Internal Conflicts In Hamlet Essay

602 Words3 Pages

One internal conflict that Hamlet faces within himself is the fact that even though he agrees to the apparition of his deceased father to kill Claudius, however, he is still uneasy at the fact he could’ve encountered a demon to tempt him. He wants further proof which would help him to take action later on. In Hamlet’s third soliloquy he sates “The spirit that I have seen may be a 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 to damn me (Shakespeare 529-534).” This further confirms his doubts about his father’s ghost of being either a true apparition or an apparition of the devil. He uses the play The Killing of Gonzago to help …show more content…

One of the most prominent external conflicts Hamlet faces is man versus man, or Hamlet versus Claudius. Throughout Hamlet, Hamlet’s overall goal was to avenge his father’s death by killing Claudius, his uncle, for not only taking the throne but also for marrying his mother. Even after that throughout the play to cover up Hamlet’s intentions to kill Claudius, he begins to act insane, which in hopes people will dismiss him and suspect nothing. This also leads to Ophelia to become insane because the fact Hamlet acted like he did not love her. In the end Hamlet kills Claudius however, how he kills him is ironic because Claudius killed Hamlet’s father with poison and Claudius gets killed by his own poison. In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the main character Hamlet is faced with both internal and external conflicts that influence him throughout the play. One internal conflict that Hamlet faces within himself is his issue of trust which was exemplified by him being uneasy about his father’s apparition and not sure if it was true or a demon created by the devil himself. Another internal conflict he faces is his tragic flaw, which is his inability to make a solid decision. Hamlet was also faced with his external conflicts; the largest is his ongoing battle with Claudius and his plan to kill him for this