Old Hamlet’s ghost appears for the second time to remind Hamlet of his mission of revenge for his father’s murder. Hamlet suggests to his mother he is not actually mad at all, he is just pretending to be. Shakespheare shows us many conflicts with characters throughout this scene and also the consequences which the scene puts out, including Ophelia’s madness due to her fathers death. The ‘closet scene’, as it is commonly referred to, is significant in a number of ways. On one level it helps develop the reader’s understanding of some of the play’s key themes.
Hamlet infers, “conscience does make cowards of us all” suggesting that these potential consequences disallows Hamlet from taking action. Because of his tendency to over-think, he develops a lack of urgency in his decision-making, defining himself as truly a procrastinator instead of a “man That is not passion’s slave” (Act III. Scene ii. Lines 73-74). The death of Hamlet’s father and his mother’s hasty remarriage to his uncle commences Hamlet’s depressed state; however, his internal conflict and procrastination further Hamlet’s melancholic disposition.
Everyone became more cautious and many had lost the trust of foreign societies, even society itself. This concept is modeled by William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where immense adversity shapes the character of young Hamlet in his search for vengeance in his father’s name. In the play, Hamlet is first confronted with adversity when a ghost explains that his father was murdered by his uncle. This situation shifts his identity and forces the already mourning Hamlet into a deep depression where he is hell bent on revenge. At the start of the play, Shakespeare introduces Claudius as a wise and confidant ruler with no apparent flaw.
Lack of trust often leads to one’s downfall. This is shown in “Hamlet,” a play by William Shakespeare, and in the short story "To Build a Fire" by Jack London. The main character in each of these works lacks trust and this ultimately leads to their deaths. The conflicts, theme and characterization in these literary works display why trust is needed in everyone’s life. In William Shakespeare's play, the main character, Hamlet finds out his father, the king, was killed by his uncle, Claudius.
Sofia Salahpour Howerter ENGWR 300 14 June 2012 Hamlet’s Love for Ophelia In the play, Hamlet and Ophelia share various scenes together in which it is confusing to determine whether Hamlet’s love for Ophelia is true or if it is just an act of madness. Hamlet claims to love her at some points but at the same time contradicts himself and denies ever loving her in the first place. I believe that in this play, Hamlet truly did love Ophelia, but then after the incident of his father’s deaths he sees and understands certain situations in which cause him to lose his respect towards women, which ultimately leads to Hamlet no longer loving Ophelia. Hamlet shows he once loved Ophelia by his love letters; however, we can clearly see he stops loving her because of his actions towards Ophelia such as calling her horrible things, denying ever loving her, and not showing any remorse for killing her father. In the play, Hamlet is portrayed as a very philosophical character that thinks and analyzes every situation to the extreme.
And yet, Hamlet is similar to Claudius in some situations. The first similar situation is that they both question about why someone grieves so much upon one’s death. Claudius is asking Hamlet why he cares so much about his father`s death at the beginning of the play, ”How is it that the coulds still hand you up`` (I, ii, 67). Almost at the end of the play, hamlet has a similar situation as Claudius’. He asks Laertes a similar question, ``Make up my sum.
Hamlet’s Madness In the play Hamlet, by Shakespeare, the main character Hamlet, battles with struggles during the play. He goes through changes of his father’s death, his mother’s re-marriage to her dead husband’s brother, seeing a ghost of his father, the girl he loves having a father who makes her believe that she can’t love him, and living through is step-father trying to have him killed. In the play, it is thought that he goes mad due to all the lost love of Ophelia and the pressures that he is presented with throughout. Moreover, during all of this, he is also claimed mad because of the way he acts and talks around the king and general public. However, this is not the only type of type of play or drama in which the main character acts crazy or mad in order to enact revenge upon someone to avenge someone or just to purely gain revenge for some personal purpose.
These were the words that Queen Gertrude delivered to Ophelia's brother, Laertes, when she took her own life. Many think Hamlet is the most tragic character in the play, but some critics like to think that Ophelia is the most tragic. Ophelia's life is not mentioned often throughout the play, so it is shadowed by the life of Hamlet. Many obstacles that Ophelia faces throughout Shakespeare's tragedy support reasons why she is considered the most tragic character. Ophelia lives in a society ruled by men, faces rejection from the love of her life, and deals with the death of her father.
God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world! This is the first time that the reader sees Hamlet’s inner turmoil as he considers committing suicide over the death of his father but decides he cannot, for the consequence would be hell. It is important to note that purgatory and hell are referenced numerous times throughout the play as a consequence for giving into selfish thoughts or actions. In this particular instance however, this soliloquy also lends to the idea that Hamlet is insane due to the passing of his father.
Shakespeare’s plays are made up of different themes and concepts that are debated and discussed by critics. Although thoroughly argued, there is never a way to prove that a work of literary criticism is completely correct because there is no way to verify it. However, through close readings and detailed research, critics have found evidence from the text that they can use to support their claims. One of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, Hamlet, is revolved around the Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, who committed a sin when he poisoned Hamlet’s father, who is also Claudius’ brother. Claudius also married Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, soon after he killed Hamlet’s father.