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.
Hamlet- Soliloquy Assignment Hamlet has many emotional soliloquies in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which include him reflecting on his many life troubles, contemplating suicide, and making plans for revenge. Hamlet’s Act II Scene II soliloquy, which is a lengthy one, is broken down into four main thoughts; the first being how upset Hamlet is over the Player’s ability to get into the role of seeking fictional revenge with no emotional investment in a play, whereas he is a “John-a-dreams” who has made no real plans for revenge. This leads to the second main idea: Hamlet is chastising himself for procrastinating avenging his father’s death. At this point his is mopey and whiney about his lack of drive to accomplish his task. Hamlet increasingly gets angrier and angrier with himself as he keeps talking, and his anger turns to Claudius.
Hamlet begins with the ever so famous line: “To be or not to be,” for at that moment, Hamlet literally poses the question of “life and death”. Shakespeare formulated this speech very carefully by using the most simplistic yet complex formatting of words: “To be” as in to live “or not to be” which suggests death, suicide, and non-existence. The first sentence he is debating whether or not to keep his pain within himself, and the second sentence he poses suicide as an option to lead him out of his misery. In the soliloquy, Hamlet states "Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished", stating that he wants his suicidal thoughts fulfilled. He wants to end all the pain and grief that his father's death brought upon him.
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.
Hamlets anger, which stems from his mother marrying Claudius, bears him serious thoughts of suicide. This results in an attempt at a religious and moral sin which shows a weakness in his character. Hamlet shows some moral sense when he decides not to kill himself due to religious beliefs, which is a paradox that leads to Hamlet’s downfall. His statement “thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain” (I.V.102-103) establishes his tragic decision to let nothing stand in the way of his vowed revenge assuring the death of Claudius, a longer life span and the immunity of punishment towards his mother. As act III begins, the reader sees Claudius’s plot against Hamlet progress.
Hamlet questions whether to take action in avenging his father’s death or to commit suicide in his fourth soliloquy, located in the rising action of the dramatic structure of the play, seen particularly in the lines “puzzles the will/ And makes us rather bear those ills we have/ Than fly to others that we know not of?” Here, Shakespeare foreshadows the recurring theme of Hamlet’s inaction towards avenging his father’s death and uses rhetorical questions to aid in his self-analysis. This is such a controversial part of the play, as many believe that there is more to this speech then just the choice of revenge/suicide. One opinion on this soliloquy is that the contemplation of suicide accentuates the contemplation of what is and what isn’t. The indecision is highlighted within this soliloquy as Hamlet expects nothing less than a sacrifice, believing that he is condemned either way with his struggle of religious code vs honour code, therefore deeming both acts as sinful. This perspective clarifies that to be or not to be is not in fact about suicide but the overall uncertainty of thoughts and actions.
Hamlet is also very affectionate to Ophelia in the beginning of their private but romantic relationship. After his father is murdered, he becomes ferocious with Ophelia, taking his aggression out on her, when she is only trying to be there for her love. “I could interpret between you and your love, if I could see the puppets dallying”(3.1.229-230) The reasoning behind Hamlet’s anger is simply that he has built up anger for his mother, Gertrude. He is angry with his mother because she
Hamlet starts to act as a madman to avenge the death of his father by his uncle. Ophelia on the other hand, goes mad after the death of her father. Shakespeare uses both these characters to affect the main plot in the play and their relationships with other characters. Many people debate whether Hamlet’s madness is real or fake. Shakespeare incorporated the theme of madness to serve a motive for Hamlet in order to deceive others.
Firstly, in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, the playwright uses certain characters to highlight Hamlet's tragic flaw of indecisiveness. Hamlet's uncle, King Claudius, highlights Hamlet’s tragic flaw though his actions to usurp the Danish throne and his ability to trust the people surrounding him, whilst Hamlet is shown to have difficulty doing so. Hamlet’s indecisiveness is first shown through his inability to take his throne as the king of Denmark, as he mourns for a long period of time and is not mentally present. In front of the Danish court, Claudius confronts Hamlet about his excessive grief and emphasizes Hamlet’s unstable mentality and showing no desire to take the throne. When he states: 'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet, To give these mourning duties to your father.
He laments that “the Everlasting”, which is symbolic for the eternal God, has deemed it immoral to commit suicide, for he would rather commit suicide than endure pain. However, it is because committing suicide goes against the bible, that he continues his struggle through life, unlike Ophelia who upon losing her sanity, also loses her faith. This is the first time we see Hamlet contemplating death, which remains a very compelling idea in his mind. For example, in his “to be, or not to be (73)”, soliloquy, Hamlet is again contemplating whether it is a more noble task to bear all of life’s burdens or to escape it though death. However because there is much uncertainty in death, as no one knows what comes after, Hamlet declares himself too cowardly to commit suicide.