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Hamlet Is A Coward Essay

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What a Shame The Poor King’s Son is a Coward A wise playwright once wrote, “cowards die many times before their deaths. The brave experience death only once.” In this case, the playwright is the famed Shakespeare and he is referring to Julius, a Roman general who is betrayed in the Tragedy of Julius Caesar. However, this concept applies to a character in another one of his plays; Hamlet. The theme of cowardliness versus death is heavily weighed upon throughout the performance, as Hamlet struggles with an inordinate amount of uncertainty, and therefore every decision bred from this ambiguity. After the murder of Hamlet’s father, the prince perceives himself as a coward due to his inability to seize revenge because he fears for his own life. …show more content…

The roots of his melancholic nature originate from the time period in which Hamlet is set. In the first scene the prince is introduced, misogynistic ideals are already in place because, in this era it was acceptable for men to have proprietary-like rights over females. Women in the court, such as Ophelia and Gertrude, play docile and subservient parts, wholly dependent on the male figures in their lives. In early events, cryptic diction is wielded when Laertes advises Ophelia to “fear [love.] Fear [love], [his] dear sister. And keep [her] in the rear of [her] affection” (I.iii.33). His words enunciate that because he cares for his sister he does not want her to merely be an intimate toy for Hamlet to play with until its use ran out. This worry is palpable as Laertes says, “it fits your wisdom so far to believe it / as he in his particular act and place / may give his saying deed, which is no further / than the main voice of Denmark goes withal” (I.iii.25-28). The counsel is collocated against the advice Laertes receives from his father almost immediately after, depicting an interesting barrier between the sexes. Polonius kindly accuents to his son that “[he] canst not then be false to any man...” and ironically, his advice to be true to oneself is the opposite of what Ophelia is expected to do. Even Hamlet, …show more content…

It is the observation of Prince Fortinbras, a foil between the two characters, and his army ready to lay down their lives over an insignificant piece of land that stirs him into a staggering realization. He finds that he has been distracting himself with thoughts rather than simply executing his plan and ironic tension is created from the oxymoron. The infantilization of Fortinbras as Hamlet calls him a “delicate and tender [prince]” exhibits that Hamlet feels cowardly for being unable to avenge his father’s death when even “eggshell[s]” such as the Norwegian prince’s army can fight for much less (IV.iv.51-56). In repercussion to his cowardliness, Hamlet is riddled with strife and torment - “many deaths” - whereas if he’d displayed bravery when it was needed he would have “experienced death only once.” When he has the chance to exact his revenge while Claudius is praying in his chambers, he does not take it and ergo, the deaths of several others follow in the wake of his mistake. As Hamlet berates himself to stay courageous and find the will to enact his plan against his uncle he employs a soliloquy and anastrophe in the words “O heart, lose not thy nature; let not ever / The soul of Neo enter this firm bosom” (III.ii.426-427). In an earlier scene, as Hamlet exchanges with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he compares the air and sun to “foul and pestilent congregation of vapors" which once again becomes applicable

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