¶ … Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Specifically, it will answer the question, is Hamlet truly insane? Hamlet is a deceptively simply character whose insatiable need for vengeance makes him appear insane to the casual reader, but in reality, Hamlet is not insane, he is just insanely jealous and vengeful, and these qualities color his life and the lives of those around him. This makes Hamlet the consummate tragic hero, whose actions lead to his downfall, and the downfall of those closest to him.
Hamlet is a tragic hero because his actions lead to his downfall, and the downfall of many around him. He recognizes that he has character flaws that will ultimately lead him to jealousy, despair, and death, in fact, he notes, "I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in. What should such fellows as I do crawling between heaven and earth?" (Shakespeare 2049). Hamlet recognizes that he has character flaws, but he is powerless to act on them, and so, he self-destructs by the end of the play, taking many other characters with him. Tragic heroes also exhibit characteristics that endear themselves to the audience, and Hamlet has many of these characteristics.
Anyone who has suddenly lost a family member can certainly understand Hamlet's grief and woe at his father's death and his mother's quick remarriage. He laments, "But two months dead! - nay, not so much, not two: / So excellent a king; that was, to this" (Shakespeare 2013). Immediately, he captures the audience's sympathy, and it is clear Hamlet is suffering, and suffering deeply. His emotional state may be fragile, but he is not insane, unless he is insane with grief and woe. In addition, Hamlet is a victim of circumstance, which also makes him more sympathetic to the audience. Hamlet could not have anticipated or stopped his father's murder, and because of this, he could not stop fate, he is a victim of circumstances beyond his control, it is his reaction to them that causes his downfall, but it is his sympathetic portrayal...
While it would seem that she did not love her husband, but it really seems like Gertrude marries Claudius so quickly because she knows it is the only way to preserve her status and position in the kingdom, otherwise she will lose power, rank, and privilege. She needs a man to protect her, and she uses Claudius to save herself, just as Claudius uses her to ensure he can
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.
Hamlet The psychological deterioration of the title character is the cornerstone of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Consumed by a desire for revenge, Hamlet loses his already tenuous grip on reality. Starting the play with a scene in which Hamlet sees a ghost Shakespeare shows that Hamlet might not have been psychological stable to begin with, and that the emotional strain of losing his father at the hands of his uncle, and losing the
"So excellent a king, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr" (Shakespeare, William) is a Shakespearian juxtaposition used to compare Old Hamlet with Claudius. Hamlet alludes to Hyperion, the God of Light who represents not only honor and virtue, but also nobility, which are all traits Hamlet saw in his own father. The half-human, half-beast satyr creature represents hedonism and excess, similar to the way Hamlet regards Claudius.
Hamlet and Revenge Hamlet -- Prince of Denmark -- is considered to be one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. (Meyer, 2002). It is also one of his most complex plays. It is about the evolution of a character within the context of a revenge drama -- that of Hamlet in Hamlet. In keeping with the revenge-theme of this drama, this thesis of this essay will aver that Shakespeare exalts Hamlet as a
Hamlet Annotated Bibliography Cook, Patrick J. Cinematic Hamlet: the Films of Olivier, Zeffirelli, Branagh, and Almereyda. Athens, Ohio: Ohio UP. 2011. Print. This book focuses on the many versions of Hamlet that have been made for the silver screen. The play by William Shakespeare is one of the most frequently filmed works and each version of the story has a unique perspective. Director, screenwriter, and of course actor each influence the overall
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