Hamlet was already greatly affected by his father's death and was in deep mourning. After the ghost came into contact with Hamlet, he embodied anger and found a deep addiction to revenge. The ghost of Hamlet's father revealed something to the young Hamlet about how the ghost, Hamlet's father, had died. From there, it set the course for the rest of the play. The ghost informed Hamlet that he had been killed by Sir King Claudius and that Claudius was, in fact, Hamlet's uncle.
The play’s main protagonist Hamlet lets his grief over his father’s murder fuel his thirst for revenge, Ophelia lets the grief over the murder of her father Polonius drive her to apparent suicide, and Ophelia’s brother Laertes is pushed to conspire with Claudius to kill Hamlet as a result of his grief. Grief might as well be its own character in Hamlet because if it was it would always be center stage. The grief present in Hamlet comes in many different shapes and forms. Even for life today, until people learn how to deal with grief it will become an inherent part of a person’s character. It is interesting to note how Shakespeare portrays his male and female characters ability to handle grief.
However, a tragic hero is a character who experiences conflict and suffers greatly as result of his/her choices. Despaired through the death of his father and his mother’s marriage to his uncle Hamlet then begins to possess feelings of grief, anger and frustration. With these flaws weighing on his conscience it contributes to the making of a tragic hero. This is due to the forced objective of avenging his father’s murder and his mother’s incestuous marriage, Hamlet’s lack of being able to dictate his own choices and his cowardly sense of committing suicide to avoid the suffering. Hamlets anger, which stems from his mother marrying Claudius, bears him serious thoughts of suicide.
Hamlet shows Gertrude that she has lowered her standards by marrying Claudius, When he refers to old Hamlet as, “A combination and a form indeed / Where every god did seem to set his seal” (3.4.55-61). This quotation shows what Hamlet saw in his father and how bitterly disappointed he is in his mother’s choice of lord. Hamlet’s frustration is made bigger due to Claudius’ unsympathetic remarks. Earlier in the play, King Claudius comments on the irrationality of Hamlet’s grief by saying, “That thus hath put him/ So much from th’ understanding of himself, I cannot dream of.” (2.2.8-10) The intensity of Hamlet’s grief may encourage others besides Claudius to be prejudiced towards treating him as insane. In the wake of his father’s death, Hamlet takes actions that other characters perceive as insane.
This on top of the fact that Hamlet’s dad is dead and his mother married that man he hates most in the world makes for a pretty melancholy fellow. In my opinion, Hamlet has the right to be as angry with himself as
Hamlet is speaking to the mysterious ghost, whose message is if Hamlet ever loved his father he will “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.25). He ask Hamlet to “Haste me to know’t , that I, with wings as swift/As mediation or the thoughts of love,/may sweep to my revenge” (1.5.29-31). Hamlet is not certain if the ghost is honest and begins a plan to see if Claudius is indeed guilty. Hamlet emphasizes the he must seek revenge; “Now could I drink hot blood” (III.iii.397-399). Hamlet derives a plan to have actors re-enact the death of his father as told to him by the ghost.
Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold: and so by degrees – very gradually – I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.” The Narrator again proves his madness through his apparent lack of solid intent coupled with his explanation of the rage within him. He proves his malice and forethought into the manner and admits it was a murder of the first degree to stop his chills brought upon by an old man’s diseased eye. Through his madness, the Narrator seals his doom by being tempted into taking the life of an old man. After the deed is done and the Narrator had chosen to commit a
How does the Ghost persuade Hamlet to accept the role of revenger? Faced by the spirit of the late King and his father, Hamlet feels a sense of duty to avenge his father’s death. Shakespeare’s use of manipulative language encourages the audience to consider the possibility of emotional blackmail acting as the tipping point that convinces Hamlet to take on the role of revenger. In Scene 4 of the first act, when Hamlet has his first encounter with the Ghost, he notes that he “com’st in such a questionable shape”, suggesting a distraught mind. This is reflected in the contrasting lines such as “spirit of health or goblin damned”, implying that Hamlet cannot be sure whose ghost he is facing.
This remark also implies that that he is still mourning the loss of his father and is not yet ready to move on. Hamlet also mentioned something rather peculiar: He claims to have seen his father, or rather a ghost of his father, “armed at point exactly.” (1.2.212) Hamlet spoke of the encounter with “oppressed and fear-surprised eyes” (1.2.215), suggesting that he does not fully believe it, yet he still wants to. The ghost allegedly told Hamlet that he must be prepared for revenge, for the new king, Claudius, poisoned his father in order to regain the throne. Both the resentment Hamlet holds towards his mother and uncle and his alleged encounter with the ghost of his father suggest that Hamlet has many family problems to work towards. Hamlet’s id speaks for him when he shows his
Hamlet’s inaction is caused by his being overwhelmed with his own conscience. Therefore, Hamlet’s delay ultimately leads to the demise of many characters in the play. In this essay I am going to show how Hamlet’s inaction and obsession with thought led to many loved ones dying. Before I discuss how Hamlet affected the outcome for others in this play, I want to address Hamlet’s view of the nature of thinking. Throughout the play Hamlet is cursing thought.