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Ophelia's Impulsiveness In Hamlet

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Hamlet’s impulsiveness also characterizes him as feminine, as the tendency to act out of emotion rather than rational thought is traditionally considered feminine. Although Hamlet thinks often, he does not often apply this thought to his actions and instead, when he does act, he does so impulsively. Hamlet’s impulsiveness “which induces him to jump into Ophelia’s open grave with Laertes, which leads him to slay Polonius the instant that he see the hangings stir, and which enables him at last to take his full revenge upon the spur of the moment and without premeditation” exemplifies his femininity in that he does all of these things without thinking before and instead acts completely on his emotions (Vining 54). In jumping into Ophelia’s grave, Hamlet acts …show more content…

Although Hamlet plans to kill the king the entire play, he ultimately does so in an impulsive manner, acting purely on emotion rather than acting out a planned course of action. In this moment, Hamlet displays his feminine characteristics because women are characterized by impulsive behavior in the play and the inclination to act on emotion. In killing Polonius, Hamlet exemplifies his impulsiveness perfectly, as his murder was not premeditated, rather abrupt and based on emotion. Hamlet does not rationally think through killing Polonius, as the ideal Shakespearian man would, he simply acts out of his rage and does what first comes to mind—killing the intruder. Hamlet’s inclination towards acting out of emotion and without thought in all of these instances of impulsive action characterizes him as feminine, as women are traditionally considered creatures “of feeling” rather than “thinking” (Guo 91). Hamlet’s femininity is increasingly perceived as madness by the men around him due to the correlation between madness and femininity perceived throughout history. Madness is traditionally thought of as an “exclusively female complaint, as the

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In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Shakespeare uses range of literary techniques such as soliloquies to express Hamlet’s depression and anger. Hamlet’s emotions play a crucial role to achieve his secret ambitions. Events such as King Hamlet’s death, Hamlet’s mother’s expeditious marriage, conflict between Hamlet and Ophelia. Hamlet’s depression and anger is expressed throughout the play but what are the causes. The root of Hamlet’s feelings of depression and anger was his father’s death.

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One definition of madness is “mental delusion of the eccentric behavior arising from it.” However, as Emily Dickinson once wrote, “Much madness is divinest Sense/ To a discerning Eye.” In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Prince Hamlet, shows apparent madness which proves to serve an important role throughout the story. This erratic behavior consists of his seemingly senseless dialogues, his loss of care for Ophelia, and his increasingly aggressive nature. Such behavior often proves justified by the play’s audience due to its convincing nature despite Hamlet’s predisposition towards insanity.

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He is more than willing to obey and respect his mother. Then in the company of Ophelia he denounces his love for her reassuring her he does not love her. Lastly, he comments on women’s inability to remain faithful by comparing a short prologue to their love. Despite these unsavory incidents, Hamlet contains a genuine and caring nature. Shakespeare provides enlightenment on his true nature through his soliloquies and asides because it is only

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Another way that changes how we behave is the things that we hear from others. When we are presented with some shocking news, like a loved one has passed away, our emotions seem to shift and we start behaving differently. For instance, Hamlet’s behavior changes when he finds out that Ophelia has died. In Shakespeare’s play, we are presented a scene where Hamlet, still known as a lunatic, stays hidden in a cemetery to eavesdrop and finds out that Ophelia is dead. As the priests brings forth a coffin to be buried, Laertes jumps into his sister’s grave and ask to bury him with her.

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Anger is experienced by almost all characters in Hamlet on and off throughout the play, but in the finale, more anger and hate is displayed there than in all the collective of the Tragedy of Hamlet acts combined. Dan Ariely continues to deduce that, the concept of being impassioned can severely affect our decisions in the heat of the moment and what we deem as acceptable (133). The majority of anger is displayed primarily by Hamlet himself once he is given his chance to display his anger in its entirety, which culminates with him killing Laertes and Claudius in Hamlet’s immense state of anger. Dan Ariely makes an adequate representation of how self-control and immediate gratification for our actions play a big part in how individuals can be so irrational (157). Hamlet’s truly embodies the concept of the appeal of immediate gratification in that during the final scene of fighting, he commits actions that he may not have had he not been so immensely affected by his emotions, particularly the sting of anger.

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Hamlet’s dislike of women is shown through his behavior and language toward his mother, Ophelia, and women in general. In the play it is very obvious that he is heartless towards the opposite sex by the actions that he takes and the words that he speaks. During the time that this play was written women were viewed as insignificant human beings. Hamlet found himself having feelings for a woman and he does not know how to portray these feelings because he holds his mother responsible for his inability to love Ophelia.

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Due to himself being too idealistic and restrained, he does not take decisive actions even after using the planned play to test the Claudius's conscience that could possibly expose himself and left himself in unfavorable circumstances. Hamlet’s inability to act is caused by his overanalysis of the situations that further render him from not carrying out actions in response. If Hamlet is not indecisive, he would not be uncertain about the evidence regarding to his uncle’s crime, he would not be delaying his revenge, he would not be having emotional breakdowns and become a tragic figure. Hamlet’s personality ‘borns’ and develops under his royal position and the growing

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