“To be or not to be, that is the question; whether’ tis nobler in the mind to suffer...” (Shakespeare Act 3, Scene 1). This quotation proves Hamlet becomes inferior to others and the environment through his madness, causing him to express himself explicitly towards others. Hamlet’s madness not only causes his loved ones lives but it allows his “end” to come because he accepts every challenge from his opponent. Hamlet’s madness not only affects him but Ophelia, who is mentally torn apart by Hamlet. Ophelia was once flawless, but since her encounter with Hamlet she has fallen into the same madness and wants to kill herself.
This act illustrates the theme of uncertainty which is presented through dramatic irony as we know that Hamlet is "I essentially not in madness, But mad in craft." In Act 1 scene 3, Ophelia is caught in an ultimate struggle in which she cannot win as Ophelia is trapped in this tradition of patriarchy with no personal choice. At first she remained uncertain for the reason of Hamlet's madness but once Polonius concludes that the blame is the very presence of Ophelia, pain and guilt are inflicted upon her as she suddenly feels responsible for Hamlet's downfall. However these feelings evolve as his seeming insanity and rudeness strangles and fades any love Ophelia had for him. We are then shown that Hamlet's insanity frightens Ophelia away.
How does Polonius react to the news of Hamlet’s strange behavior? · He thinks Hamlet is just mad because Ophelia dissed him. 3. What evidence of Hamlet’s affections for Ophelia exists? · He tells Ophelia he loves her and does not love her, thinks she should never have trusted him but wants her to go away to a nunnery for her own protection.
Gertrude’s marriage to Claudius was a key action of betrayal not only to Hamlet, who clearly despises his uncle even before he hears of his treachery, but also to the former King. Hamlet sees the marriage as incest, “Incestuous sheets, as she has married her brother in law. Incest is morally wrong and seen as disgusting as not only is it against these social values, however Hamlet is most disgusted as she promised herself to his father, yet like a whore, sleeps with her husband’s brother. Hamlet is also disgusted by how quickly Gertrude has gotten over the death of his father and can’t understand why she would ever wish to marry Claudius or sleep with him. Hamlet seems obsessed with his
In the two plays, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Macbeth’, the key characters transgress the social moral boundaries. However, Shakespeare manages to create sympathy towards the protagonists. In ‘Macbeth’, he creates sympathy for Macbeth as he shows the tragic downfall of a heroic hero in despair and how he was forced into all his wrong doings. Whereas in ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Shakespeare makes the audience feel sympathy towards the young couple as other people are also to blame for their relationship not happening and how they are ‘star crossed lovers’. In this essay, I am going to explain how Shakespeare manages to sympathize with these protagonists.
Therefore, I believe Manon hates her husband. This gives the impression to the reader that Manon is always negative and is harsh towards her husband, making people believe she is not loving towards him. However, the narrator’s restricted viewpoint could lead us to believe that she is biased and unreliable because she is narrating only from her point of view. Also, at the beginning of the games, Manon has a sympathetic tone towards the slaves and feels sorry for them because she says, “I couldn’t watch anymore.” This suggests that Manon feels ashamed of what she is letting her husband do to the slaves and that she feels sadness building up inside of her towards the slaves being treated horrifically. The dynamic verb of “watch” shows to the reader that Manon feels a little bit of pain towards the slaves and that she feels that they are only being used for torture.
In Act 3 scene 5 it could be argued that Juliet is failed by both her parents. Her mother, Lady Capulet, may have failed her in the sense that she does not understand Juliet or have any knowledge as to what is going on in her life. Juliet is crying because Romeo has been banished, yet Lady Capulet believes her to be crying over Tybalt’s death. Juliet cries that “no man like he doth grieve [her] heart”, referencing how upset she is that Romeo is no longer in Verona but Lady Capulet believes this to be “because the traitor murderer lives”. This illustrates how Lady Capulet is ignorant to the fact that her daughter is now married to Romeo, leading to her inability to understand the meaning behind what Juliet is saying.
In ‘Macbeth’ , Lady Macbeth is deeply in love but on the other hand in the poem ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ , the farmer describes his ‘maid’ as being out of love and never being in love , in the poem ‘Sister Maude’ she was in love but is out of love because of the death of her lover. Lady Macbeth’s love for her husband is shown by her being prepared to give up her humanity in order to help Macbeth’s ambition of being king . An Elizabethan audience would have understood the seriousness of regicide , believing that killing the king is an act against God Himself. Yet she is still prepared to do this for his sake. Unlike Lady Macbeth, the farmers bride is portrayed as a women out of love .
Gertrude is a hard to read character, but the guilt of her actions with Claudius and her deceased husband comes out when she cry’s, “O Hamlet, speak no more./ thou turn’st my eyes into my very soul,/ and there I see such black and grained spots/as will not leave their tinct.”(III, IV, 89-91). Hamlet berated her to the point where she shows all the bottled shames she’s been concealing, showing her true superego. Hamlet main personality is his superego, which he doesn’t acknowledge, yet let’s out often. In this situation he feels he’s a disappointment to his father and guilty for not reprimanding his sinful uncle in comparison to Fortinbras, saying, “How stand I then,/ that have a father kill’d, a mother stain’d,/excitements of my reason and blood,/ and let all sleep, while to my shame I see/twenty thousand men that, for a fantasy and trick of fame,/ go to their graves like beds…”(IV, IIV, 53-65). In a similar event, Hamlet, months after his father murder, acknowledges his lack of action, his overbearing guilt, and his masked fear of confrontation when he self criticizes, “Swounds, I should take it: for it cannot be/ but I am pigeon-liver’d and lack gall/to make oppression bitter, or ere this/ I should ha’ fatted all the region kites/ with this slave’s offal.”(II, II, 563-566).
From the start of the story Goneril is working together with her beloved sister against King Lear. The reader may be misguided to believe that at least she loves her sister and she is loyal to her. However, once King Lear is defeated and Goneril finds out that Regan loves Edmund, she forgets about love and loyalty and decides to kill her. Again, the darkness of one’s soul is revealed by Shakespeare’s use of the theme of revenge. One of the minor scenes that can be considered as an act of revenge is the scene where the Duke of Cornwall blinds the Earl of Gloucester.