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Irrationalities In Hamlet

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Hamlet’s Irrationalities
In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, irrational behaviors are all over the place. In Dan Ariely’s book Irrational Behaviors, he speaks about how we might think we're making rational or reasonable decisions. Instead were questioning the decisions that were just made.

In Hamlet the first act we found out that King Hamlet was murdered by his brother.
On top of the huge tragedy King Hamlet's brother, Claudius, marries his deceased brothers wife. Act 1 is very intense, and gets the book off on a great start. All throughout the book are people questioning their decisions. In Act 1 a few of the watchmen seen a ghost. They then brought Prince Hamlet into the scene to look. The ghost claims to be King Hamlet’s spirit.
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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).

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The play begins by having Hamlet's uncle marry Hamlet's recently-widowed mother in order to become the new King of Denmark. Hamlet, while mourning the death of this father, is disappointed at his mothers lack of loyalty at the same time. The guards of Denmark's Elsinore castle see a ghost that resembles Hamlet's deceased father and decide to tell Hamlet. In act 1 scene 5 the ghost appears to Hamlet, stating that he is the ghost of his father, and that Hamlet's uncle murdered him. This is a huge turning point in the play as Hamlet swears vengeance for his father.

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A few soldiers on guard report to him that his father’s ghost has been seen, and he sees the ghost when he goes with them the next night. The ghost tells him that his uncle killed him to get his crown and his wife, and makes Hamlet swear to avenge his death. Hamlet decides to pretend to be

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In the beginning of the book, three of the guards could see the ghost and Bernardo exclaimed “In the same figure, like the king that’s dead” (Shakespeare, I, i, 41). The three guards that were there that night could see the dead king, and they are going to tell Hamlet what just happened. If Hamlet was the only one who could see the ghost when his mother could not, why can the guards see the ghost? Is Hamlet pretending to be crazy to make people feel upset for him that his father died? If Hamlet was pretending, he is pretending to make his mother feel upset for marrying his brother not that long after the king died.

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The ghost of Hamlet first appeared while the guards, Marcellus and Bernardo, were on guard late at night. Initially, they were unaware that the ghost was of King Hamlet, despite the similar appearance. From this point on, Hamlet’s mindset and motives would be altered for the remainder of the play. Hamlet stood on guard the following evening in hopes of seeing the ghost himself. Once the ghost appeared, Hamlet’s spiral into insanity began as he said “O, answer me!

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In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses many references to sanity and insanity. Throughout the play, Hamlet goes back and forth between sanity and insanity, whether pretending to be insane just to mess with those he does not like or to save himself from getting in trouble. Hamlet is actually one of the smartest characters in the play, which is why he can pull off acting crazy so well. Shakespeare uses this idea of sanity and insanity to help the plot change and take a different directions. One of the most discussed topics of the Hamlet is whether Hamlet is insane or if he was just pretending the whole time.

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William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet at a time when England was embroiled in debate about the nature of ghosts. The Elizabethan people believed in the existence of spirits. However, there was a discrepancy in how the people believed the spirits interacted and influenced mankind. The conservative held to the old doctrine stating that ghosts were spirits of deceased people and therefore not evil, while the reforming denied the possibility of ghosts in favor of spirits being evil devils. The Elizabethan Era was one marked by extreme violence and superstition which heavily influenced Shakespeare 's writing, including the ghosts he incorporated into his plays.

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The character of Hamlet is expressed as a protagonist. His irritated attitude towards Claudius in scene 2 of act 1 leaves the audience with a clear first impression of his nature. He is deceitful of the king, his uncle Claudius who is now the ruler of Denmark after his brothers “death”, and disgusted of his mother marrying his uncle. Hamlet is an example of someone who has compromised his happiness, in order to avenge his father’s murder.

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In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, there are a series of events that causes Hamlet to act abnormally. He has to deal with his father’s death, mother’s remarriage, and his lover Ophelia. However, it is often argued whether Hamlet’s madness is real or fake. Throughout the tragedy, he is over-exaggerating his madness for his plan of revenge.

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First, King Hamlet’s ghost affects action when he first appears in the play. When he first appears, he doesn’t even speak. When he finally does speak, he only talks to his son, Prince Hamlet. The ghost says, “I am thy father’s spirit… Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.9,25 Hamlet).

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The incognizance displayed by Hamlet surrounding the subject of his father`s ghost is evidence of Shakespeare`s idea. Speaking to the ghost, he presents situations in regards to multiple possibilities, “Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damned,/ Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell,/ Be thy intents wicked, or charitable”(2-4). In his speech Hamlet presents his unawareness on the subject of the ghost’s presence.

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Hamlet is one of the most memorable Shakespearean plays due to the focus on a young prince`s struggle with obeying the ghostly figure that we witness briefly on stage. The ghost is certainly an important figure in shaping the outcome of this revenge tragedy. Thus, we must ponder what is the ghost and how it can be interpreted in a plethora of ways. It is arguably seen as the spirit of Hamlet`s father, a figment of his imagination and being Shakespeare himself. Therefore, this essay will examine these potential answers to the question.

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Hamlet faces many problems in the play. The first problem he faces is King of Denmark which is his father died. In the play, Hamlet suffers from depression. The play Hamlet Is like a love triangle. A big topic in the play is incest, incest is a sexual activity with a close relative or family members.

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Or it can be seen as the ghost being some type of evil spirit trying to destroy hamlet through bad advice. The ghost is simply trying to free its spirit from purgatory and not trying to destroy hamlet, this is evident due to the fact that we know that Claudius killed Hamlet’s father in cold blood before he could pray for his sins. The ghosts role in the play is to tell Hamlet how he truly died. The nature in which the ghost appears in the play changes from appearance to appearance.

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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.

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