ipl-logo

Hamlet And His Father Essay

928 Words4 Pages

The relationship between Hamlet and his father is one of the main foundations for the play. It is the one of the biggest driving forces behind Hamlet’s actions and decisions, and thus brings up the theme of parental expectations. The vision of King Hamlet’s ghost shows up very early on in the story and kind of paves the way for the rest of the plot. By telling Hamlet to revenge his death, King Hamlet ends up undeniably changing his son’s fate, and perhaps even led him to his ultimate demise. Hamlet’s dedication to his father is one that he follows through with until the very end, even though it results in his death. This raises the question; to what extent should we fulfill the expectations of our parents? Hamlet’s relationship with his father is one that I personally believe is unhealthy. It is clear that Hamlet looks up to his dad and he is even shown to compare King Hamlet to various Greek Gods; for example in Act 1 Scene 2 when Hamlet says, “So excellent a king, that was, to this, Hyperion to a satyr.”. A son looking up to his father is a natural thing, however Hamlet’s admiration is almost …show more content…

In the play, we are mainly subjected to Hamlet’s side of this relationship, but from what we see it is clear that Hamlet’s mother still loves him despite the resentment he feels towards her. She exhibits sincere love and concern for Hamlet even when he lashes out at her. His distaste can be shown through the quote, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (Act 1, Scene 2). Hamlet does not attempt to fulfill his mother’s expectations of him like he does with his father, as she expects him to accept her remarriage. I can understand this, considering the situation regarding the mother-son relationship between them. After all, you cannot truly follow the expectations of someone whom you do not respect or agree with. Doing so would only contradict your own values and

Show More
Related
1850 Words | 8 Pages

Act 1, Scene 1: “Let us impart what we have seen tonight Unto young Hamlet, for, upon my life, This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him” (Crowther 16). I think this quote really sets up things for the next act, and the rest of the play. The ghost would not talk to them, so they decided to tell Hamlet about the ghost because they felt it would talk to him. This sets up Hamlet to discover the ghost who is his late father, and learn about his murder. Act 1, Scene 2: “Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, That can denote me truly” (Crowther 24).

Read More
635 Words | 3 Pages

With his mother's remarriage to his uncle right after her husband's funeral, Hamlet feels completely alone because the only other person who would feel the same sadness Hamlet feels is his mother. “Adults fear abandonment when there is a risk of losing a loved one on whom they are dependent, whether from divorce, death, illness, or some other cause” (Adamec ). Because of feeling betrayed by his mother for acting so impassive towards her husband's death and caring more about the wedding. Hamlet stats to act foul to her and others because of this. “ Hamlet: Ay, lady, ‘twas my word.

Read More
948 Words | 4 Pages

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Shakespeare uses range of literary techniques such as soliloquies to express Hamlet’s depression and anger. Hamlet’s emotions play a crucial role to achieve his secret ambitions. Events such as King Hamlet’s death, Hamlet’s mother’s expeditious marriage, conflict between Hamlet and Ophelia. Hamlet’s depression and anger is expressed throughout the play but what are the causes. The root of Hamlet’s feelings of depression and anger was his father’s death.

Read More
809 Words | 4 Pages

My answer is yes. In the time that Hamlet lived people were planning revenge on anyone that did them wrong. It was like their religion. And for your father to come to you as a ghost and ask you to do one last favor would you accept no matter what that favor was. Hamlet felt like nobody was supporting him after his father died and with no support comes no advice.

Read More
1771 Words | 8 Pages

Hamlet himself is characteristically indecisive of what role to play as is seen in his "to be or not to be" monologue (3.1). On another note, Hamlet appears to be the only one grieving for his late father. Claudius assumed the throne and carried on as king, Hamlet 's mother remarried and carried on as queen. Hamlet even acknowledges "how/ cheerfully [his] mother looks" (3.2.116-117) so soon after his father 's death. Hamlet 's grief juxtaposed with the lack of grief in the other characters serves to alienate him from the world around him, as briefly mentioned before.

Read More
928 Words | 4 Pages

Hamlet also somewhat gets mad at his mother for marrying another man. If a teens’ mother remarries they will usually be mad at her. Hamlet is very upset that his father’s memory is forgotten so quickly when Gertrude marries Hamlets fathers brother. Hamlet says the marriage happened two months after his father’s death while Ophelia says its four months. Hamlet states that he disapproves of the new king by saying look how

Read More
402 Words | 2 Pages

He is later disgusted by his mother’s quick remarriage to his uncle, Claudius, almost two months after the death of his father who was also his mother’s husband. After Hamlet’s conversation with his father’s ghost in which Hamlet was told that his father was murdered by Claudius, he became filled with even more grief because he has a difficult duty of killing his uncle in order to avenge his father’s death. This is seen in the “to be or not to be” soliloquy.

Read More
796 Words | 4 Pages

The Role of Family in Hamlet’s Success in Hamlet Family plays an important role in one’s success. Hamlet by William Shakespeare investigates this idea. This play, published in 1603, tells the story of a prince -- whose father has recently passed away -- who endures several conflicts. Dysfunction that occurs within a family can implicate a character’s success, as explored in Hamlet. This is exhibited through several conflicts with various characters with different family ties.

Read More
799 Words | 4 Pages

In the play Hamlet, we find that Hamlet meets with his father’s ghost, and about his father murder by the hands of blood related brother, Hamlet takes a decision, to revenge and restore the glory back

Read More
873 Words | 4 Pages

When Hamlet meets with the ghost King Hamlet in the opening scene, he realizes that his father is murdered by Claudius. From Act I scene 5, the ghost King Hamlet is asking Hamlet to seek for revenge, “So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear” (1.5.12). By knowing this, Hamlet starts the revenge for his father and sets the tone of the entire play where death, revenge, murder, and suicide become the symbols of the whole play, and leads to the deaths of almost all the characters, including Claudius, Laertes, Polonius, Ophelia, Queen Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet himself. Also, because of his father’s death and his mother’s quick marriage with Claudius, Hamlet has the idea of committing suicide. From Act I scene 2, "O, that this too sullied flesh would melt,Thaw, and resolve itself to dew" (1.2.133-134).

Read More
906 Words | 4 Pages

King Hamlet’s ghost in Hamlet plays a very significant role in Shakespeare’s play even though he only appears briefly in the very beginning. King Hamlet’s ghost furthers the play in many ways. He affects action by setting the play in motion, he affects the theme of revenge, and he helps develop other characters, specifically his son, Hamlet. He sets the play in motion by causing the wheels to spin inside of Prince Hamlet’s head, the ghost is the whole reason for Hamlet trying to extract revenge upon his murderous Uncle Claudius who is now the King of Denmark. The ghost affects the theme of revenge by causing Young Hamlet to be seized by vengeance, the whole play turns into a story of Prince Hamlet trying to avenge his father’s wrongful death.

Read More
1678 Words | 7 Pages

His ghost influences the actions of Hamlet in various ways throughout the story. The ghost influences the theme of revenge by telling Hamlet to avenge his death and go after his uncle, alters the development of characters, namely Hamlet, by changing who he is as a person. The ghost of King Hamlet is the reason for the events of the play even occurring. He influences the theme of the play by planting the seeds in Hamlet’s mind to make him want to get revenge on his uncle in the first place. Lastly, the ghost influences character development because what he tells Prince Hamlet and, in a roundabout way, makes him do, shapes Young Hamlet into a different person than he was previously.

Read More
713 Words | 3 Pages

The role of Hamlet 's father as a ghost is to not only avenge his own death, but to make sure that Hamlet gets vengeance for claudius murdering him. The nature in which the ghost appears differs between each one of the three appearances. Throughout the play the ghost appears in many different ways, his main objective is to have Hamlet get revenge for his death. The role of the ghost in hamlet can be seen from different points of view, it can be seen as the ghost being hamlets father is trying to make contact with Hamlet to avenge his murder by Claudius.

Read More
1156 Words | 5 Pages

Hamlet states, “ The spirit that I have seen, may be the devil, and the devil hath power, T’ assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps, out of my weakness and my melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me” (II.ii.627-632). The ghost resembles his father and leaves Hamlet confused and concerned. From the quote in the play, Hamlet believes that the ghost could possibly be the devil trying to persuade him into evil to continue his suffering. He also believes the ghost is targeting him because of his suffering; making him more vulnerable to evil. After numerous interactions between Hamlet and the ghost, the ghost reveals that he is Hamlet’s father.

Read More
1052 Words | 5 Pages

When Hamlet loses his father he must find a way to save himself before his depression hurts him. Hamlet looks to confide in the first person that truly understands him: Horatio. In his play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses the relationship between Hamlet and Horatio to represent the fatherly bond Hamlet lost. The characterization of Hamlet and Horatio 's bond through the grief of death, their respect for each other, and how much they care about one another proves how Hamlet replaces his father with Horatio out of desperation for someone to look up to, just as he did his father. Hamlet is immediately drawn to Horatio because of their shared grief over the death of King Hamlet.

Read More

More about Hamlet And His Father Essay

Related Topics

Open Document