Sunday, May 24, 2020
The Character of Shakespeares Hamlet Essay - 1873 Words
Hamlet is arguably the greatest dramatic character ever created. From the moment we meet the crestfallen Prince we are enraptured by his elegant intensity. Shrouded in his inky cloak, Hamlet is a man of radical contradictions -- he is reckless yet cautious, courteous yet uncivil, tender yet ferocious. He meets his fathers death with consuming outrage and righteous indignation, yet shows no compunction when he himself is responsible for the deaths of the meddling Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and the pontificating lord chamberlain, Polonius. He uses the fragile and innocent Ophelia as an outlet for his disgust towards the Queen, and cannot comprehend that his own vicious words have caused her insanity. Hamlet is full of faults. But†¦show more content†¦(I.ii.84-6) Hamlet cannot forget his father, even when all those around him have resumed their merry lives, content to offer the occasional conciliatory words of wisdom. The Queen, considering she has lost a husband, offers up the rather unhelpful Thou knowst tis common, all that lives must die/Passing through nature to eternity (I.ii.71-2), and Claudius adds, amongst other things, We pray you to throw to earth/This unprevailing woe, and think of us/As of a father (I.ii.106-8). Hamlets tremendous grief is intensified by this lack of feeling by those around him, and more significantly, by the cold-hearted actions of his mother, who married her brother-in-law within a month of her husbands death. This act of treachery by Gertrude, whom Hamlet obviously loved greatly at one time, rips the very fabric of Hamlets being, and he tortures himself with memories of his late fathers tenderness towards his mother: So excellent a king, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr, so loving to my mother, That he might not beteem the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly; heaven and earth, Must I remember?... (I.ii.141-45) The respect and awe Hamlet has for his father is seen in the above passage, as the Prince compares the late King to Hyperion, a Titan in classical mythology. The godlike view of hisShow MoreRelated Character of Hamlet in Shakespeares Hamlet Essay1324 Words  | 6 PagesCharacter of Hamlet in Shakespeares Hamlet Hamlet is a man of many discoveries. The tragic hero in Shakespeares Hamlet undergoes many changes throughout the play. His mindset is set deep and far away from the physical world that both helps him and hinders him in his plight for revenge against his uncle, Claudius, and his mother. When Hamlet is first introduced in Act I, Scene II, the reader is shown the depths of his sorrow. 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