It is also significant to realize that Hamlet is practically resigning himself to a damned life with this assumption. He goes on to consider life and death and considers each. He states:
To be, or not to be, -- that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? -- to die, -- to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. (III.i.56-63).
This passage reveals hamlet's deteriorating state of mind as well as his fatigue. He is simply mentally and physically exhausted and there is no way for him to escape the conflict in his own mind.
Hamlet's mental instability only forces him more off course on his heroic journey. In a fit of rage, he kills Polonius, thinking that he has finally achieved his goal only to realize that he has killed Ophelia's father. The thrill of thinking he has finally achieved followed immediately by realizing he has not proves to be insufferable. The following scene is reckless because it seems to drive Hamlet into a fit of emotion that he unleashes upon his mother. He refers to Polonius as an "intruding fool" (III.iv.38) and then launches into a tirade with Gertrude. Hamlet is cruel and heartless with her. When she accuses him of committing a "rash and bloody deed" (III.iv.33), he tells her that his actions are "almost as bad, good mother. / as kill a king and marry with his brother" (III.iv.34-5). He attacks Gertrude's good sense by attacking her decision to remarry, stating:
Hamlet swerves of the oath to becoming a hero when he refuses to accept certain things as they are. His initial reaction to Gertrude's quick remarriage sets him on a path of negativity that bleeds into all aspects of his life. Instead of dealing with his emotions as he should have, he repressed them, only compounding things. These things are worsened when Hamlet cannot make heads or tails of the ghost. Hamlet also makes things more difficult for himself when he does not act when he knows he should. By not killing Claudius when he has the chance, Hamlet only makes his own life worse because he cannot escape the turmoil in his mind. Finally, when Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, thinking he is finally rising to the occasion, things spiral out of control quickly. He verbally attacks Gertrude and reveals he is incapable of any rational thought. Hamlet blocked his own path by over thinking every conceivable aspect of his life.
Works Cited
Hazlitt, William. "Characters of Shakespear's Plays." 1906. GALE Resource Database. Information Retrieved December 13, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Washington Square Press. 1992.
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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