Existentialism in Hamlet: Morality, Revenge, and Perception

Hamlet, the Existentialist Essay 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 ...show more content... He is internally reflecting on the morality of revenge. In existentialism , it is believed that the best way to live is for man to accept disorder and nothingness because ignoring it would mean settling into a delusional security blanket. If this blanket is torn off, we are forced to face it abruptly. Hamlet becomes conflicted in this way during the play. His father's death, learning about the murder and adultery, and facing the morality of revenge all quake his previous orderly life.Now, he must figure out what is right and wrong and what to do as he contemplates the noble idea of avenging his father's death versus his own misanthropic view of human nature. Relativism is the belief that due to differing perception from person to person, points of view have only subjective value and no absolute validity. It is related to existentialism in that it bases itself on the individual; that there is no overarching truth when it comes to certain things. Hamlet says once, "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so," [2.2.268–70]. This relays the idea that 'good' and 'bad' are merely bias determined by human thought rather than fact. What is good and bad is relative to a person's perception of those words as well as their perception of the thing or event itself. Here, he is referring to his view that Denmark is a prison–or, the worst prison in a world of prisons, which contrasts with what Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

Hamlet±'s Intelligence Essay There can be no denying that Hamlet displays extreme intelligence. This was inevitable, as he was accepted and educated at the prestigious University of Wittenberg. The only reason he left the university was to attend his father's funeral, and he planned to return after it was through. He delayed his plans only at the request of his mother, and did that grudgingly. The most noticeable demonstration of Hamlet 's intelligence shows in his fondness for puns. Breaking out of commonly accepted speech patterns and delving into deeper meanings takes a lot of mental effort. Hamlet does this every time he talks with someone who would hinder him in realizing his objectives. Let us look at a particularly poignant example. Observe: Claudius: ...show more content... Right after Hamlet calls Rosencrantz a tool of the king, Rosencrantz replies "I understand you not, my lord." (IV, ii, 21) In act II, scene ii, line 185 – 7 , Hamlet calls Polonius's daughter a prostitute, and he merely replies "How say you by that," Social mores were incredibly strict in that era and such an insult would almost inevitably have created an uproar. The lack of such a disturbance indicates a lack of understanding on Polonius±s part. Perhaps Hamlets intelligence is not due to any great gain of mental capacity, but rather his opponents± loss. If Hamlet were a simpleton, he would have trusted the ghost implicitly without troubling the players, would not have hesitated in killing Claudius while he was praying, would not have suspected Claudius±s letter of treachery, broken its seal and reveled its contents. The list goes on. All these actions imply some cognitive power. We can not deny Hamlet in this. What does Hamlet use his intelligence for? He was in a situation which required all his mental resources to react to. Sun Tzu said, ±Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness.± Although it is doubtful weather Hamlet ever read The Art of War, he followed this maxim to the extreme. He took all form from his actions and made others believe he was insane. His verbal attacks became subtle, often leaving his opponent confused. The fact that this was a plan and not a condition is unquestionable. After Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Essay on Suicide in Hamlet In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, suicide is an important and continuous theme throughout the play. Hamlet is the main character who contemplates the thought of suicide many different times throughout the play, since the murder of his father. Hamlet weighs the advantages of leaving his miserable life with the living, for possibly a better but unknown life with the dead. Hamlet seriously contemplates suicide , but decides against it, mainly because it is a mortal sin against God. Hamlet continues to say that most of humanity would commit suicide and escape the hardships of life, but do not because they are unsure of what awaits them in the after life. Hamlet throughout the play is continually tormented by his fathers death and his ...show more content... Hamlet continues on and almost complains on the state of the world, calling it stale, flat, and unprofitable, showing how truly miserable he is. Hamlet considers suicide as a possible option of escape from his life in a painful world, but feels as though religion is preventing him from doing so. Hamlet then provides us with the roots for his pain and the reason for his contemplation of suicide. Hamlet is is troubled by his mothers marriage to Claudius, but especially how quickly the two were married after his father's death. He continues to express his dislike and hatred for Claudius calling him a satyr, while praising his father and saying how excellent of a king his father was. In one of the final lines of the soliloquy Hamlet comments on how the marriage is a bad omen for Denmark, "It is not, nor it cannot come to good," (I. ii. 163). For the first time we are introduced to the idea of suicide which will continue to present itself as the play develops. When Hamlet is set up and spied on by Claudius and Polonius, he examines the moral aspect of suicide in a painful world. He opens his soliloquy with asking a simple question, "To be, or not to be:that is the question:" (III. i. 58), that is, whether to live or to die. He then begins to question whether it is nobler to suffer life and the, "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," (III. i. 66), or to take ones life and end one's suffering . He compares death to sleep and at first thinks that Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Essay about hamlet Hamlet One of the most unique elements of the Hamlet character is that he is so human. Many types of readers can identify with him. Hamlet is imperfect, and he is fretful. Hamlet has human properties, and it is his humanity that I intend to explore. Indeed it is these human qualities and imperfections that make his story so tragic. Another tragic part of the play is the plays irony. Irony is an important tool in the hands of the playwright to achieve both comical and/or dramatic effect. There is usually little reason for a tragedy to be funny, so Shakespeare has used this tool to add more tragedy to the play. I will investigate the nature of this irony. Also, I will investigate the types of conflict that play a major part in the play ...show more content... One occurrence of irony I found particularly striking was the fact that Hamlet effectively maneuvers himself into the same position as Claudius. Claudius had attacked and killed a man who did not have the opportunity to defend himself, but when Hamlet kills Polonius, is he not guilty of the same? It is intriguing that both Claudius and Hamlet have killed fathers. It is interesting to see how these two completely different characters deal with this problem in different ways. Other interesting parallels I found are the numerous deaths by poison. Hamlet's father was murdered by Claudius with poison. In the final act, the queen is the first to be poisoned, by drinking from Hamlet's cup. Then, Hamlet is wounded by the poisoned tip of Laertes' sword. When they change swords, Hamlet gets the upper hand and Laertes is poisoned. When the queen dies, Laertes explains all to Hamlet, before he dies. Hamlet then kills Claudius before dying himself. It is ironic that, as Claudius is poisoned because of his own plotting, he had already signed his own death warrant when he killed Hamlet's father, the first tragic action of the play. There are only three people in this play who don't die by poisoning: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern meet their deaths in England, after being outsmarted by Hamlet. The third is Ophelia, who is drowned. There are three types of conflict I can identify in the play: 'man versus man', 'man versus nature' and 'man versus Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

Hamlet Conflict "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.–Confucius" For as long as humans have lived with each other on this earth there has been conflict and war between us all whether it was because of resources, money, and or power someone has killed someone to get what they wanted even if they had to kill their only brother to get it.This is what happened in the story of Hamlet , Hamlet's father was killed by his uncle; Claudius presumably because he wanted to be king himself and to marry his brother's wife. This made Hamlet depressed and miserable because his father died and his mother married his uncle straight away. Then later on in the story the ghost of hamlets father shows up and tells him that his uncle Claudius killed him. At first Hamlet was very calm and rational about the whole ordeal, he even made a plan to try and see if the ghost was telling the truth. However once he found out that the ghost was indeed telling the truth hamlet started to obsess more and more over killing Claudius that he didn't care who he had to kill or who he had to hurt in order to kill him. This was very obvious in the scene where hamlet accidently killed Polonius. "Help, help, ho! ...show more content... help, help, help! HAMLET How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead![Makes a pass through the arras]LORDPOLONIUS [Behind] O, I am slain![Falls and dies]QUEEN GERTRUDE O me, what hast thou done? HAMLET Nay, I know not: Is it the king? QUEEN GERTRUDE O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!" Because of Hamlets rash decision to pull out his sword and stab through the curtain he killed an innocent man and didn't even feel any remorse about killing him he just took the body and hid it.This was no longer about avenging his father and saving his mother it was more like his own personal vendetta to kill Claudius and exact his own style of justice in other words vigilantism. Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Hamlet Essay In representing intense human relationships in Hamlet, Shakespeare reflects human characteristics and so makes his play more accessible to audiences across the ages. In particular, Shakespeare explores familial relationships such as Hamlet's strong love and loyalty to his late father, which manifests itself first as grief, then as a desire for revenge. Hamlet 's method of revenge is contrasted with Laertes' in order to communicate the value of contemplation of rash action and to demonstrate the often blinding nature of revenge that leads to devastating events. These profound and complex relationships between Hamlet and his father and Hamlet and Laertes, captivates audiences through the drama they provoke, and thus gives Hamlet an ...show more content... Such moments of careful planning are contrasted by moments of rash action, such as when Hamlet kills Polonius without checking that it is Claudius behind the curtain. This helps to create dramatic tension, which, in conjunction with Hamlet's suddenly intense relationship with Laertes, captivates audiences as it reflects the human essence. In this way Hamlet is given an enduring quality. Furthermore, the death of Polonius links Hamlet and Laertes in a complicated relationship that furthers interest in the play by creating more drama. Hamlet's love for his late father soon forces him to contemplate life and death. In his path towards vengeance he is made to acknowledge the reality of death which in turn makes him question the purpose of seeking fame while alive as Claudius has done by murdering King Hamlet. In the graveyard scene Hamlet asks, "Is this the fine of his fines, the recovery of his recoveries, to have his fine pate filled with fine dirt?" Shakespeare uses wordplay and a rhetorical question to communicate the overwhelming nature of such a question and to provoke the audience to similarly consider the point of seeking fame in life when it is all inevitably lost in death. Furthermore, he uses Hamlet's musings to draw attention to the futility of the hierarchy system, when it seems that we are all equal in death: "Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, / Might stop a hole to keep the wind away." Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Hamlet A Hero Essay Not All Heroes Wear Capes Many view Hamlet, the main character, in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet as a hero. He portrays characteristics that prove to the reader that he does possess heroic qualities. Although, it is a struggle for him throughout the play, but as he goes through life and learns new ways of coping things, he develops new characteristics that he didn't have in the beginning. Hamlet learns to overcome his anxiety, depression, and anger . In the end, he learns how to be calm and collected. The way Hamlet learns how to handle internal conflicts throughout the play, shows the readers a realistic view of the difficult encounters one may have when learning to cope with different issues. Hamlet is arguably one of the greatest dramatic characters to be created. As he learns of his father's death , he starts to over analyze ever little detail causing him to create scenarios in his mind that give me anxiety. His mother notices his anger, but Hamlet makes it known that the distress he is feeling over–powers his actions. He says, "Together with all the forms, moods, shapes of grief... for they are the actions that a man might play; but I have that within which passes show, these but the trappings and the suits of woe" (ACT I, ii). He is angry at his mother because she remarried that same man that killed his father. Hamlet starts to see his father's ghost and she cannot. She then starts to tell Hamlet how he has offended his father, as in Claudius. When Hamlet is defending Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

Essay about Hamlet The phrase "there is a hero to every story" has been heard of by almost all. But can this be true if the hero doesn't survive through the story? It all depends on the definition of hero. A person can still be classified as a hero even if they do not live to see the good that they have done or accomplished in their lifetime. This type of hero is a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a good and admirable man of high position who falls to destruction as a result of some great error he commits or some flaw in his character. This meaning can be broken down into three parts. The first is that the person must be in some way distinguished as an honorable person of high stature. The next feature they must possess is some sort of fault or flaw ...show more content... Hamlet was brave and intelligent, as well as loyal. He showed his loyalties to his father, Hamlet, Sr., after his death by mourning him and disapproving of his mothers marriage to his uncle (I.ii.133– 156). The people who were around him saw this in him and admired him for it. The next trait he possessed was a tragic flaw. The fault in Hamlet's character was brought about by the sadistic murder of his father. Once the Ghost of Hamlet, Sr. told him of the murder his need to find the truth became an obsession. Hamlet then begins to act mad and plays mind games with others, in which he believes he has complete control (II.ii.402–403). This obsession led him to set up a play of his own father's murder so he could witness the reaction of Claudius and find out if the villainous deed was in fact the truth, in which he would avenge his father's death (II.ii.633–634). When the Kings reaction to Hamlet's "Mousetrap" is rather obvious of his crime, Hamlet, by fortune's star, or fate has vowed to avenge his father's death (III.ii.290–295). His obsession to avenge his father's death was his tragic flaw. What Hamlet believes is his fate, is actually the cause of his own destruction. Although his death was not the only destruction caused by his tragic flaw. He ends up killing Polonius, believing it was the King, Claudius (III.iv.27–34). Ophelia's madness was then created because of this death, in combination with Hamlet telling her he didn't Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Hamlet- A Revenge Tragedy Essay Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most well–known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet's actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his 'outsider' outlook on society, ...show more content... One symptom of Schizophrenia is finding oneself incapable of communicating with society. It is possible that Hamlet is Schizophrenic because, given the way that Hamlet feels unable to trust the likes of Claudius, Gertrude, and the other characters, it could suggest a reasoning for his acts of insanity being a way to communicate. Well known is it that the main plot of Hamlet is outlined by revenge. Upon learning the circumstances of his father's death, Hamlet's attitude shifts. Once a saddened mourner, Hamlet becomes a man on a mission for revenge. When the ghost of Hamlet's father brings the news to the awestruck Hamlet, Hamlet is appalled by the "Foul and most unnatural murder" (1.5, 31). Hamlet immediately promises the ghost the retribution he desires, claiming that he will seek swift vengeance against his father's murder to prove his love for him: "Haste me to know't that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge" (1.5, 35–37). Ironically, Hamlet promises the ghost a swift revenge, though his revenge is anything but quick. The theme of delayed activity reoccurs throughout the plot of the story, because, consistently, the protagonist's time–table for accomplishing the task is slowed due to his pondering of moral issues. Hamlet's Mousetrap scene is a perfect Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

Essays About Hamlet

Related Documents