The Ultimate Sacrifice Everyday 1,429,995 US soldiers risk their lives for the country they love. They sacrifice everything to protect those who need it. In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the main character does the same thing. Hamlet gives up his reputation, and life, by pretending to be insane for his father whom Hamlet loves and cares about deeply. Hamlet is not crazy because he can control his thoughts and actions, only does what he believes to be the right and just, and more intelligent than everyone around him. To some, Hamlet may seem unappreciable and irrational, but during further examination one sees that his attitude is only for attention. Not only does Hamlet control when he does or does not talk in prose, he also announces that he …show more content…
The plot and majority of the play shows us an intimate side of Hamlet where he is planning the murder of Claudius. “Hamlet did not lose his mind, but found it, in the shock of catastrophic revelation, and it the excitement --almost the exhilaration-- of that discovery, he forgot a crime and ignored a duty” (Firkins 394). Hamlet’s soliloquies become more rational as the play continues. He starts the first one wanting to commit suicide, but during the seventh, he decides against it. The discovery of his father’s murderer turns Hamlets from a depressed young man into a vengeful but careful creature. Hamlet and his two friends are all college educated but Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are unable to keep up with Hamlets illgenigent remarks. This shows that his understanding goes beyond the average person’s. “Moreover, with all this analytical and creative power, Hamlets intelligence is also practical. In the efficient conduct of affairs nobody in the play can hold a candle to him. He easily outwits them all” (Mayo 350). Hamlet often shows off his intricate speaking abilities, but it does not impress others due to their lack of comprehension. He uses his superior brain to insult others, amuse, and express himself. Due to Hamlet's mental abilities, he often feels isolated, so his father's death affected him even more harshly. Hamlet is mentally stable because he is aware of everything he is doing, believes in his actions, and
In viewing these multiple performances of Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy, arguably one of Shakespeare’s most famous and well-regarded pieces of work, we are more quickly permitted to think or feel differently towards the exact nature of Hamlet’s ambiguous state of mind, whether feigned or real. These differences, however great or small they may be, affect our own greater understanding of Hamlet’s character arc, in addition to his overall effectiveness as the protagonist. David Tennant gives what many would be all too quick to call the definitive performance of this timeliness monologue, notably characterized by his comparatively quieter manner of speech. Rather than lashing out in overblown bitterness or exaggerated despair, Tennant’s
Although the audience can relate to the general scenarios Hamlet undergoes, most of his experiences are quite incomprehensible to the average person. Thus, proposing these questions naturally leads the audience to put themselves in Hamlet’s shoes, evaluating the “whips and scorns” he has endured, which in turn generates empathy. Interestingly enough, empathy and projection are opposite ideas (Abeles); as Hamlet attempts to redirect the focus off of himself, the audience does the exact opposite by evaluating Hamlet’s life from his cynical yet unique perspective. At the same time, the audience can still identify with Hamlet’s pain stemming from the loss of his father and disconnect with his lover, among other
The reader completes their examination of the Hamlet tragedy, and we agree that Hamlet is a significant text, as it encourages us to think again about our values and
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.
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.
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
Hamlet’s intelligence is shown when he does not blindly listen to what the ghost said “Hamlet is aware of the unreliability of otherworldly apparitions and consequently reluctant to heed the ghost’s injunction to perform an action that to him seems objectively evil.” [Foster 2], and instead makes his own plan to see if Claudius is truly guilty of murder because. Hamlet plans to “...have these players / Play something like the murder of my father / Before mine uncle. I’ll observe his looks” [Shakespeare II, ii, 596-598], and see how his uncle reacts to the play , which is like the murder of King Hamlet because “Hamlet believes that he must have greater certitude of Claudius’s guilt if he is to take action.” [Foster 2] he does not rush into anything without analyzing the facts that he has, and checking to see if they are true.
He has a doubt about what the ghost told him and instead of acting instantly to ravage his father’s murder, he starts to figure out about whether Claudius was guilty or not, as he says “I’ll have grounds more relative than this” (2.2.565) which shows that he is looking for enough evidence to kill Claudius. But Hamlet is a great
In the final scene of Hamlet, Hamlet says “Being thus be-netted round with villainies, -- Ere I could make a prologue to my brains, they had begun the play” (Shakespeare 131). Hamlet ironically thinks to himself as a character in a play because he is so melodramatically self-conscious. By adding this sense of paradoxical exposure, Shakespeare shows his effort to foreground the fact that the audience is watching a play within the play. Since Hamlet is such a rich character, Shakespeare’s work shows how he has something within him goes beyond what a play is capable of representing.
Although it may seem cowardly, Hamlet's decision to not kill King Claudius is just another act that conveys that he is indeed a patient strategist and thinker, revealing that those who do not let their emotions overpower their logic ultimately make the wisest decisions. Throughout the play, Hamlet continuously proves himself to be a curious and patient character. After discovering the truth about his father’s murder, instead of immediate action, Hamlet decides to strategically deceive the rest of the characters by convincing them that he is a madman, as a way of masking his true intentions of killing Claudius. In such a way, he will be able to cunningly kill the man he seeks revenge on while not serving as many consequences in the aftermath.
Hamlet is probably one of the most recognizable literary work, not only in the Western world, but in the entire world as well. Incidents where loyalty was expected, betrayal reigned as was the case with Claudius killing his brother for the throne; Gertrude marrying Claudius after the murder of her husband the king; loyal subjects seeking the death of the prince. Hamlet’s quest to make things right and re-establish the moral and practical balance that has been knocked out of working condition concerning the court and, by extension, the nation, puts him in an awkward position. For the Renaissance that Hamlet lives in is not as structurally sound and fluent as the Middle Ages his predecessor courtly forefathers knew. Through treachery and betrayal,
When he learns Claudius is responsible for the death of his father, he intends to reveal this newfound information to not only Gertrude, but the rest of the characters. He is smart enough to know that she will not believe him based solely on his encounter with the ghost, and must create a trap where Claudius will reveal his guilt on his own. When the players arrive at the castle, he alters their script to mimic the king’s murder and “catch the conscience of the king” (II.ii.567). During the performance, Claudius shows signs of guilt and worry, making Hamlet’s plan a success and proving his
Hamlet is William Shakespeare 's renowned tale of mystery, intrigue, and murder, centered on a young misguided prince who can only trust himself. Some may say that the actions of Prince Hamlet throughout the play are weak and fearful, displaying a tendency to procrastinate and showing an apathetic nature towards his family and peers. Others spin a tale of a noble young scholar, driven mad by the cold-blooded murder of his father by his uncle. In truth, I believe Hamlet is neither of these things. Hamlet is a sort of amalgamation of the two, a bundle of contradictions thrown together into one conflicting but very human mess of a character.
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.
Revenge is the desire to inflict harm on one who has wronged someone else. In many cases, revenge is motivated by a desire to make a person receive payback for their wrongdoings. A person can either forget and carry on with their life or allow sin to fill themselves with anger and a thirst for revenge. In the tragedy, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet has a strong suspicion that his father’s death was a murder by his uncle, Claudius because a ghost had told him so. Hamlet’s depression transitions into an intense desire to avenge his great father, Hamlet becomes consumed with the past as everyone around him moves on into the future.