How does Gertrude affect Hamlet’s tragic vision? Gertrude is a key shaper of Hamlet’s tragic vision; it is her “o’erhasty” and “incestuous” marriage to Claudius that vilifies the world to him and makes him distrust the woman he loves and question himself throughout; amplifying his solitude and leaving him without avenging the King’s death. An important component of a tragedy is the protagonist’s downward spiral into isolation, where their options of comfort and capacity to be saved seem to be removed as each of their paths for redemption are closed off before their eyes. We see Hamlet constantly fighting his own mind and the corruption of the world and people around him , he believes the ghost as, “honest” (I.V.138) at the start of the play but the perverse and contaminated world he sees as “rank and gross in nature”(I.V.6) contorts this view, making him question himself, later declaring, “ The spirit I have seen may be a devil.”(II.II.551/5) In Act III, Rosencrantz provides a remarkable and ironic vision into Hamlet’s tragic downfall: “The cease of majesty dies not alone, but like a gulf, doth draw what’s near with it..” This metaphor lends itself to articulating the particular kind of events that claim Hamlet, as though these ‘spokes’ are the individual triggers that cause the disastrous chain of events leading to the brutal end. There seem to be two factors to Hamlet’s tragedy that determine the sequence of events that conspire to destroy him: the primary factor is the murder of Hamlet’s father, which creates the ‘gulf’; the secondary factor, which compounds Hamlet’s tragedy into this literal ‘downward spiral’ is what Hamlet views as Gertrude’s, “dexterity to incestuous sheets.”(I.II.1) The momentum the whirlpool creates cannot be escaped, but the sense of a parallel world, already vanished, in which things could have been healed, adds to the sense of tragic
In the soliloquy, Hamlet is at first upset with himself about finding ways to avoid avenging his Father’s murder, like his spirit in ghost form told him to. This complaining turns into self hatred and then Hamlet is insulting himself outright. The main reason for this is he has agreed to get revenge on Claudius so his father’s spirit can be at peace, but he hasn’t done it yet. The fact that the Player seems to be more able to get into the mindset of revenge than he can further discourages him. 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.
The character of Edmund in Shakespeare’s King Lear a complex antagonist whose quest for power, and the treatment he deserves from society fuels the subplot. Cunning, deceitful, and a villain, Edmund will do whatever it takes to achieve his objectives, even if it means betraying the people who love him most. Edmund plays a key role in setting the stage for the disaster waiting to unfold, which is the subplot. Initially, the audience sympathizes with Edmund’s character; society treats him poorly, and his own father publicly embarrasses him. In Act 1 Scene 1, when Kent asks Gloucester if Edmund is his Gloucester’s son, he replies “his breeding hath been at my charge” (1.1.9) yet Gloucester “blushed to acknowledge [Edmund]” (1.1.10).
Hamlet pursues his failures by holding off his intentions to kill Claudius, unsuccessfully claiming his love for Ophelia, and the accidental murder of Polonius. All the aforementioned events ultimately lead to the tragic events in the play. King Hamlet’s questionable death results in Claudius’s reign over the Kingdom. Through the appearances of the former ruler's Ghost, the accountability of King Hamlet’s death, Claudius becomes the main suspect of the King’s death. Hamlet decides to kill Claudius to seek revenge over his father’s death.
1.2.184-185. Hamlet is extremely displeased as he must now call his uncle, stepfather/King due to their ill conceived union...’you have deeply offended your father’ [she means Claudius] 3.4.9. Hamlet felt anger and resentment towards his mother who has not only betrayed him but also his father's memory in marrying a man inferior to his father. A man who he believed could not walk near his father’s footsteps ‘...To give the world a model man. This was your husband....what follows.
In Hamlet, the passionate and hasty Laertes and the vengeful Fortinbras are foils for Hamlet's introspective personality and provide a basis for comparison of the hero's course of action. Laertes and Hamlet share a common goal of revenge for the murder of their father. Though their situation and the circumstances of their father's death coincide, their individual responses to the fatalities differ greatly, and serve to highlight Hamlet's tragic flaw. Upon hearing of his father's death, Laertes becomes totally preoccupied with thoughts of revenge. While Hamlet scrutinizes and evaluates the consequences of his actions, Laertes acts without forethought, saying, "Let come what comes only I'll be revenged / Most thoroughly for my father" (IV.v.138).
The theme of action vs inaction was most striking in my personal response. This theme is shaped through the strong values of hatred and revenge, characterising Hamlet and his existential dilemma. Hamlet is a man uncertain of which course to take in the circumstances he has been presented with; should he murder the murderer of his father, seducer of his mother, the man who pushed in front of his claim to the throne and made an attempt on his life? Existentialism, particularly Soren Kiekegaard's works, focus on individual existence, freedom and choice, and the existence of the afterlife. Hamlet's courses of action, shaped by his hatred and revenge, and the consequences each bare lead to his existential dilemma.
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.
In Shakespeare’s vengeful Hamlet, Prince Hamlet’s irrational behavior can be viewed as strategic and cunning preparation for his ultimate revenge on Claudius. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to expose the profound significance behind Prince Hamlet’s behavior which can be portrayed by Emily Dickinson’s quote, “Much madness is divinest Sense- To a discerning Eye-.” Prince Hamlet’s seemingly idiotic and crazed behavior can be deemed witty and seen as the ultimate façade of a shrewd and greater plan for revenge by this “discerning Eye.” Hamlet’s strategy to feign madness to conceal his real intentions actually drives him very close to losing control of the strong force of darkness that he is toying with. Hamlet’s behaves seemingly unreasonable towards Ophelia when he denounces her and urges her to get to a Brothel instead of becoming a “Breeder of Sinners.” Hamlet then storms out after his tirade and Ophelia grieves over his “noble mind” that has now ascended into madness. Hamlet’s obsessive detail over the actors in the play The Murder of Gonzago shows hints of obsession and a fixation on revenge. Hamlet’s slaying of Polonius only leads Hamlet to believe that it was a heaven-sent tool of vengeance to punish Polonius’s sins and to stain his own soul with blood.
Macbeth is a tragic hero, a person of high rank who is brought to eventual ruin by a flaw in his character Macbeth`s tragic flaw is his ambition,which leads him to a series of bloody and increasingly indefensible acts. The most apparent flaw, and perhaps the most in Macbeth`s character, is his lack of patience and temperance. These shortcomings haunted Macbeth,causing him to let his overvaulting ambition rush fate, and hasten his doom. Macbeth could not wait for an appointment to a position of more power. Instead , he murdered the king to take his place.