Relationships In Hamlet Research Paper

667 Words3 Pages

Intense human relationships are a fundamental experience in life, which is a concept that is broadly explored in the Shakespearean tragedy, Hamlet. In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, we follow the tragic story of Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, who is seeking revenge for his father’s treacherous murder committed by his deceiving uncle Claudius. Although there are many intense relationships throughout the development of Hamlet, arguably Hamlet’s relations with other characters are the focus of the plot. In Hamlet, there are three main relationships where Hamlet is the consistent second party, these relations include Gertrude, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Horatio. To begin with, despite the terrible events that have shaken the relationship …show more content…

We learn that the late King Hamlet has died, and thus he explains his recent marriage to Gertrude. She is the Queen of Denmark, the widow of the late King Hamlet and the mother of Prince Hamlet. Claudius and Gertrude wish to know why Hamlet continues to wear his black grieving garments, which results in Gertrude urging him to take them off but Hamlet replies bitterly and does not obey. Claudius then announces that he does not want Hamlet to return to school, as Hamlet has asked to do so. Gertrude professes her desire for Hamlet to remain close to her and so Hamlet obeys his mother's wishes with resentment. In his upcoming soliloquy, Hamlet, describes his desires to die and wish that God had not made suicide a sin. He remembers how much his mother and father seemed deeply in love and is angry that not even two months after his father's death, his mother has married someone whom he believes is inferior to his father. “Let me not think on’t; frailty, thy name is woman!-” (Hamlet, Act I, Scene ii, line 146.) From this quote, we can deduce that this intense relation consumes Hamlet with hatred for his mother. Hamlet believes that she is tainting his father’s memory by not mourning his death and rejoicing in her new found marriage. Her decision to marry Claudius only two months after her late husband’s death causes Hamlet to change his views upon love itself. By “frailty” Hamlet does not mean that