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Living In Action And Interaction In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

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Hamlet's speech in act IV, scene IV shows Shakespeare’s view on the clear difference between living in action and living in inaction. Hamlet delivers his thirty-line soliloquy overlooking Fortinbras' impressive army, which is on its way through Denmark to fight for a plot of Polish land. In the speech Hamlet bemoans himself for his lack of action in his plot of revenge for his father’s murder. He compares men who live in action to Gods who openly defy ideas of mortality. Others like him who perpetrate their empty, dull existences through their inaction he sees as no more than animals. Shakespeare describes inaction and action as the clear difference between life lived as beast and conscious man. Hamlet asks the central question "what is a man/if the chief good and market of his time/be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more" (4.4.33-35). He sees the lives of most men as waking, eating, working, and returning to sleep without any thought of running themselves off the easy path. To him, this kind of person is easily comparable to the life of an unconscious animal, a life of inaction. He mocks this lifestyle as one that turns humans into nothing more than beasts, no more than animals facing inevitable death. Living ambitiously and actively then is presented as the antithesis; as a way of life that casts …show more content…

Hamlet observes that the army’s “spirit with divine ambition puff’d” (4.4.49). They, in their refusal to slow even for something so insignificant, are made equal to God. Simply by living in action they are given the attribute of divinity and made more than beasts. In fighting, these soldiers willingly “go to their graves like beds” (4.4.62). Fortinbras and the men of his army ignore death. They turn the thought of it into nothing. It is ignored by those who live in constant action in what they do. While at the same time to a man of inaction, a beast, it is always the main

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Hamlet feels inadequate and frustrated with his own lack of action. The Player is able to generate and convey passion and emotion in his speech about Hecuba's grief over the death of Priam, yet this situation is not a real one; the Player is just acting. Hamlet, on the other hand, has real cause to feel grief and to act, yet he has done nothing. He asks what would the Player do "Had he the motive and the cue for passion/That I have?" So he questions himself: "Am I a coward?"

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To die- to sleep- No more; and by a sleep to say we end the heartache. ”(ACT III scene i) In this quote we see Hamlet debate his own life and consider whether dying would be better than to

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1) In Hamlet, pouring poison in a person’s ear had both a literal and symbolic significance. The literal meaning is that they are telling lies to people in order to deceive them. They are pouring poison or “poisonous” words into that person’s ear. The symbolic meaning of pouring poison in a person’s ear can be associated with the symbolic meaning of the snake in the story of Adam and Eve where the snake lures Eve in through lies. The characters in Hamlet were misled in the same way because they had poison poured into their ears.

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Fixated on the “divinity that shapes our ends,” Hamlet apologizes to Horatio for his outburst at Ophelia’s funeral (115). Followed by his apology however, Osric enters with news that Laertes wants to duel Hamlet, to which Hamlet accepts the offer. Surprised by his acceptance, Horatio warns Hamlet that he will “lose this wager” due to the state of his mind (119). However, with his recent understanding of death, Hamlet reveals to Horatio how God controls fate and therefore the only thing humans have control of is “the readiness,” stressing the importance of a “let be” attitude rather than trying to control fate (120). Not only does this revelation free Hamlet of the demons in his mind, it answers his question of “to be or not to be” by letting life take its course and accepting that death remains inevitable.

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In Act 4 Scene 4, he says, “while, to my shame, I see the imminent death of twenty thousand men, that, for a fantasy and trick of fame, go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot whereon the numbers cannot try the cause”. He is jealous of Fortinbras’ ability to inspire thousands of men to lay down their lives in battle, while he cannot even motivate himself to exact revenge on his uncle for his father’s murder. He wishes he could find the courage to do what he’s been asked to. He desires the charisma and motivation that Fortinbras has. This feeling motivates Hamlet to take more action and stop procrastinating what he needs to do.

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In Act III of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet’s overall message of his famous speech is whether or not life’s good outweighs the bad. Hamlet begins his famous speech by questioning whether or not dieing would be better than living. Hamlet questions whether or not life is worth the suffering. This is shown when he debates, “Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,/ And, by opposing, end them? To die, to sleep—” (3.1).

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This once again proves how important King Hamlet’s presence is in this play literally being the originating source of everything that comes to pass. “I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records,/ … And thy commandment all alone shall live” (1.5.99-102). The most significant impact king Hamlet’s presence has is on Hamlet.

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In this soliloquy, the talk of death and decay is prominent, with the occasional hint at suicide thrown in with it. However, hidden in this soliloquy is a familiar “call to arms”, as Hamlet struggles with the decision to fight or flee he gives this statement: “Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/ Or to take arms against a sea of troubles” (3. 1. 58-60). Hamlet gives himself the option to fight back against Claudius, and his aggressiveness resembles that of Martin Luther, who gave himself the same option.

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It quickly becomes evident that Hamlet’s ruling passion is to think, not to act, and any pretext that flatters his propensity to do so instantly diverts him from all previous purposes. He is, above

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To sleep perchance to dream” (III.i.72-73). He compares sleep to dying and dreaming to the afterlife. Queen Gertrude tells Hamlet that he has made his father angry “Thou hast thy father much offended” (III.iv.12). Hamlet becomes very upset because King Claudius is not his real father. Hamlet contemplates suicide more “sullied flesh would melt” (I.ii.129).

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I find that is the main idea he is trying to give out in the soliloquy. For Example, “take arms against a sea of troubles” I believe it means you should take your own life away with your bare hands. What I think about Hamlet’s claim is a good example of what people may think of what the value of life

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Second, one’s self-consciousness decides whether or not the character is considered “theatrical”. Hamlet’s continuous deliberation for theatricality is part of his tragedy. He thinks of himself as a character of a play and always feels compelled to do something because of the influence the ghost of his father holds upon him. Conclusively, Hamlet’s self-consciousness implies that internal freedom can be attained when the he can separate his intelligence for intensifying his mindfulness from his own precarious passion for pure

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“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (I.v.90). Hamlet is about a young prince who is mourning the loss of his father. He then tries to seek revenge on his uncle Claudius because he poisoned his father. Throughout the play Hamlet’s behavior starts to change which causes him to become mad. The theory about all this is a Psychological Approach.

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