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. The quote, "We admire Hamlet as much for his weaknesses as for his strengths", aptly describes my feelings towards this troubled young prince. It is simply impossible to characterise Hamlet as good or bad, strong or weak. It is my aim to show the depth of Hamlet 's personality and to explain to the best of my ability the traits which make him who he is. Hamlet is the neither the hero nor the villain of his story- he is simply a victim, a young man slowly losing his grip on sanity over the course of the play. Many of Hamlet 's traits may appear to be weaknesses but they are, at second glance, strengths which aid him in his attempt to do away with Claudius. His refusal to murder the "incestuous, murderous, damned Dane" as he prays in Act 3, Scene 3 was a wise decision. If the prince had indeed killed the king he would have been immediately
Hamlet is still a hero, even though he often overthinking about a situation and lose his chances. Being driven and guided by his father ghost, he made the best out of the situation that he did not prepared for, and had his goal was accomplished. His path was uneasy. So what he made a few mistake, it just shows that after all, he is still a human
Firstly, Hamlet is a sane person. The reason for this is because he is a person who thinks things threw. In the beginning he has the choice to revenge his father so, that means that he will have to kill
Based on several events that occurred throughout the play, we can see that the King’s personality illuminated the actions of Hamlet. It seems that the King’s personality provoked Hamlet to make the decisions he did. For instance, the reason Hamlet killed Claudius was because Claudius had a violent personality which leads to him killing King Hamlet. Also, his self centered attitude leads him to embarking in the incestuous relationship he had with Gertrude.
He was not the type of the aggressive and conquering hero, who made war for the sake of war and conquest. He was, however, the dramatist 's ideal king, who loved peace, and would almost never make war, but who would not hesitate to go to war in defence of his right and of his nation. He would not wage an aggressive war, but was valiant enough to defend his kingdom when attacked. This is the only kind of hero Shakespeare recognizes, and for this kind he had the most profound admiration. Few of the critics have appreciated this character of the elder Hamlet, or have seen in the account any significance for the
At the beginning of the play Hamlet seems to be of sound mind he is mourning the loss of his father and is obviously disappointed at his mother for marrying her brother-in-law and the way she is handling the death of her husband. At this point the way Hamlet feels is reasonable, Hamlet depicts himself as being sincere. As the scene advances it is shown that Hamlet sees himself as powerless " My father's brother, but no more like my father/ than I to Hercules" (1.2.153) The uncertainties Hamlet has regarding his courage are made especially apparent in the way he acts as the play continues.
“To be, or not to be- that is the question.” These words are easily identifiable, although not most easily understood, to anyone who has read or knows of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. However, what Hamlet is trying “to be or not to be,” who Hamlet is or perceives himself to be, has remained a mystery ever since William Shakespeare penned Hamlet in 1603. Critics such as Johann Wolfgang van Goethe from as early as the 18th century have debated Hamlet’s emotional instability, while later critics use earlier ideas such as Goethe’s to build their own assumptions of Hamlet’s situation. Critics such as T.S. Eliot, Robert Palfrey Utter, and George Anastaplo state that to understand Hamlet’s emotions, one must first eliminate their own bias before looking
Perhaps those who disagree with the notion that Hamlet would fail as a king would want more evidence as to why. If that is the case, then there is no shortage of Hamlet showing weakness other than contemplating suicide. Hamlet gets his chance to kill Claudius in Scene 3 of Act 3, but decides to pass up the opportunity because Claudius was praying at the time. Later on in Scene 4 of Act 4, Hamlet criticizes himself for failing to get revenge on Claudius voicing “And spur my dull revenge! What is a man, / If his chief good and market of his time /
Only confiding in his trusted friend he tries to help him. Horatio being the only person Hamlet trust shows he actually is misjudged by his actions. Even after he dies he tells Horatio not to die with him even though he wants to just so he can tell his legacy. Also as Horatio is watching Hamlet talk to a skull as if this person was still alive he never questions him.
Like many things, Hamlet is intelligent and honorable, but his indecisiveness is the cause of his tragic downfall. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare portrays that Hamlet is very incapable of finishing the task at hand. Throughout the drama Hamlet faces many trials and tribulations due to his late father Hamlet, who was murderously killed by Claudius. His inability to kill Claudius and himself is one grand flaw of an epic hero. After King Hamlets passing, Hamlet entered an unknown state of mind that not only feared others for his wellbeing, but also feared himself.
Analyzing The Deceptions in The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare the reader is brought into a story of a heartbroken son and a kingdom that is filled with deceit every which way. Focusing primarily on the deceit brought about by Prince Hamlet and the reasoning behind using so many lies and plots towards those around him. Hamlet can be described as having untrust for people and to even lead to his actions being seen as “madness” to others. For the people closest to him question whether his emotions and his motives for doing certain things are all just an act or if he truly has lost it after his father’s death.
In a way there was never another route for Hamlet to take but villainy. This is because a heroic character would have challenged Claudius to a duel and quickly avenged his father’s death. Hamlet does not do this, instead he feigns madness with the intent of getting Claudius to admit his guilt. This seems really pointless.
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
When can people see as a hero and as a villain based on their actions? Sometimes when a person is looking become a hero, it can lead them to be perceived as a villain to because other people’s ideas of heroic acts aren’t the same as others. The titular character from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet often thought he was involved in a heroic plot but came across as a villain, such as the murder of Polonius, the murders of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, when involuntarily involved in Laertes’s murder, and when Hamlet decides not to kill Claudius while he is praying. When Hamlet, prince of Denmark, confronted his mother, Queen Gertrude of Denmark about her involvement with Claudius who is the new King of Denmark after killing Hamlet’s father King
Through the entirety of the play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, the characters were overcome with the need for revenge as the outcome of many deaths. Therefore, no one was happy through “Hamlet” and it resulted in a tragedy. The character Hamlet played a big role in turning towards revenge and never would classify himself as being happy. Hamlet displays positive and negative behavior throughout the play. Hamlet exhibits strengths and weaknesses as well, although his weaknesses of over-thinking, bitterness, and his inability to accept the death of his father overshadow his strengths.
I am writing this essay to deal with the question how and why is Hamlet regarded as Shakespeare’s most compelling tragic hero. First of all, I am going to define a tragic hero. Afterwards, I would like to outline my opinion towards this question. According to Aristotle a hero of a tragedy must awake in the audience a feeling of pity or fear.