Examples Of Narcissism In Hamlet

In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the playwright introduces the compelling, complex, and complicated character of the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet. In the events of the play, Hamlet swears revenge against his uncle for the foul murder of his father, the king. However, despite his intense catalyst, Hamlet reveals to be continuously torn between his motive of revenge and conflicted conscience, generating an inability to carry out his desired actions. While Hamlet possesses the passion and intellect to murder his uncle, Claudius, his actual inclination to act upon the murder directly opposes that of his powerfully emotional contemplations (S.T. Coleridge). Hamlet’s overzealous thoughts become unrealistic compared to his actual endeavors throughout the play.

Hamlet is considered to be Shakespeare's most famous play. The play is about Prince Hamlet and his struggles with the new marriage of his mother, Gertrude, and his uncle and now stepfather, King Claudius about only two months after his father’s death. Hamlet has an encounter with his father, Old King Hamlet, in ghost form. His father accuses Claudius of killing him and tells Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlet is infuriated by this news and then begins his thoughts on what to do to get revenge. Hamlet and Claudius are contrasting characters. They do share similarities, however, their profound differences are what divides them.Hamlet was portrayed as troubled, inactive, and impulsive at times. Hamlet is troubled by many things, but the main source of his problems come from the the death of his father. “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, or that the everlasting had not fixed his canon 'gainst self-slaughter” (Act 1, Scene 2). In this scene, Hamlet is contemplating suicide, which is caused by the death of his father and the new marriage of Gertrude and King Claudius. This scene shows the extent of how troubled Hamlet is. Even though Hamlet’s father asked him to avenge his death, Hamlet is very slow to act on this throughout the play. “Now might I do it pat. Now he is a-praying. And now I’ll do ’t. And so he goes to heaven. And so am I revenged.—That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven” (Act 3, Scene 3). This scene shows King Claudius praying, while Hamlet is behind him drawing his sword but decides not to kill

When the sword fighting begins they hope that there is blood drawn so that the poison will go into Hamlet and kill him. He tries to poison him during the dual. He begins to confess his love for Ophelia to him, but in the meantime, Gertrude drinks the poison and dies. Laertes then wounds Hamlet, but the idea of poisoning him does not work. Laertes then stabs himself with his sword that is soaked in poisoned. When Laertes tells Hamlet that Claudius is the reason for the queen’s death, he then stabs himself to death with the poison that came off of the blade. Hamlet then immediately dies along with Claudius. Horatio will then fulfill his wishes and tell Hamlet’s

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the titular character struggles to engage in his desired plan of revenge. Hamlet shows throughout the play that he is inconsistent, indecisive, and unsure of himself, as well as his actions. The play focuses on Hamlet’s revenge; however, he continuously fails to happen at opportunistic moments. Throughout the play, Hamlet insists that he intends to avenge his father’s death through the murder of Claudius, but Hamlet fails to act on occasion because of his indecisive personality.

This all sets the stage for Hamlet’s mental state prior to learning that he was killed by somebody in his family. These themes of death and betrayal lead into the end of the first act when Hamlet is tasked by the ghost of his father to seek revenge against Claudius for what he did. Hamlet believes that he was “born to set it right” (1.5.190). The extremes of this line reveal that Hamlet believes that the whole reason for his existence is to avenge his father. This need for revenge drives Hamlet for the rest of the play. He wants justice for his father, but he also wants to punish Claudius for his murder and marrying his mother. He gives in to human nature when he starts striving to avenge his father’s death.

The death of King Hamlet is important, as without King Hamlet’s death, none of the events in Hamlet would have occurred. The kingdom believes that King Hamlet was killed by a snakebite, but in all reality he was murdered. Not only does this create dramatic irony, but also it connects with the appearance verses reality theme. The use of poison in his death connects with the finale in which the characters all succumb to poison, whether they were cut with a poisoned blade or drank it. In this play, Hamlet poisons his own mind with revenge, causing himself to go mad. Laertes dies from the poison he was planning on using to kill Hamlet. Poison is symbolic in this play as people who die from poison brought it on themselves. The fact that King Hamlet had poison poured in his ear is

Hamlet has lived through plenty of ups and downs throughout his childhood. He has been lost and confused within himself, but knew he wanted one thing, which was revenge on his fathers killer, Claudius. His passion of hate developed for Claudius as he married Hamlets mother shortly after the king’s death. Hamlet could not decide on the perfect decision for himself, his mother and father as well as the best way to follow through with the best consequence for Claudius that would impress his father. His everyday life, along with his love life, left him with an empty heart, which slowed the process of the revenge down. Hamlet never expected to be captured and kidnapped by pirates, as he was sent overseas as a young man. His inside thoughts were attacking and overwhelming Him, leaving him depressed and anxious. Hamlet’s life has been leading him to negative thoughts that he cannot process or act accordingly to, due to the excessive amount of issues and options involved in his life at a young age, him being overwhelmed lead him to delaying the process of avenging his fathers killer.

The fact that Hamlet’s father’s ghost is his motivation in avenging that makes him appear amiable because he is not taking this task on for selfish reasons. Hamlet often questions his morality in seeking vengeance against Claudius and frequently is questioning himself and his actions to ensure that his motives are morally just. Hamlet not only questions whether his father’s ghost could be mistaken, but he also questions whether his vengeance will lead to his own personal purgatory. It is difficult for the audience to dislike his character because he is so critical of the situations and is so heavily guarded by his faith. On the other hand, Laertes’ plan of revenge is also justified by his father’s death but many of his reasons are selfish and lack planning. After Polonius’ death, Laertes vows that he will be seeking revenge on his father’s killer. Claudius provides Laertes an explanation on why he believes the young prince killed Polonius. Based on that conversation Hamlet must die and the two plot to kill Hamlet. Claudius suggests a fencing match and Laertes comes up with the idea to coat his sword with poison which will ensure Hamlet’s death. Laertes’ is justified for this tactic because it will be

Laertes loses his family because of Hamlet’s actions. His father is killed by him and his sister kills herself because of her grief. Laertes and King Claudius begin to plot Hamlet’s murder, planning to poison him, by drink or wound, whichever comes first. However, the plan backfires on the both of them and Laertes dies from his own blade, but not before saying “The King, the King’s to blame.”

Although Hamlet knows well enough that he must avenge his fathers’ death, the action of revenge does not come easily to him. Hamlet throughout Hamlet is contemplating the revenge for his father’s death. Hamlet is indecisive, hesitant, and contemplative yet at other times impulsive. He is still, as it is, being influenced by his reason taking into consideration that Hamlet is a scholar. He does not act upon his feelings immediately but decides to investigate further on the suspicions he has about Claudius and his fathers’ death. This attitude tends to make Hamlet procrastinate and only until he has done away with his scholastic characters will he actually play out his Acton.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness, and moral corruption. It touches upon philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet frequently questions the meaning of life and the degrading of morals as he agonizes over his father’s murder, his mother’s incestuous infidelity, and what he should or shouldn’t do about it. At first, he is just depressed; still mourning the loss of his father as his mother marries his uncle. After he learns about the treachery of his uncle and the adultery of his mother, his already negative countenance declines further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudius, feeling burdened about having been asked to find a solution to a situation that was

An event Hamlet views as a battle for honor, Laertes knows is a battle for life, as contact with the venomous tip of the sword will guarantee imminent death. In the heat of the action, with Hamlet and Laertes both stung with venom and Queen Gertrude swooning with effect of the poisoned drink, Laertes claims, “I am justly killed with mine own treachery,” (Shakespeare 5.2. 337). Laertes faces the reality that in his own illusion, he has made himself, Gertrude, and Hamlet victims in King Claudius’s power-seeking plot, realizing “[the] King, the King’s to blame,” (Shakespeare 5.2. 351). Hamlet, mourning Gertrude and forgiving Laertes, finally takes action, killing King Claudius by turning his own weapons of destruction against him. As Hamlet passes from life, the audience is left with one large, overarching question regarding the reality of the situation: who is

Throughout the play, Hamlet displays indecisiveness and a tendency to over think. Despite having every desire and intention to kill his uncle, Hamlet procrastinates to the point where he is loathing himself for taking so long. Had Hamlet take the first opportunity to kill Claudius, the play would be a great deal shorter. If I were placed in a similar situation, I believe that my fury caused by someone murdering my father would be enough motivation to avenge him as soon as humanely possible. Consequently, I see Hamlet as an individual who gets so hung up in executing every task perfectly that it

"But I am very sorry, good Horatio, /That to Laertes I forgot myself; /For, by the image of my cause, I see/The portraiture of his" (V.2). In seeking to revenge, Hamlet accidentally stabs Polonius, the king's advisor, thus killing the father of Laertes. Hamlet acknowledges, with his sense of higher justice and objectivity, that Laertes has a reason for hating him, given that he is also a parricide. There is a sharp, circular irony to this cycle of revenge. Similarly, Ophelia is driven mad by the death of her father and kills herself. Hamlet, while much of his madness is assumed, is also driven to a state of emotional distress. Laertes, Hamlet, and Ophelia all act irrationally in ways that bring about their death because of the extremity of their grief.

They both do not see the death of Hamlet in Act IV. Furthermore, another form of chaos would be suffering. He comments, “Am I a coward? Who calls me villain? Breaks my pate across?” (II.ii.497-498). To have the mind of killing someone, Hamlet thinks too much and about everything while dealing with whether to stay alive or not, this prevents him to act upon feelings because he always thinks about the “why”. Also in this play, the prince accidentally kills Ophelia and Laertes’ father, Polonius in which Ophelia has her outbreak. Laertes seeks revenge against Hamlet by trying to kill him with Claudius, instead, his plan of poisoning the tip of the sword slips into backfire because his own sword kills him. In the last act, Claudius also adds on to Laertes’ plan by having poisoned wine but Gertrude drinks it instead, overall having them all die in this act creating the biggest chaos of