He states ‘tis an unweeded garden’ alluding to the fact that a false king leads to corruption which finally leads to the collapse of the hierarchy. Initially Hamlet has no internal conflict when it comes to avenging his father’s murder, but he is very quickly drawn into contemplation about the world and mortality. Hamlet as a character is enigmatic and it is these aspects of his personality that allow for his pondering of the world. In his Act 3 Scene 3 soliloquy, Hamlet finally reveals to the audience that he is going to honour his fallen father and avenge his death. However, his reasoning behind hesitation is that Claudius will go to heaven with a forgiven soul ‘and so he goes to heaven’.
On one level it helps develop the reader’s understanding of some of the play’s key themes. The first of these is revenge. At this point in the play, after Hamlet has earlier been told by his father’s ghost that he was murdered by his brother, Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, Hamlet has taken no significant action to claim that revenge the ghost has demanded. He believes he has established grounds for taking the appropriate revenge, yet
Hamlet has moments which catapult it to extraordinary drama, making readers, like myself, more eager to read along. Because of this, I would say that Hamlet is more dramatic and more entertaining then Saxo’s version, Amleth. First I will explain the similarities in both stories. In both Amleth and Hamlet, the characters are all the same, excluding their names. There is Amleth/Hamlet’s dead father, the brother who killed his father and becomes king, the mother who married Amleth/Hamlet’s uncle.
While Hamlet is self-conflicting with plans, Laertes is taking action immediately after he knows of his father’s murder. At the end of the play, the similarity between Hamlet and Laretes can be observed by the viewers as Hamlet says “I'll be your foil, Laertes: in mine ignorance your skill shall, like a star i' the darkest night, Stick fiery off indeed" (V.ii.5-7). Hamlet knows that they will be compared to one another in the future. Although Laertes is found to be greater for his courage to take action, Hamlet’s ability to make rational thoughts and planning has been highlighted from this
Laertes unlike Hamlet and Fortinbras is dangerously upfront about his revenge and will stop at nothing until he deems his judgement given. At one point Laertes even states he’d be willing “To cut [Hamlet’s] throat i' th’ church” (Act IV, scene vii, line 140)This quote shows how Laertes will stop at nothing to avenge his father even if it means making himself damned for eternity, along with the culprit, However this quote serves another purpose it defining how very different Laertes and Hamlet are. Since it is the direct opposite of what Hamlet does when he sees Claudius praying (Hamlet refuses to kill Claudius). Simply put, Laertes moves quickly and acts rashly in his anger, choosing to act first and apologize later. Which he admits to, when he speaks “I am justly killed with mine own treachery.” (Act V, Scene ii, line 323) Second of the men is the prince of Norway, young Fortinbras.
Hamlet finds it difficult to carry out his revenge before he realises that there is a “divinity which shapes us all”, as he is caught up with the concept of death and troubled by his own inability to act. Hamlet is deeply upset by everything which his happening around him, especially his mothers “incestuous’ relationship with Claudius. He is extremely critical of himself, often calling himself a “coward”,” pigeon livered” and “lacking gall” as he cannot just kill
Even in similar circumstances, Hamlet has a different approach than the other two foil characters to his father’s death. Although Hamlet and Laertes share several characteristics, their attitudes differ greatly. Laertes actions are purely guided by his feelings, while Hamlet’s only by his mind. Proof of this is when Hamlet apologizes to Laertes and he accepts the apology but then clarifies that in terms of honor he isn’t satisfied. "I am satisfied in nature, / Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most / To my revenge: but in my terms of honour / I stand aloof" Act V sc.
And you must needs have hear, how I am punished with a sore distraction. What I have done that might your nature, honor, and exception roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness. (5.2 243-246)” Here Hamlet apologized to Laertes saying that his madness was at fault for the murder of his father. A person who was insane would neither realize that he/she is mad nor would know that their actions were uncontrollable. Hamlet showed that he was sane when he was with specific characters, such as his best friend, Horatio.
Literature constitutes a wide variety of author’s from different eras with different writing techniques. It reflects the author’s goal and techniques and what philosophy they are portraying to the reader. Considering the works from our reading list for this course, Hamlet by William Shakespeare is truly a popular fiction and has unique literary techniques. Shakespeare foreshadows quite frequently throughout this piece of literature. When Hamlet is talking to the ghost of his father, their conversation reflects what doom and gloom will ultimately come at the end of the story.
Ironically, Mercutio dies of a wound “occasioned partly by Romeo’s love, while Romeo, no less a man, will die not of a wound but of the poison he voluntarily takes for love” (Kahn 64). The men in the play are viewed to be under pressure. The fathers cannot perform as fathers and the sons cannot perform as sons. “The fathers cannot enforce the law so long as they themselves are living in a self-imposed condition of ‘mutiny’ or ‘rebellion’” (Appelbaum