... dramatic irony, as only the audience knows that the ghost can be seen by other characters. This shows that the ghost is now a figure of Hamlet's imagination and he has lost control of his mind. As Hamlet is in exile he abruptly decides to send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their death in England. He later tells Horatio that they were " ... has no moral responsibility towards his old friends. Just as the audience fears Hamlet is lost control entirely, he comes back to reality when he learns of Ophelia's death in Act 5 Scene 1. "I loved Ophelia, forty thousand brothers could not wit...

• Word Count: 968
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• Grade Level: High School

... cannot believe that his mother could so quickly fall in love with Claudius when she seemed so in love with Hamlet Senior as well. When he finds out from his father's ghost that Claudius murdered him, he exclaims, "O my prophetic soul! / My uncle?" (1. 5. 41). This means that he already had a feeling that this was true, and makes Hamlet feel justified in having all the other ... return. Hamlet then talks crazy to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the king's spies, who are pretending to just be concerned about Hamlet's well-being. He suspects that they are not his true friends, asking, " Were...

• Word Count: 1204
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• Grade Level: High School

... I"ll catch the conscience of the king". The play works but does not make Hamlet take action just yet. When hamlet is most bound to act, he gets puzzled and lost. This is most likely the reason why Hamlet does not take advantage of the opportunity to kill Claudius when he is at his prayers. Hamlet can not have his revenge ... Ophelia. It is only after Ophelia's death that Hamlet expresses his true love for her. Hamlet declares his love for Ophelia as she is lying in her grave. "I loved Ophelia: forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum". Sadly Hamle...

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• Grade Level: High School

... she could forsake her loving husband when he was such a great man. "So excellent a king, that was to this/ Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother frailty, thy name is woman!" (1,2.143-144 & 150). These lines just reinstate all that Hamlet believes. His father was very kind, especially to his mother; ... do and what not to do while he is away. He ends this speech with "This above all: to thine own self be true" (1,3. 84). Polonius really does love his son even though it is very questionable sometimes whether he is just worried about himself. Polonius's speech is about Laertes keeping ...

• Word Count: 1201
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• Grade Level: High School

... killing Hamlet and he will stop at nothing until he completes his mission. This just proves that he has no sense of self-control and he has lost his sanity. Hamlet also appeared to act crazy after discovering that his uncle, King Claudius, notoriously killed his father and then married his mother. Hamlet is ... hit with so many emotions that he eventually goes mad and speaks inappropriately to almost anyone he comes in contact with. This is true when Hamlet says to Ophelia: "Go to, I'll no more on it, it hath made your ignorance. Go to, I'll no more on it, I hath ... already. He is rud...

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... Hamlet, Ophelia is an innocent, nave little girl that put too much trust in the men in her life. She is a very young teenager who lost her mother, possibly at birth. She has a father Polonius and a brother Laertes who have gone to great measures to shelter her from the harsh realities ... his father's murderer. Hamlet, while observing his mother in action comes to the conclusion that deceitfulness is a woman's true nature. So he decided to test Ophelia's loyalty. Ophelia, who truly does love Hamlet, but at the same time loves and wants to obey her father and brother, is having an emotio...

• Word Count: 1081
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• Grade Level: High School

... that Hamlet was taking the mourning of his father's death to extremes: "To give these mourning duties to your father. But you must know your father lost a father, That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound In filial obligation for some term To do obsequious sorrow." (I, ii, 88-92) The King is telling Hamlet that death ... "...She married. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not, nor it cannot come to good. But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue." (I, ii, 156-159) He is telling us that his mother has married right away and did not ...

• Word Count: 983
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... aside begin to rise up out of him and he rushes to her grave. He challenges Laertes by saying that his love for her was so strong that "forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum" (V.i.1536). He goes on to say that he would do anything for her and asks Laertes "woo't weep, woo't fight ... , Hamlet doesn't realize the value of what he had until he could no longer have it. There are many times throughout the play when Hamlet shows that he might have lost all of his feelings towards Ophelia. He takes his mock insanity to the highest degree on all his en...

• Word Count: 1185
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• Grade Level: High School

... Ophelia's grave, and fights with Laertes in her grave. He professes "I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/Could not, with all their quantity of love,/ Make up my sum" [Act V, scene I, lines 250-253], during the fight with Laertes in Ophelia's grave, but he tells her that he never loved ... he must destroy all the current feelings Ophelia has for him and he does so very well, perhaps too well. Either his love for Ophelia was never as strong as he said, which I doubt, or he has really gone insane by assuming every situation is going ... to happen and he sacrifices her love for revenge...

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... , Laertes would rather dare damnation than leave his father's honor and his own besmirched. Though the sight of his sister's madness brings him to a moment of true madness, he is still primarily enraged by his father's death "Obscure funeral - / No trophy, sword, nor hatchment o'er his bones, / No noble rite ... concern for outward honor he further dishonors himself by the false statement that he will act honorably with Hamlet. Saying that "I do receive your offered love like love, / And will not wrong it," (Laertes V ii, 247-248) he goes and chooses the lethally sharp weapon that the ki...

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... other times, when he is most bound to act, he remains puzzled, undecided, and sceptical, dallies with his purposes, till the occasion is lost, and finds out some pretence to relapse into indolence and thoughtfulness again. For this reason he refuses to kill the King when he is at ... he might be excused in delicacy from carrying on a. regular courtship. "I loved Ophelia: forty thousand brothers Could not with all their quantity of love Make up my sum." Nothing can be more affecting or beautiful than the Queen's apostrophe to Ophelia on throwing the flowers into the grave. ""Sweets ... sh...

• Word Count: 1060
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... by deciphering Shakespeare's unique story in an unexpected way. In spite of the fact that they were both exceptionally successful movies, in my opinion, it is Zeffirelli who best catches the quintessence of the play in light of the way it adequately catches its viewers by ... Shakespearean period, while Kenneth Branagh does not. Helena Bonham Carter, who played Ophelia, made an extraordinary showing with playing the part of a youthful lost young lady, who has experienced numerous tragedies throughout her life, and has now gone crazy. During the Ophelia madness scene, Zeffirelli effectiv...

• Word Count: 812
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... right away when he is praying he will send Claudius to heaven and not to hell. This is however not true as we see that when Claudius finishes praying he says "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go"(3,iii,97-97). This tells us that Claudius does not ... results in his death along with the death of many others. Hamlet is very passionate and attached to his mother but at the same time this passionate love for his mother has made him frustrated after the incestuous marriage of his mother to his uncle. As a result of this marriage he has also be...

• Word Count: 884
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• Grade Level: High School

... as she killed herself she was still singing little songs and playing with the flowers, while when Hamlet was dying he was calm and rational, his true sane self. Secondly, truly insane people can not make swift, rational decisions with common sense and plan ahead. Hamlet shows both of these qualities ... 2, Lines 533-534). Hamlet has a discussion with himself about how plays can make guilty people confess their crimes. He states, "Play something like the murder of my father before mine uncle; I"ll observe his looks." (Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 593-595) Hamlet is sane and smart enough to know...

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... disgust and anger. As a result, it leads Hamlet to make bad decisions as he releases this irritation on all surrounding women, including his one true love Ophelia. Hamlets influence and actions towards his mother and Ophelia throughout the play displays Shakespeare's thoughts towards the role of women. He reveals through the men ... the Lord Hamlet. Look to 't, I charge you. Come your ways" (1.3.130). Polonius orders Ophelia to stay clear of Hamlet regardless of the love she has for him. Due to the respect and her obedience, Ophelia makes this personal sacrifice for her father revealing ...

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... prove to themselves and to each other who truly loved her most by quarrelling at Ophelia's funeral, "I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum." (pg. 255) The differences between theses two men are also important. Laertes is decisive and Hamlet is not. When called to avenge his father's death, Laertes was fast ... foils that led to their death. Fortinbras" character provides the actions and emotions, comparable to those of Hamlet in order to better understand Hamlet's own character. Hamlet and Fortinbras both lost their father and ...

• Word Count: 1059
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• Grade Level: High School

... those around him about the cause of his mental condition, which leads them into conclusion of what his true intentions are behind his actions. This thought is represented through Hamlet misleading Polonius into believing that his love for Ophelia was the main cause of his madness. After Hamlet's confrontation with his father's ghost, ... he begins to establish a lack of trust in women. His feigned madness helps him express his internal emotions to Ophelia about how he lost his trust on her as ... Hamlet's death, example from the play where Hamlet explains to Horatio, "One scene of it c...

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• Grade Level: High School

... sexual tension between Hamlet and his mother, which has led many to believe that she is the object of his desire. I like many see that it is evident that Hamlet's true motivation for plotting against Claudius is that Claudius has robbed Hamlet of Gertrude; Hamlet could have pursued his mother, after his father died but marrying his mother would be morally ... marry with his brother" (29-30, 1634), "In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, Stewed in corruption, honeying and making love Over the nasty sty!"( 94-96, 1636) "O speak to me no more! These words like daggers enter in my ears. No m...

• Word Count: 398
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• Grade Level: High School

... be, that is the question?. This is the very first line spoken in the soliloquy. It is also very famous and well known line. What is the true meaning and feelings of this passage? What things are occurring around Hamlet and causing him to feel this way? So many changes were taking place in Hamlet's life ... why? That's the real question. The death of Hamlet's father is a key figure to his feelings. He loved his father dearly and is very sadden by his lost. This is shown by the extended period of mourning. Also how he makes everyone aware. Hamlet doesn't want to live anymore unless the pr...

• Word Count: 793
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School