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Hamlet Do Or Not To Act Analysis

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To Act Or Not To Act Cognisant of the depression he is in, Hamlet lives out his life as a prince. Hamlet’s father had recently died and suspicions rise in Hamlet after his mother remarries quickly to his uncle. Hamlet’s deceased father's spirit then comes about to him and tell him that his uncle, in fact, was the one who killed the king. Hamlet devises a plan for revenge against his uncle but fails to completely execute the plan. Afterwards, many people are killed, mostly due to Hamlet’s failure to execute or failure to execute correctly. In this Shakespearean play, the action and inaction of characters are seen to be some of the central ideas portrayed in the text. Characters like Hamlet, Laertes and Ophelia are all victims of the consequences …show more content…

Hamlet tells Ophelia, “If thou dost marry, I'll give thee this plague for thy dowry: be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go, and quickly too. Farewell. (3.1.146-152). Ophelia acts in a way of inaction. This demeaning statement made by Hamlet should show Ophelia how he feels of her, yet she chooses to ignore it and not do anything to counter these claims of Hamlet. While many would have acted and would have broken things off with one who would change from love to disgust, Ophelia chose to not act on this and it ultimately caused her …show more content…

An instance, in particular, is during Hamlet’s soliloquy. Hamlet states, “To be or not to be—that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And, by opposing, end them (3.1.64-68)” During this soliloquy, Hamlet struggles with the thought of suicide. After deliberating the thoughts, along with others about his father, uncle, and mother, he ultimately decides to be inactive in any sort of plan in the future. Hamlet’s inaction continues in the play, making things worse him overall. While he does have few instances of action, they also make things worse

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951 Words | 4 Pages

When Hamlet and Ophelia finally meet, as formulated by Polonius and King Claudius, Hamlet directs his anger at Queen Gertrude towards Ophelia. In their exchange, he repeatedly cries out, “Get thee to a nunnery,” demanding that Ophelia go away to repent for her sins; in reality, Ophelia herself has done little sinning, but Hamlet believes all women to be vile, dishonest creatures. Ophelia is clearly hurt by his words, puzzled by his sudden behavior shift. During the performance of The Murder of Gonzago, Hamlet showers Ophelia with affection and sexual innuendos, an action which obviously confuses her, but as she tells Hamlet of the brevity of the play’s prologue, the prince makes the analogy, “As woman’s love” (Act III, Scene ii, line 159). Despite the love he is showing her, Hamlet insists that women love only for a fleeting second.

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928 Words | 4 Pages

For instance, in Act 1, Scene 3 when Laertes and Polonius warn Ophelia not to give up her precious virginity to Hamlet. Ophelia, aware of Hamlet’s manly desires, refrains from sleeping with him to maintain their current relationship and the protection it provides her. Throughout her life, Ophelia remains submissive and obedient to maintain her safety. According to Oscar Firkins, Ophelia is someone who “‘submits rather than succumbs; she obeys with decision; she keeps her heart, if not her will, in her own custody’” (Derrick).

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614 Words | 3 Pages

Hamlet Essay William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is viewed by many as a story of revenge. In Act 4, scene 7 Claudius attempts to convince Laertes that taking revenge on Hamlet for killing his father is the right thing to do. Claudius tries to connect with Laertes by playing on his emotions. Specifically, he targets his grief and love for his father and his new-found hatred for Hamlet. Claudius’ speech in Act 4, Scene 7 effectively targets Laertes through an emotional appeal.

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640 Words | 3 Pages

A prominent theme is Shakespeare’s Hamlet is the difficulty and uncertainty of action. The play contains many examples of action and contrasts hasty, rash action with planned, conscious action. Claudius’ murder of his brother exemplifies a rash action, because although he attained immediate gratification, he was plagued by guilt and eventually murdered as well. Additionally, Laertes’ desire for quick revenge backfired and contributed to the death of the royal family. While Hamlet’s delay of action may paint him as a more conscientious plotter, he is also guilty of hasty action such as the murder of Polonius.

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402 Words | 2 Pages

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

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277 Words | 2 Pages

For the duration of the play, Ophelia was portrayed as a naïve and submissive woman. Her passivity and powerlessness reinforce the voicelessness of women during the Elizabethan era. For example, “I shall obey, my lord” (I.iii.134) shows that Ophelia concedes to her father’s will, even though she believes Hamlet’s love is genuine. She is willing and expected to obey her father despite the fact that she still loves Hamlet, which emphasizes her character’s submissive nature. Furthermore, in Act I Laertes warns Ophelia that it would be shameful of her to love Hamlet, and she responds with “I shall the effect of this good lesson keep as a watchman to my heart” (I.iii.45).

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360 Words | 2 Pages

Hamlet: The Original Rebellious Teenager “Melancholy accounts for Hamlet’s inaction. Its immediate cause is simply that his habitual feeling is one of disgust at life and everything in it—himself included. Such a state of feeling is inevitably adverse to any kind of decided action.” - A.C. Bradley

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1251 Words | 6 Pages

To a nunnery, go.” (3,1, 140-147). Hamlet uses the analogy of cosmetics, and how women put makeup on to hide their true natural beauty, similarly women also do the same with their attitudes to hide who they truly are, he considers woman in a very lowly manner. This is all due to Hamlet not having the courage to confront his mother, therefore he stays passive and shows his aggression onto Ophelia. Hamlet’s entire scene in Act 3 scene 1 reflect his unfaithfulness in woman.

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882 Words | 4 Pages

Ophelia’ love toward Hamlet is so deep that even after he says sentences such as “Get thee to a nunnery, farewell. Or if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go, and quickly too.” (3.1 148-152) to insults her, she could still say “Heavenly powers, restore him” (3.1 153) and keep loving him. For Hamlet, Ophelia is just a toy that he would love for a while but also could throw away as long as he does not like it anymore.

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647 Words | 3 Pages

To Act or Not to Act In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Shakespeare utilizes soliloquies to express Hamlet’s strong emotions. Feeling exhausted and depressed after his father’s sudden death and his mother’s second marriage to Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, Hamlet initially resents his uncle. Hamlet further demonstrates his emotional instability after discovering his uncle’s merciless actions against his father. While Hamlet feels responsible for avenging his father’s death, he appears incapable, as he not only searches for distractions, but also derives excuses to delay his violent actions.

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457 Words | 2 Pages

In Eleven Sandra tells us about Rachel‘s eleventh birthday. The day did not go well. She was put in situations that kept causing all of her other ages to return to her. Sandra Cisneros uses repetition, imagery, and Diction to describe who Rachel is. By doing this readers discover a lot about Rachel’s characteristics.

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937 Words | 4 Pages

Hamlet once again fails to understand that Ophelia much like himself is only trying to stay loyal to her father, much like what he is doing himself. In addition, Hamlet blames woman for giving birth to such evil and deceiving men like Claudius and himself. When he was talking to Ophelia he told her "Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better

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1313 Words | 6 Pages

Over the course of Hamlet, many of the main characters engage in role play as a mechanism to achieve their own interests. Prince Hamlet is one of these characters, and his act proves to be one of the most important aspects of the play. Throughout the play, role-play (especially Hamlet’s) significantly affects the plot, and ultimately strains the relationships between several characters. Hamlet is among one of the most important characters to engage in role play. In act one, scene 5, shortly after being told that Claudius killed his father, Hamlet tells Horatio and Marcellus that he plans to feign madness, and he says, “As I, perchance, hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition

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1056 Words | 5 Pages

Hamlet does not value Ophelia 's feelings he belittles her. In Hamlets defense this is the way he was brought up to treat women, during that time this was a common way to treat a women. Even though in today 's society it is not at all ok to treat women with such disrespect. He also likes for everything to go as planned and this may result in why he can not have a stable relationship with a woman. This also causes him to have many stumbling blocks in his life that causes some emotional pain

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974 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the course of the play, Shakespeare displays Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship as a typical Shakespearean love story. A man and a woman fall in love, but life obstacles prevent them from marrying each other. For example, Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, and father, Polonius, forbid her from seeing Hamlet because Hamlet is a prince and is ought to marry a princess; Laertes describes Hamlet’s love to Ophelia as, “Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, The perfume and suppliance of a minute-No more” (1. 3. 8-10).

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