... his being angry, sad, and in grief, it is caused by some characters. Other characters have sympathy towards him and try to help this tragic hero. Hamlet, at first, appears to act mad when he hears of his father's death. It seems as if there are two Hamlets in this play, one that ... mad in order to fool Claudius and Gertrude long enough to know whether Claudius really killed his father or not. (Stanley3) Ophelia tells her father that Hamlet has gone mad because he entered into the room where she was sewing and grabbed her wrist. After staring into her eyes for a while he then ... for O...

• Word Count: 2059
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... life - asking whether it is nobler to fight or suffer, if to die is to sleep and to dream. It is strange that in this scene, Hamlet switches immediately from deep pondering to his feigned persona precisely when Ophelia enters. The phrase,Soft you now. .? is the transition from his true self into ... his madness as it is an exclamation of interruption. In the interaction between Ophelia and Hamlet, he denies ever giving Ophelia the claimedremembrances.? He plays a very convincing role of someone who has lost his mind throughout this scene. He says in one ... ,You should not have believed ...

• Word Count: 1958
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... Claudius, despite the initial task of revenge being to remove himself from his uncle. Revenge in any context is morally wrong (in Hamlet's religion and belief). Hamlet himself realizes this and is aware that the deeds he is charged to commit can never bring about good, yet he knows he must ... this may have been more like the prince of Denmark before his father's murder. However, within this jovial and perhaps slightly too good-natured behavior we see Hamlet's underlying malaise - he needs to prove his Claudius" guilt. "Had he the motive and cue for passion, That I have?" (Act2, Scene2)...

• Word Count: 2354
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• Grade Level: High School

... people and to get what he wants out of them. First of all, the whole idea of acting mad is an ingenious tactic on the part of Hamlet because it allows him to do and say whatever he pleases for the entire play without being further questioned or scrutinized by anyone, they simply let things go ... devise and carry out the entire scheme to see whether or not Claudius is guilty. Near the end of the play Hamlet again exhibits his wit on the trip to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet is able to sense that something is wrong, find the letter explaining that he is to be killed wh...

• Word Count: 1191
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• Grade Level: High School

... unnatural murder." The ghost reveals that the murderer was Claudius "the serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown" and although Hamlet still does not have any real proof he sees it as an "honest ghost" and vows revenge on his Uncle. He does not initially question ... irony. Later on in the play we learn that Ophelia herself has been driven to madness. The cause of her madness is either of loss of Hamlet's love or the dead of her father: Polonius. However, the reason behind this is never completely clear as Shakespeare integrates Ophelia's speech with double meanings .....

• Word Count: 2360
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• Grade Level: High School

... killed Claudius by now. Therein, lies the struggle between acting, and actual vengeance, that persists throughout the play until the very end. At this moment, Hamlet avows to avenge his father, "I should ha' fatted all the region kites With this slave's offal. Bloody, bawdy villain! O, vengeance! What an ass ... This is most brave, That I, the son of a dear father murdered, Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell..." (1079, line 535). Again, Hamlet is questioning not only his sanity, but his role in life. He also questions the purpose of his role-madness or vengeful son? He had already...

• Word Count: 3068
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... if she did it (killed his father), he just wants his "mommy" back; this is due in part to his Oedipal feelings. Proof of Hamlet's hostility and manic behavior observed by his remarks to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about his mother's message that she wants to speak to him. His remarks ... and upsetting, unlike some of his other witticisms, to be humorous and they appear to be very like manic behavior. Another interesting point is that Hamlet compares himself with Nero, who killed his mother and also had an incestuous passion for her (Charlton, 67). The Emperor Claudius was Nero's step ......

• Word Count: 3265
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: High School

... the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune (III, i, 58). His disinterest for life, and his wishes for death are a definite indications of Hamlet's sickness. Hamlet's sickness is also shown through his strong relationship, bordering on obsession, with his mother. Throughout the play he constantly worries about her, and becomes ... Cornelius and Voltimand. He wisely advises them to go to Norway to negotiate peace with Fortinbras. This is in sharp contrast to Old Hamlet who plunged Denamrk into war with Norway. The people are also rather fond of Norway. Their fondness of Claudius is indica...

• Word Count: 2834
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• Grade Level: High School

... and artistic upheaval, tentative and feisty environment and political disarray. The story introduces us to three young men whose fathers had been brutally killed (Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras). The men had high positions 'in the social order and a fall/death of any one would influence the entire society. ... I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven". The third stage is when he gets side tracked as he inadvertently kills Polonious. Hamlet follows the regular convention of typical Elizabethan revenge tragedies very closely. The hero, at first, is faced with the fact that he ...

• Word Count: 3059
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• Grade Level: High School

... to an appropriate destination without coming across the hurdles and dangers on the way. The above statement is directly linked with Shakespeare's play Hamlet in which Shakespeare has incorporated different advices through different characters which along with their own benefits within these advices were of much help and ... marrying his uncle which was against the customs of that society and was considered to be a sin in those medieval times . This was shown when Hamlet talking to himself about the unforgivable act of his mother said "She married: " O, most wicked speed, to post With such...

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... with foreign affairs, while places like Norway are trying to take back land that they rightly lost. He simply does not have time for his son. Hamlet probably did not know his father very well. A lot of his life seemed to be spent away from home at boarding schools across the continent. His ... if he doesn't know much about Claudius at all. He soon takes a disliking to the new father, mainly due to the suspicion of foul play. Surprisingly Hamlet is able to sense shenanigans going around without the ghosts help. While still dressed in black for his father's funeral he is already at his mot...

• Word Count: 1894
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... manner "seems madam? Nay it is; I know not seems". His grief is real and true, not an act. The soliloquies reveal a lot about Hamlet they contain all the major themes, including death, suicide, suffering, action and the emptiness of existence. In these soliloquies Shakespeare uses beautiful almost poetic language ... immediate action he begins to develop a plan he talks of putting on an antic disposition. This is Shakespeare's most interesting element in the presentation of Hamlet. This pretence of madness in a way is an outlet for his pent up emotion. It is a justification for delay. It...

• Word Count: 2065
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... to the development of the English language. "The world has admired and respected many great writers, but only Shakespeare has generated such varied and continued interest and such constant affection". Hamlet is the most popular play written by William Shakespeare and was translated into many languages and has become the subject of excited and critical debate more than any other work ... main techniques is how Shakespeare represented characters. He manipulated audience's minds by changing the way characters behaved in certain situations. Act III Scene 4 plays a very important role in the...

• Word Count: 2226
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... Johnson, a well respected author , has "no doubt that the hero's madness' was merely pretended'-(Neill, 309). After the Ghost's first appearance to Hamlet, Hamlet decides that when he finds it suitable or advantageous to him, he will put on a mask of madness so to speak. He confides to Horatio ... I, the son of the dear murder'd, Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words (2. 2. 490-528). Hamlet calls himself a "dull and muddy-mettled rascal- (2.2.508), a villain and a coward, but when he realizes that his anger does not achieve anything prac...

• Word Count: 1834
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• Grade Level: High School

... unexpected visit. Here he tries to outwit them with determining their true reason of appearing. Thus creating another obstacle that taints the purity pf Hamlet's cause. He is now concerned with deceiving his family and friends instead of committing the deed his father entrusted him to carry out and ... , Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent to their deaths in England even though they were victims of deception as well. We witness the outcome of Hamlet's entire quest, which was plagued by more thought and judgment then action as in the concluding scenes, the guilty as well as the innocent...

• Word Count: 1975
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... to be the sensitive, intellectual, able to express himself through poetry and who comes across as being dedicated to truth. The other side of Hamlet, barbaric side, treats Ophelia cruelly and with no empathy, slays Polonius and speaks of dragging his guts into another room, and who sends Rosencrantz ... and Guildenstern to their deaths without any remorse. However, dispite these "two Hamlets", most interpreters of Hamlet see him as a "tragic hero" with a clear and sacred obligation to kill Claudius but due to his being a victim of great external difficulties, ... as a coward and cries o...

• Word Count: 1180
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... can be easily broken, crushed, overcome, torn, or otherwise destroyed, ruined, or captured; not strong." Using this definition, I would have to say by no means was Hamlet a weak character in the Shakespearean play. The figurative definition for the word "strong" is, "having or showing moral or mental force; a strong mind." Another definition ... is your father. When this opportunity is no longer a possibility and it is taken away from a son, it leaves you breathless. This is how Hamlet felt. He felt an emptiness inside himself and as if a piece of his manhood was stripped from him. He no...

• Word Count: 1433
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... so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not." (III, i, 115-116) However, during Ophelia's funeral in Act V, Hamlet leaps into the grave in grief and says, "I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum." (V, ... i, 221-223) From these two conflicting actions, one must question Hamlet's true feelings for Ophelia. Was he merely acting mad when he claimed to have never loved her? From his show of overwhelming grief upon her ... mind a hell now appear in all their hideousness in the light of day." (Waldock 58) In ...

• Word Count: 1236
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not." (III, i, 115-116) However, during Ophelia's funeral in Act V, Hamlet leaps into the grave in grief and says, "I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum." (V, ... i, 221-223) From these two conflicting actions, one must question Hamlet's true feelings for Ophelia. Was he merely acting mad when he claimed to have never loved her? From his show of overwhelming grief upon her ... mind a hell now appear in all their hideousness in the light of day." (Waldock 58) In ...

• Word Count: 1236
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... much about our tormented protagonist. We see his ever-growing procrastination, as well as his methodical and calculating thought process. We also gain insight into the fascinating character of Prince Hamlet through his several soliloquies, his actions and conversations, and what others have to say about him. He possesses many interesting character traits and qualities: intelligence, wit, procrastination, broken promises ... , reasoning, facetiousness, and misogynism. To say that Hamlet is very analytical and methodical would be a gross understatement. In fact, he tends to overanalyze his...

• Word Count: 1991
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... and the actions of the characters involved, Shakespeare's message about the importance of both reason and passion becomes evident. From the beginning of Hamlet, the reader is thrust into a world where reason and passion both have to be called into question. Shakespeare introduces the supernatural ghost into ... will succumb to the power of fortune. By chance, Gertrude happens to drink the poisoned wine and dies. These fortunate events finally give Hamlet enough incentive to follow through with his plan of murdering Claudius, and of fulfilling the ghost's wish. These irrational events are ...

• Word Count: 1742
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... he is genuinely happy to see her when he says, " The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons / Be all my sins remeber"d" (III,I,90-91). Hamlet greets her with remarks of her beauty, and refers to her as a creature more heavenly than himself who might be easily forgiven of sins. "Be all my ... But mere inplorators of unholy suits, / Breathing like sandified and pious bonds, / The better to beguile" (I.III.127-131). Both Laertes and Polonius think Hamlet is using Ophelia. The irony in this situation is that Polonius uses Ophelia to benefit himself without worrying about her feelings. "Polonius...

• Word Count: 1429
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... respected their fathers and they both sought revenge for their father's death. The also both loved Ophelia; Laertes loved her as a sister, while Hamlet wanted her to be his wife. These are two men who are very proud and arrogant. They felt that they needed to prove to themselves ... 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 to act. He wanted revenge and he wanted it immediately. He does not ... understand their character...

• Word Count: 1059
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• Grade Level: High School

... that God's law forbids suicide because this would be a means of escape for him, from a world he feels "grows to seed." At this point Hamlet reveals why life seems so "weary, stale, flat and unprofitable." It had resulted from the death of his father and the equally important remarriage of his ... know will, and strength, and means to do't," while at the same time he condemns himself for his earlier inactivity. So in a sense it shows Hamlet's growth in confidence, he now seems to have the courage to avenge his father's "most foul and unnatural murder." In the text there is no clear ... him...

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... the end of the play young Fortinbras has more than succeeded in his plans. He sits upon Denmark's throne with the kingship handed to him by young Hamlet who proclaims: "But I do prophesy th'election lights on Fortinbras; he has my dying voice- (Vii.334-335). While young Fortinbras has his revenge ... final scenes with the words "Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane- (Vii.304). - Claudius, the arch-villain in the play, has not only killed Hamlet's father; he has also taken his mother "won to his shameful lust the will of my most seeming virtuous queen- (Iv.45-46). The result, as...

• Word Count: 1437
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• Grade Level: High School