his father, but also his mother’s quick marriage to his uncle and all of the other complications that come with the bizarre situation taking place in the throne of Denmark. Hamlet is a very dynamic character as he himself isn’t really sure how he feels about the conflicts of the plot, which eventually lead to the death of much of the royal family. Hamlet copes with his problems by showing others his suicidal contemplations and insane thoughts. The way Hamlet handles his issues is triggered by previous encounterings and affects the eventual outcome of the play.
Throughout the ages, the answer to the question of life’s purpose has eluded and confused many. Shakespeare creates the “To be, or not to be” speech and uses intentional structure to reveal Hamlet’s paradigm on life. After Hamlet is called to vengeance by his father’s ghost, he goes about his “antic disposition” (2.1.181) to begin his plot to murder his uncle, Claudius. He is conflicted by this plan of action because while he feels an obligation to help his father escape purgatory, committing murder is against his religion.