Description
Hamlet is one of William Shakespeare’s best-known plays. Although written in England, the play centers on the life of the titular Danish prince. In the first Act of the play, Hamlet meets the ghost of his dead father. The ghost tells Hamlet that he, the King, was murdered by Claudius—the King’s brother and Hamlet’s uncle. Although the information came from an incredible source—a supernatural creature—Hamlet is not the only one to have seen and heard from the ghost. Horatio and several of the castle sentries also bear witness to the revelation of the King’s murder. Presumably, Claudius killed his own brother in order to usurp power, as he swiftly then marries Hamlet’s mother Gertrude and assumes the title of King.
The news throws Hamlet off kilter. He is consumed by rage, despair, and a desire to wreak revenge on his uncle, and his psychological state becomes the primary driving force throughout the play. In Act II, Hamlet decides to stage a play at the castle in order to entrap his uncle. Hamlet chooses a play with, suitably, a Greek theme about the death of a King. Hamlet believes that while watching the play, his uncle’s face and body language may divulge his guilt. As it turns out, his Uncle does act uncomfortably after seeing the play and Hamlet now believes he has proof of the murder.
As Hamlet plots his revenge, his mental state deteriorates. He finds he can trust no one, including his girlfriend Ophelia and his mother Gertrude. After...
Works Cited
Haverkamp, Anselm. “The Ghost of History.” Law and Literature, Vol. 18, Issue 2, 2006, pp. 171-197.
Kastan, David Scott. “"His semblable is his mirror": "Hamlet" and the Imitation of Revenge.” Shakespeare Studies, Vol. 19, Jan 1987: 111.
Lacan, Jacques, Jacques-Alain Miller and James Hulbert. “Desire and the Interpretation of Desire in Hamlet.” Yale French Studies, No. 55-56, 1977, pp. 11-52.
For Oedipus to be considered successful, then, he would have had to challenge his own fate and succeed, rather than enact it entirely according to what was set out for him. In Hamlet, on the other hand, the enemy is tangible and human in the form of Hamlet's uncle, and thus Hamlet is able to confront and vanquish him. Thus, Oedipus represents a kind of ignorant struggle against the
He does however, have a reason for his treatment of these people. In the case of the king's courtiers, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, they can be seen as plotting against Hamlet and being 'two faced' in their treatment of him" (Hamlet). From the above evidence, it is clear that due to the consequences of the actions of characters, lives are destroyed, which can be seen from the direction of the stage.
He never sees things from the perspective of other people or overthinks the moral implications of his deeds. Fortinbras challenges Claudius openly, unlike Hamlet who merely stages a play to test Claudius' guilt and tries (and fails) to kill the King at prayer. At first, Hamlet drew inspiration from a Player King's passion. In his "How all occasions" soliloquy he draws inspiration to take revenge from a real person. Fortinbras'
He questions whether he should try to clear the court of corruption or just give up and end his life now. It is this emotional doubt that drives Hamlet to act deranged at times, but he overcomes it, and almost manages to answer the difficult questions posed in his life. In Act V, when calm returns, Hamlet repents his behavior (V, ii, 75-78) (Lidz, 164). In Lidz's book Freud is
" This madness likely leads to Ophelia's suicide but, consistent with the entire theme of this play, the exact nature of Ophelia's demise is left to speculation. The fascination with Hamlet is uncanny. What provides this fascination is the fact that there is always more to what is going on in the play than what actually appears to be. Observers of the play are left with an overwhelming feeling that they
Hamlet's Ghost has presented a problem for critics and readers since it first appeared on stage some four hundred years ago. Serving as the pivot upon which the action of the play is established -- Hamlet's father's ghost delivers him important information about his death and the throne -- one is likely to ask whether the ghost is truly the soul of King Hamlet or rather a devil appearing in
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