Hamlet, By William Shakespeare

Hamlet’s main deficiencies are exemplified through his extreme desire for revenge, inability to act, and radical intelligence. Hamlet, having nothing to lose, decides to make avenging his main priority without caring what his flaws are or what effect they might have on him. Hamlet’s downfall arises as he decides to conspire on his own in order to kill Claudius: “My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth” (4.4.68). Hamlet admits his own extremism and misjudgment, which proves his own incapability of being rational while interacting with his uncle. Moreover, he also condemns his own inability of taking action as he constantly fails to take neither moral nor immoral actions.

The male characters in Hamlet continually abuse both Ophelia and Gertrude, physically and psychologically, as a pathetic attempt to gain power and control over the situation. One of the greatest examples of psychological abuse comes from the harrowing scene where Hamlet and Ophelia have their final conversation before Hamlet leaves for England. During this rage-induced altercation, Hamlet refuses to accept Ophelia’s returning of the gifts previously given to her from him, saying “I never gave you aught” (3.1.97). Ophelia is appalled as Hamlet continues to insult her and laugh in her face. In the climax of the argument, Hamlet tells Ophelia that she “should not have believed me; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it: I loved you not” (3.1.117-119). The immense amount of psychological damage received by Ophelia between the addition and removal of love by Hamlet and her father’s death is enough to drive anyone to madness. David M. Smith recounts this as Hamlet’s necessity “to genuine outsideness because of the danger of being co-opted by love” (Smith, 1). However, Hamlet no longer needed to protect himself in his situation. His actions from this scene were not only uncalled for, but added to the slow mental demise of his sweet Ophelia. Hamlet’s next scene of abuse come shortly after this when he goes to speak to Gertrude about her participation in the murder of Old Hamlet. His rage, yet again, takes over, but this time he adopts physical abuse

Hamlet seems obsessed with the concept of death. Along with his slipping sanity Hamlet is not able to find any hard evidence making him act rash where he stages a play to make his own evidence. Claudius seems to suspect Hamlet because of Hamlet’s plan to be mad with love and sends two former friends of Hamlet to spy on him. Hamlet believes he is in control though when he tells them, “I do not well understand that. Will you play upon this pipe” (III.ii.313). Hamlet realizes what Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are up to and tells them nothing. Feeling that his uncle s up to him, Hamlet uses the play to judge Claudius’s reaction and proceed from there. This scene could be considered the climax of the play where Hamlet knows for sure Claudius killed the late king and Claudius knows Hamlet knows. This scene might seem like Hamlet’s actions caused the mistake, but Hamlet’s inability to confront his uncle makes Hamlet to act with hesitation. The cause of Hamlet’s losing sanity is the king. Claudius seems to be the origin point for almost all of Hamlet’s problems: his dead father, his faithless mother, and the target for a revenge plan he do seems hesitant on. Even when Hamlet confirms the fact that Claudius killed his father, Hamlet does not act fast with a murder plan. It seems that Hamlet wants to avenge his father, but he does not want to murder for there

Hamlet’s personality, while hinted at by other characters and his own actions, remains something of an enigma throughout the play. His soliloquies are necessary, therefore, to gain a fuller understanding of it. One of two main aspects of his personality revealed this way can be found in the most iconic lines of the play. Hamlet is shown to be depressed before the “to be or not to be” soliloquy, but it is this speech in which he shows the depth of his grapple with life. He contemplates killing himself outright, questioning “[w]hether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer [t]he slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, [o]r to take arms against a sea of troubles, [a]nd, by opposing, end them?” (Act 3, Sn. 1, ln. 58-61). This soliloquy exposes the depressed mood he has had throughout the play up to this point and shows it for what it really is. Another key point of Hamlet’s personality emphasized through soliloquy is his devout loyalty to his father, the king. When Hamlet speaks to the ghost of his father, his suspicions seem to be true: Claudius, the king’s brother, murdered the king in order to gain his crown. Upon learning this, Hamlet is initially shocked, but then flies into a rage, cursing his uncle and calling him a “smiling, damned villain” (Act 1, Sn. 5, ln. 25-112). The fact that Hamlet is willing to kill his own uncle in order to avenge his father goes great lengths to show his devotion. It is clear from this that loyalty is a crucial element of Hamlet’s character. As well as allowing the audience a much better understanding of what type of person Hamlet is, this insight into his personality gives a glimpse of his

He experiences disturbing situations: his father is murdered by his uncle, his position to be king is taken away from him, and his mother marries his uncle. Inevitably, Hamlet is faced with destruction. However, it is not entirely the situation that leads to his downfall, but rather his tragic flaw. Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his inability to come to action, as well as his idealistic perspective, that results in his downfall along with many other

Almost every story involves a conflict between hero and villain. In some stories, there is a plot twist where the hero is also the villain—but in Hamlet, there are no heroes and many villains. In Hamlet, every character has lied, kept secrets or is seeking revenge that leads to a tragic ending at every corner, but what we fail to see is who the true villain is. Looking at the character of Hamlet throughout the play, it is easier to spot his many dishonorable actions than his few honorable ones.

Hamlet fascinates many readers and the first thing to point out about him is that he is mysterious. Shakespeare's work demonstrates Hamlet's dilemma as the role of revenger showing a man of thought forced to be a man of action. Hamlet is extremely philosophical and introspective. He is particularly drawn to difficult questions or questions that cannot be answered with any certainty. Faced with evidence that his uncle murdered his father, Hamlet becomes obsessed with proving his uncle's guilt before trying to act. He is equally overwhelmed with questions about the afterlife, about the wisdom of suicide, and about what happens to bodies after they die.

Thesis: Although most people believe that Hamlet is suicidal at his point in the play, it is not until this soliloquy where the audience actually learns of Hamlet’s ability to judge based on his emotion and logic. Hamlet’s ability to endure suffering allows him to realize how valuable and precious his life truly is.

With Hamlet’s tragic flaw being his inability to act, he is plagued throughout the play by his immense intelligence and philosophical nature, which causes him to overanalyze each situation, rendering him unable to carry out any action in response. This is evident in the play by the frequent delay of acting out his father’s revenge due to the uncertainty of the evidence pertaining to his uncle’s crime. Hamlet’s inability to act creates a discourse between hamlet and his consciousness, generating an abundance of stress, which causes him to become increasingly frustrated as the play progresses. This frustration leads to him at moments in the play to behave in a rash and impulsive way or acting in an inappropriate manner, contradicting his methodical and reserved disposition. It is the consequences of these “inappropriate” actions that resurfaces at the plays end, to haunt the character, as Hamlet’s inability to act while using his renowned logic and intelligence ultimately leads to his eventual demise at the plays conclusion, due to his inability to act both “effectively” and “appropriately” in critical situations.

“To be, or not to be, that is the question,” (3.1.64). This famous line in William Shakespeare's Hamlet perfectly encapsulates Hamlet’s internal struggle throughout the play. Hamlet tells the story of the young prince of Denmark and his desire for revenge on the uncle, Claudius, who murdered his father. As is the case in many works of literature, Hamlet changes greatly throughout the play. However, because of his attempts to act insane, it can be difficult to precisely map the changes in Hamlet’s character. By carefully investigating his seven soliloquies, where he is alone and has no need to “put on an antic disposition,” one can understand and interpret how Hamlet’s character develops throughout the play.

Hamlet’s character drastically develops over the first four acts of Hamlet, and his character development is most evident through the soliloquys he delivers throughout the play. The most character development can be seen from the first soliloquy, to the second, the third, the sixth, and the seventh and final soliloquy. Hamlet’s inner conflict with his thoughts and his actions are well analyzed in his soliloquys, as well as his struggles with life and death, and his very own existence. He begins the play wondering what purpose he has in life now that his father is dead and his mother has remarried to his uncle. After finding out foul play was involved in his father’s death, he is motivated by revenge. Finally, he wonders how he can enact his revenge while continuously overthinking and overanalyzing his actions.

In the play Hamlet, Hamlet is described as daring, brave, loyal, and intelligent. However, he is always consumed by his own thoughts, this being his tragic flaw. There are numerous times Hamlet does not act when he should, like his inability to act on his father's murder, his mother's marriage, and his uncle's assuming of the throne.

In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the character Hamlet must deal with both external and internal conflict. Hamlet encounters many struggles and has trouble finding a way to deal with them. With so many corrupt people in his life, Hamlet feels as if there is no one that he can trust and begins to isolate himself from others. A result from this isolation leads Hamlet to become melancholy. Hamlet struggles with suicidal thoughts, wants to kill King Claudius, and is distraught over his mother’s hasty marriage with his uncle Claudius.

The play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, is set in an anti-feminist era. Women traditionally have been seen inferior to men. This was an intellectual as well as a physical issue. Women were to raise a family, cook, clean, be pretty and not be smarter than any man. The main characters Ophelia and Gertrude are both depicted with these characteristics as powerless and frail people. This illustration of helpless women affects one's understanding of what their true selves could be.

Shakespeare writes in a way that is difficult to understand for anyone that speaks the modern language. His story Hamlet is understood through the emotions felt by his characters. Hamlet is the main character who is conflicted with revenge and conspiring friendships. Hamlet returns home from Germany for his father’s funeral only to find far more troubling things. Hamlet is a conflicted character but that doesn’t stop him from knowing what he wants. Revenge is the main cause of his confliction but with great reason, which is important to understand about this play because it helps explain all the betrayal and tragedy.