Hamlet Accepting Life In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the character of the prince is developed by the unfortunate murder of his father and the events that follow. Hamlet’s witty character is progressively changing, showing his anger, intelligence, and love that develops the meaning of the work. The purpose of Hamlet is to demonstrate “the development of an acceptance of life despite the existence of human evil” (Boyce 232). Hamlet’s first line in the play introduces the reader to his sarcastic wit in an aside Hamlet makes after Claudius calls him his son, stating “A little more than kin, and less than kind.” (Ham. 1.2. 65). Hamlet’s remark indicates his negative thoughts about Claudius now being his father by marriage. By describing …show more content…
After the encounter with the ghost, Hamlet displays his intelligence to the reader by formulating a plan to confirm the claim made by the ghost after a group of players arrive in the story. Hamlet, seeing an opportunity to “defeat the forces arrayed against him” (Sobran 86) decides he will have the men act out a scene similar to the one described by the ghost and watch for a reaction out of Claudius. Naturally, Hamlet calls the play “The Mouse-trap” when asked by Claudius during the performance, suggesting that “we that have free souls, it touches us not: let the galled jade winch, our withers are unwrung.” (Ham. 3.2. 228-30). In other words, he is saying that if we are innocent, there is no reason to watch the play and be bothered by it. After the player serving as King Hamlet is murdered, Claudius goes ballistic, yelling for the lights to be turned on and storming out of the room. Hamlet interprets Claudius’s behavior as proof of his guilt and concludes that the claim made by the ghost was correct, and decides he will avenge his father by killing Claudius. As for this time in the play, Hamlet decides that although his father was murdered, he can acquire vengeance by killing the murderer