Unsponsored and free, Hamlet longs for a mighty opposite, and discovers he has to be his own. He inaugurates the situation in which each of us has to be our own worst enemy. (Bloom 134).
In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the inability of Hamlet to play out the vengeance cycle before him stands as both, a sign of his characters" spiritual and intellectual superiority to the other characters in the play, and as his moral weakness. By not producing within the play a worthy challenger to Hamlet, Shakespeare turns Hamlet's conflict inward, enabling the playwright to explore the duality of the noble and profane within a single character. In doing this, Shakespeare captures the enigma of moral clarity and purpose in the human experience. .
In the play, unlike for example in Othello, Hamlet stands without a rival such as Iago to challenge him. Superficially Claudius stands as rival and antagonist to Hamlet; in fact, Hamlet himself refers to this rivalry while commenting on his own trickery of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern:.
"Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes.
Between the pass and fell incensed points.
Of mighty opposites.
[V.ii.60-62].
But as Harold Bloom in his Book Hamlet: Poems Unlimited(61-65); points out, Claudius is no "mighty opposite," [V.ii.62] at every encounter between the King and Hamlet; Claudius comes out the loser in both physical and rhetorical terms. In his book, Bloom sites this typical exchange between Hamlet and the King to illustrate the one sided nature of their conflict. .
KING Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius?.
HAMLET At supper.
KING At supper? Where?.
HAMLET Not where he eats, but where a is eaten.
A certain convocation of politic worms are e"en at .
him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet: we fat .
all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for .
maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but .
variable service -two dishes, but to one table. That's .
the end.
KING Alas, alas.
Hamlet Hamlet is a young man who's father dies and his life is turned upside down. ... Hamlet is battling his conscience. ... Hamlet is extremely indecisive. ... Hamlet wants to kill his uncle because he killed hamlets father. ... Hamlet only trusts Horatio. ...
The old king Hamlet is murder by Claudius and therefore Hamlet must take his revenge. ... Hamlet begins to doubt the ghost. ... Hamlet is contradicts himself. ... Hamlet's next problem is that of morality. ... Hamlet's flaw of irresolution, the uncertainty on how to act or proceed, is shown when Hamlet sees a play and the passion the actors had, after Hamlet's third soliloquy, in Hamlet's fourth soliloquy, and in Hamlet's indecisive pursuit in avenging his father's death. ...
Hamlet In the play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, Hamlet never loses his sanity, in his plan to feign madness. ... It is after this statement that Hamlet begins to act mad. ... Guildenstern asks Hamlet what he means by this and Hamlet professes he is "" . . . but mad north-north-west. ... Polonius believe he [Hamlet] was mad. ... In a conversation, Gertrude questions Hamlet's sanity. ...
Hamlet In the play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, Hamlet never loses his sanity, in his plan to feign madness. ... It is after this statement that Hamlet begins to act mad. ... Guildenstern asks Hamlet what he means by this and Hamlet professes he is "" . . . but mad north-north-west. ... Polonius believe he [Hamlet] was mad. ... In a conversation, Gertrude questions Hamlet's sanity. ...
Laertes is a mirror to Hamlet. ... Laertes is decisive and Hamlet is not. ... Fortinbras acts as Hamlet's inspiration; he motivates Hamlet to go forward with his plan to kill Claudius, which in the end leads to Hamlet's downfall. ... Horatio is Hamlet's friend and solid rock on whom Hamlet can trust and depend. ... Horatio cared for Hamlet greatly, and so Hamlet cared greatly for Horatio. ...
Hamlet The study of Shakespeare's Hamlet has been one that is very extensive as well as enormous. ... A critic of Hamlet once said, "a man set out to read all the books about Hamlet would have time to read nothing else, not even Hamlet." ... "Hamlet is the tragedy of reflection. ... For where Hamlet saw that "the time is out of joint," Hamlet himself was "out of joint." ... (Mack. 64) Hamlet begins his questioning with the death of elder Hamlet. ...
Hamlet 1 Throughout Hamlet, Hamlet expresses his thoughts via several soliloquies. ... In this scene, Hamlet is being "set up" by Ophelia, Polonius, and Claudius. ... This is quite different than the "emotional Hamlet" seen in 1.2, or the "vengeful Hamlet" seen in 1.5. ... The three claim to be concerned for Hamlet's mental state of mind. This is ironic, because as the characters within the play see Hamlet mentally deteriorating, readers see Hamlet mentally developing. ...
Hamlet Tania Kozie-Slobodzian Hamlet is categorized as one of Shakespeare's tragedies. ... Horatio a friend of Hamlet tells Hamlet that he is afraid because he thinks he has seen a ghost who resembles the late King. ... The Ghost of Hamlet's father appears in front of Hamlet. The ghost is in fact Hamlet's late father. ... Now that Hamlet is said to be crazy, Polonius goes to the King and tells him about Hamlet's strange behavior concerning Ophelia. ...
