Hamlet's Perception Of Love Is Still Relevant Today

To Be, or Something In Hamlet, Shakespeare writes of a young man who seeks revenge for his fathers murder. Throughout the play, Hamlet searches within himself for philosophies regarding love, revenge, and death. While the play was written decades ago, Hamlet’s theories are still relevant today.

Throughout Shakespeare's play, Hamlet's complex perception of love evolves in a manner that reflects universal and timeless philosophies that resonate with every human being. Before the traumatic event of his father’s death, Polonius gives us a snapshot of how Hamlet perceives love by reading a note to Ophelia aloud. “Doubt thou the stars are fire; /Doubt that the sun doth move; /Doubt truth to be a liar; /But never doubt I love.”(2.2 116-119) Shakespeare

His experience of passionate, idealistic young love then meets a darker side, after Hamlet witnesses his mother's betrayal to his father, who has died. Despite his love for his mother, Hamlet harbors feelings of resentment towards her for marrying Claudius, his father's brother. This internal struggle is depicted in his soliloquy, where he expresses his disgust with his mother's actions: "She married. O, most wicked speed, to post/With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not, nor it cannot come to good./But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue" (1.1 156-159) In modern day, this same idea can be portrayed when a partner in a former relationship moves on “too fast.” Whether it be a child affected by the separation, or a partner that has been left behind, the debate of the existence of so-called eternal love still lives on. No one truly knows the right time to venture on to new relationships, and no matter the time it takes, suffering is inevitable. Following the significant event of his mother’s betrayal, he no longer sees love in an idealistic way and it

It’s what drives the story, but it also burdens Hamlet’s mind. He likes to think that revenge is simple and easy, as he says “Haste me to know it, that I with wings as swift /As meditation or the thoughts of love /May sweep to my revenge.” (1.5. 30-32) This hasty fantasization happens throughout humanity and shows how revenge is often a primary course of action. However as Hamlet reaches the time to carry out his revenge for his dear father, his overthinking takes over and explains his reasoning behind his actions, before he does it. When he declares to himself, “Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; /And now I’ll do ‘t. And so he goes to heaven; /And so am I revenged. That would be scann’d: /A villain kills my father; and for that,/I, his sole son, do this same villain send /To heaven.” (3.3 73-79) he explains thoroughly how revenge and violence can be excused. While one could humanize Claudius and view him as a new father, instead Hamlet calls him a villain, perfectly encapsulating what this revenge means to Hamlet. A somewhat juvenile storybook justice. Because of his distractedness and overthinking, he misses his chance to act on his revenge. He exclaims, “Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,/ That I, the son of a dear father murdered,/Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, /Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words/ And fall a-cursing like a very drab” (2.2. 591-594) Despite the humor of