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The Pessimistic Outlook On Love In Hamlet

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The Pessimistic Outlook on Love in Hamlet William Shakespeare's play, "Hamlet," explores a range of complex themes, one of which is the concept of love. However, the play consistently depicts love in a pessimistic light. Hamlet's cynical view of love can be attributed to factors related to the themes of betrayal, deception, and power struggles. This analysis will examine these factors and demonstrate how they contribute to Hamlet's overall negativity regarding love. The theme of betrayal saturates the play, with Hamlet feeling betrayed by practically everyone in his circle. His mother, Queen Gertrude, hastily marries his uncle Claudius shortly after the demise of his father, King Hamlet. This rash union appears to undermine the depth of her affection for Hamlet's father, and Hamlet interprets it as an act of treachery. He passionately exclaims, "Frailty, thy name is woman!" (Act 1, Scene 2), reflecting his disillusionment with the genuineness of his mother's love. The betrayal persists as Hamlet uncovers the fact that his closest companions, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, are secretively spying on …show more content…

Throughout the play, characters manipulate one another, concealing their true intentions and emotions. This deception becomes evident when Hamlet fakes madness to unearth the truth behind his father's demise. This act of pretense serves as a symbol of the extensive absence of honesty and sincerity in the relationships within the play. Ophelia, Hamlet's object of affection, becomes entangled in her father Polonius's plot to spy on Hamlet. Ophelia's willingness to partake in this deceit adds to Hamlet's disillusionment with love and intensifies his belief that genuine affection is elusive. In the "Get thee to a nunnery" scene (Act 3, Scene 1), when he confronts her, he articulates his conviction that women are inherently deceitful, reinforcing his cynical

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150-153), whom he holds accountable for his father's murder. Claudius's presence in their lives serves as a constant reminder of this betrayal, escalating Hamlet's feelings of hostility toward his mother. Hamlet's resentment towards Gertrude for marrying Claudius fuels his desire for vengeance and causes him to act impulsively and recklessly, further pushing him towards his inevitable destruction. Ultimately, Hamlet's inability to forgive his mother for marrying Claudius and let go of his hostility, contributes to his tragic fate leading

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Hamlet’s mass deception of madness has now caused his relationship to end and, as a result, Ophelia becomes enraged and, because of Hamlet, takes her own life believing she can no longer trust. From Hamlet's quote, it is clear his dishonesty about his madness and lack of affection towards Ophelia has resulted in the destruction of his relationship as well as the demise of Ophelia. Later in the play, Hamlet again displays his deceitfulness by stating, “He should those bearers put to sudden death, Not shriving time allowed” (5.2. 50-51). Hamlet has stated this after finding out his uncle Claudius has ordered two of his friends to kill him in England. Through this discovery, Hamlet decides instead of confronting Claudius and being honest to follow suit and also be deceptive, ordering his friends' deaths, and then going back home to follow

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Hamlet does not trust Ophelia. Hamlet gives Ophelia the option to tell him the truth and recieve his trust when he asks her, “ where is your father,” but Ophelia continues to lie, telling Hamlet he is “at home” when Polonius is actually in hiding with the King and several others, listening to the conversation. Hamlet knows this, and becomes increasingly upset at Ophelia for lying, cursing her future marriage and telling her “God hath given you one and you make yourselves another,” insinuating that she is two-faced Hamlet is unclear about what his feelings for Ophelia ever were.

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Dependent on the men in her life, Gertrude had to be submissive and compliant. This was Hamlet's major problem with his mother. In Act 1 scene 2, Hamlet expresses his exasperation and need to communicate his distress, “She married. O, most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not, nor it cannot come to good.

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Hamlet consistently referenced his mother as a symbol of all women describing them as unfaithful. An example of this being, “God gives you one face, but you paint another on top of it.(3.1.145-146)”. This gives a clear telling of how Hamlet perceives all women based on his mother’s actions. In addition to this, while speaking privately with Hamlet, Gertrude says, “I feel too dead to breathe a word of what you’ve told me(3.4.203-205)”. This is Gertrude promising not to tell anyone about Hamlet killing Polonius and calling out Claudius, yet she immediately runs to tell everything to her husband.

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It is shown in his analysis that women were always considered lower class then men in the society which brings out the submissive side of females. The author states that “women are supposed to remain chaste and virginal. Women should be guarded by their father until they marry and they should be loyal to their husband forever after marriage.” In Shakespeare’s play, this theory is applied in Act Four when Claudio embarrasses Hero in their wedding. When Claudio accuses Hero of adultery in front of everyone, everyone looks at her in disgust because in their society a woman who betrays her husband also betrays her family as well.

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This led to him mistreating his girlfriend and mother. While Hamlet dealt with the fact that his mother married Claudius he comes to the conclusion that she betrayed him and his father. His feelings come off very strongly and he goes on to express them to her, “Oh women! You are so weak!, even before she had broken in the shoes she wore to his funeral, crying like crazy—even an animal would have mourned its mate longer than she did!—there

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Betrayal is a recurring action between many characters. In conclusion, Hamlet is betrayed by the people he loves and cares for like Judas betrayed Jesus after The Last Supper. The play ends with Gertrude drinks poison and dies, Claudius is stabbed to death and Hamlet is killed by a poisonous blade. “To be, or not to be” (3.1.line) to live or to

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Hamlet’s views on women is adulterous which pertains to the misogynistic tendencies in the play; thus, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, sparks up his misogynistic approaches. Hamlet is repulsed with Gertrude since she was quick to re-wed immediately following Old Hamlet’s death and cries: “She married. O, most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” (1.2.156-157). Hamlet is shocked that his mother remarries to Claudius, Old Hamlet’s brother, before letting the tears on her cheek to dry.

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The discovery of his mother's rushed marriage to his uncle contributes to his mental grief, causing tension between family loyalty and his pursuit of justice. Hamlet says to his mother about her marriage, “You cannot call it love, for at your age The heyday in the blood is tame, it's humble And waits upon the judgment” (Act 3, Scene 4). This demonstrates Hamlet's shock about his mother marrying Claudius less than a month after his father’s

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In Act III, scene i of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, readers will come upon Ophelia’s soliloquy. After Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have failed to find a reason as to why Hamlet is acting in a peculiar and mad way, Claudius is persuaded by Polonius that the reason for Hamlet’s madness is the broken romance between Hamlet and Ophelia. To prove this, Claudius and Polonius plan to spy on Ophelia’s meeting with Hamlet. During their conversation, Hamlet denies ever having loved her and curses her. Ophelia is left fretting over his sanity.

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960 Words | 4 Pages

Her madness later takes the ultimate toll on her, as her drowning in the river is presumed a suicide. This madness, and Ophelia's death, are certainly the result of Hamlet killing her father. But they can be traced back beyond her love for her father, all the way to Hamlet's relationship with his uncle/new stepfather. Hamlet's relationship with Claudius is already poor when the play begins because he's upset about Claudius taking his father's place so soon.

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672 Words | 3 Pages

This is shown in the quote, “But we both obey, and here give up ourselves, in the full bent, To lay our service freely at your feet To be commanded.” (Act 2 Scene 2 Line 29), and proves that they do not value the friendship between themselves and Hamlet. Once more, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s false loyalty is proven when they knowingly agree to send Hamlet to his

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1685 Words | 7 Pages

In William Shakespeare 's play The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark there are a variety of different characters with similar motives for their actions. Most of the characters’ motives stem from love, whether it be lust, family ties, romance, loyalty, or devotion. Hamlet, out of devotion for his father, promises to get revenge for his murder when his ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius killed him, and that he wants Hamlet to kill Claudius for revenge. Ophelia’s family ties to her father, Polonius, make her betray the love of Hamlet. Horatio’s loyalty makes him the only character that Hamlet trusts.

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1056 Words | 5 Pages

In act one Gertrude marries her dead husband 's brother Claudius, Hamlet is not very happy that his mother did this. Hamlet feels very betrayed by his own mother because she remarried so quickly. He feels as if this is an unforgivable

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