... 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...

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... good friends.? [II.ii.224]-but he quickly senses that they, unlike Horatio, have changed with time. After this, he treats them as the tools they have become? (Mack 265). Hamlet realizes that these two are being used by Claudius to dupe him into going to England with the ulterior motive of having the King of England execute him. While they ... perceptions are on target with Polonius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. Throughout the play the opposite holds true with the positive attitude of Horatio, and the love, respect, and concern he and Hamlet share. Although Fortinbras has been frequent...

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• Grade Level: High School

... in fact doing a wonderful job of fooling everyone. Still, no one quite knows. Only if Shakespeare were here to inform us of his purpose in making Hamlet seem really mad, yet not telling us if he is or not. Many readers have spent a great deal of time pondering this matter; it's interesting though ... that no one seems to have gotten anywhere. I believe Hamlet is not mad, I am in no doubt that he has full control over his mind, although sometimes he takes it too far without thinking ahead of the ... Horatio of this, and makes him promise never to tell a soul why he is acting with such we...

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... she was a hypocrite when he tells her "God hath given you one face and you make yourselves another" (3.1.155-154). Hamlet continuously puts her down and treats her like nonsense. Also an additional fault that Hamlet has is that he kind of rubs it in too much to his mother Queen Gertrude that she remarried not even a ... on an act and to try and open the eyes of his mother Queen Gertrude so that she can see that King Claudius killed King Hamlet. Hamlet is the one that is correct because he is trying to open the eyes of his mother so that she can see that Claudius is the appalling one ......

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... . The Fortune Wheel is the belief that a man on top will soon be on the bottom; a man that has it all will soon fall. This happens to, Hamlet, the tragic hero of the play. Usually the tragic hero of a play lacks description, but luckily during the Renaissance era Humanism was developed. Humanism allows readers to get ... didn't think that he was the right person for the job of murdering his uncle. "Oh cursed spite that ever I was born to set it right!" (I.v.210-11). Hamlet cannot decide when to kill Claudius. He had the chance to kill Claudius, but he decided not to. "Now might I do it, ...

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... team. When faced with betrayal, people often feel deceived by the ones closest to them. This is the case in William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the main character Hamlet and his father both face deception and betrayal as they come to realize that the ones closest to them aren't who they claim to be. ... and her late husband. She mourns only the bare minimum before remarrying her brother-in-law. Not only is it wrong, it is extremely rude. Hamlet feels this betrayal even before he is notified of Claudius's secret. He feels the need to avenge the shame that has been brought about from his ...

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... respected and looked up to his father, enough that even after two months of his death he could not overcome his feelings. Many believe this is why Hamlet says, "Or that the everlasting had not fixed his canon 'gainst self slaughter! O God, O God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of ... this world!" It explains how he finds his life meaningless now. His mother Gertrude's wedding has also had an impact in the change of Hamlet's character. Hamlet's former uncle, now step-dad and new king of Denmark; did not care for Hamlet's miserableness, for Hamlet wa...

• Word Count: 557
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... you are putting your mind to do so that it does not take over who you are. This quote is proven valid with examples from the play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare. Hamlet devotes himself into avenging his father's death, which although he devises a plan in which takes over his life, he is ultimately successful in the end. ... is going to be acting crazy, that it is just an act and that they shall tell no one about what has happened that night. Throughout the play Hamlet puts on this act of madness. He acts crazy in front of his mother, the king, Ophelia, Laertes and Polonius in an...

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... to his most trusted confident, Horatio, when he says "Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral bak'd meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables."" Hamlet's madness and confusion is partially the result of his inability to end his mourning over the death of his father. So long as the task of ... you are. Now to my word: "It is Adieu, adieu, adieu, and remember me."" I have sworn't. Andrews explains the significance of this passage in relation to Hamlet's mourning and confusion by saying: This is a crucial and dreadful vow for many reasons, but the most important, as Freud places us i...

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... role in the unfolding of the play. In reading this play the reader can almost guess who was going to die. A prince named Hamlet is the main character. Hamlet is a college student who one day planned to take over the throne in Denmark, but treachery would spoil all of Hamletplans. The King ... , Hamletfather, was found dead in an orchard where he spent much of his time. All of the Kingsubjects, including Hamlet, thought his majesty died because of a snake bite. Hamlet was devastated when he learned of his fatherdeath, but what made him more uneasy was the fact that Gertrude, Hamletmother,...

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... in a rather brief period of time after the King's death. The incestuous relationship between his mother and his uncle also adds to Hamlet's mounting fury. The apparition then, is that from which Hamlet's revenge springs forth. The first in Hamlet's series of changes is one of doubt. He somewhat doubts the apparition and therefore, devises a plan in which to prove whether his uncle ... is the true murderer. Hamlet puts on a play, "The Mousetrap" for the new King and Queen. In this play, Hamlet reenacts the way in which the apparition says he was killed. In the midst of the play, the King...

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... a few certain characters. Only in the presence of Gertrude, Claudius, Ophelia, and Polonius does he behave as a madman. These are the characters that Hamlet may have reason to suspect played a part in his father's death. In feigning madness, Hamlet attempts to confuse these characters in hope of exposing the truth about his father's death. He uses the play "The Mousetrap" and his ... dialogues with these characters as a means of unmasking the truth in his father's murder. In a dialogue with Ophelia, Hamlet uses their relationship to further people's beliefs that he is in fact, mad. In a...

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... a few certain characters. Only in the presence of Gertrude, Claudius, Ophelia, and Polonius does he behave as a madman. These are the characters that Hamlet may have reason to suspect played a part in his father's death. In feigning madness, Hamlet attempts to confuse these characters in hope of exposing the truth about his father's death. He uses the play "The Mousetrap" and his ... dialogues with these characters as a means of unmasking the truth in his father's murder. In a dialogue with Ophelia, Hamlet uses their relationship to further people's beliefs that he is in fact, mad. In a...

• Word Count: 627
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... them. The ghost explains to him exactly how he died. He reveals to his son that his own brother, Claudius, is responsible for his death, and now Hamlet must kill his uncle to avenge his father's death. Claudius is also now not only his uncle but has now married his mother, Gertrude, and has also ... Claudius that he know's he killed his father and now he shall die for two reasons. The first being , Claudius is the King of Denmark and if Hamlet states that he must now kill the king , people in the country will think he's gone mad or maybe even worse kill the him for treason. ... This is w...

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... throne. These entire situations would leave an individual to loose their belief on society and reality and fall into complete insanity, but with the great-minded Hamlet neither of these conditions would be successful. Though the prince of Denmark had displayed numerous signs of madness through out the play after finding out the ... of his father, but his madness was a disguise for him in order to investigate and find key evidence of Claudius being the actual murderer. If Hamlet were truthfully insane, he would not have been able to suddenly stop displaying his madness as he did after his...

• Word Count: 833
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... end them. To die, to sleep / no more" (3.1.64-68), details which bring up new thoughts about what happens in the after life. Thus, Hamlet contemplates suicide, but his lacking knowledge about what awaits him in the afterworld causes him to question what death will bring. For example he states, "The undiscovered ... revenge is not always the best solution. He then moves beyond his earlier need to settle the score and asks for forgiveness from Leartes. Hamlet's need to know is highlighted in his interaction with the ghost, but treated in an unusual way. The ghost brings to attention the t...

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... , seemed to--Ophelia, whose craziness, especially in her final hours is unmistakably obvious. The actual reason as to why the audience is easily convinced that Hamlet was sane while Ophelia was mad, is simple: it is the brilliantly skillful way that Shakespeare portrays them that makes it clear, though not obvious, ... in the play, however, to the audience, all of these acts are perfectly explainable and rational. This is because the audience knows the situation that Hamlet is in, having had his father murdered and his mother marrying the murderer of his father. The voiced opinions of t...

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... Firstly, he asks the players to play "The Murder of Gonzago", which he knows deals with the murder of a king. (Act 2, Scene 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 that his uncle will act strange when he watches the play if he truly did murder his father. Someone who is mad ... . Most importantly, someone who is truly insane is not aware ...

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... go to heaven, "Now might I do it pat, now he is praying,/ And now I"ll do't. And so"a goes to heaven" (III. iii. 73-74). Hamlet believes that his revenge will not be done if he sends Claudius to heaven, for his father had no chance to clear his soul before he was killed " "A took ... kill Claudius, he wants to avenge his fathers death. In simply killing Claudius he is not avenging his father. He must reveal Claudius's sins to everyone. Thus Hamlet waits for the perfect moment to reveal to everyone that Claudius has killed his father. In proving this to the court he also saves himself, bec...

• Word Count: 900
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... remarriage. This is concretely evident in the beginning of his soliloquy, as he remarks on the fact that the world has only unpleasant things in it. Hamlet is so distraught and confused that he wonders why God has made it immoral to commit suicide (lines 1-4). In saying that Denmark is an "unweeded garden, ... of which were murdered. Niobe wept until Zeus cast her into stone, and even then tears flowed from the statue, forming a river.) Hamlet uses the idea of tears to show how shortly his mother mourned. Both in line 21, and lines 26-27, the idea of tears is used by ... his mother's new...

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... And that his soul may be as damned and black As hell, whereto it goes" (III.iii.89-95). From lines 73 to 78, Hamlet is prepared to kill Claudius, yet he ponders his future actions, and decides to postpone his revenge. He does so due to the fact that by ... time in which Claudius engages himself in a sinful act, from which has no chance for salvation, whereby he will go to hell upon death. During Hamlet's soliloquy in Act IV, Hamlet hears of the actions of Fortinbras. When honor's at the stake. How stand I then, That have a father killed, a mother stained, Excitements ... returns, puzzl...

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... , despite the fact that such an attempt at a coup would be supported by the people as "he is loved of the distracted multitude." Hamlet's integrity is manifested by his refusal to enact his revenge brutally and rashly on hearing of his father "most foul and unnatural murder." Only ... a lesser man would have killed Claudius without even considering and contemplating the ramifications. Hamlet's strength of character is in fact highlighted by his desire for the truth. He seeks this assurance from his play "the mousetrap," which he ... bizarre contradictions in his character. He is not per...

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... Claudius, he loses his chance in finally seeking justice for his father. So, Shakespeare also presents the theme of introspection in this soliloquy as Hamlet not only begins a debate within is mind about the fate of Claudius, but it also seems to cause him to think too much about ... father was, as well. Finally, the last important theme presented in this soliloquy is the theme of religious scruples. It has been established that Hamlet failed to murder Claudius because of his belief in where they both will end up. Therefore his religion plays an important role in his decision about ... ...

• Word Count: 843
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... revenge if Claudius went to heaven. "Up sword, and know thou a more horrid hent. When he his drunk, asleep, or in his rage" (Act 3, Sc 3, Ln 92-3). Hamlet himself even questions the fact why he delays his revenge. "I do not know why yet I live to say, this thing's to do, Sitch I have cause, and will, and ... and means to do't"(Act 4, Sc 4, Ln 46-8). This revenge really impacts Hamlets love for 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 c...

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... ," (II.ii.296) is well portrayed with manic behavior and palpable distress that even his mother, Queen Gertrude, is convinced it is real. Prince Hamlet attempts to explain, 3) "That I essentially am not in madness,But mad in craft" (III.vii.202). Nevertheless, Queen Gertrude is not ... affected by her son's truthfulness. In an attempt to understand Prince Hamlet's 4) "[] madness wherein now he raves," (II.ii.105) Queen Gertrude blames his erratic behavior on the stress of his father's death and ... mineral of metals base,Shows itself pure.He weeps for what is done" (IV.i.207). The facad...

• Word Count: 602
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• Grade Level: High School