Hamlet

Introduction

Perhaps, Hamlet is the best dramatic character ever produced. From the second we meet the unfortunate prince we get captivated by his modern power. Covered in his blue-black cloak, Hamlet is a man of considerable contradictions; he is well-mannered yet rude, loving yet violent, careless yet alert. Hamlet undergoes his father's demise with considerable resentment and uncontrollable anger; however, he demonstrates no regret when himself is liable for the demises of the intrusive Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, and the preaching lord chamberlain, Polonius (Campbell, 157). He employs the innocent and fragile Ophelia as a means for his hatred towards the queen, and could not understand that his own forceful language has initiated her madness. Hamlet is filled with errors. How is it that yet apparently depressing behaviors such as hesitancy, passion, hatred, violence, and rashness could improve Hamlet's importance as a tragic hero or a “prince among men”? This paper discusses analyze the character of Hamlet in Shakespeare's Hamlet and discuss the relationship of parents and children.

Discussion

Hamlet is a tragic play written by William Shakespeare. It was composed between 1599 and 1601. Hamlet, prince of Denmark, was William Shakespeare's most charming hero. The play recounts how Prince Hamlet took revenge from his uncle Claudius for murdering his father and taking the throne by marrying Hamlet's mother. The work outlines vividly about the madness (both real and fake) and the passage of the boundless deep pain and anger. It also explores the themes of revenge, incest, betrayal and moral corruption (Johnsgard, 404). The doubt and distrust on the dark battlements pervade the entire play, so that even small, enclosed spaces feel the chill and gusty. Ambiguity blurs or qualifies every theme and character in Hamlet. No significant work in literary history has been so contested in meaning or subjected to such a mass of alternative interpretations. Criticism has buried the play in questions, while stage and film productions continue to experiment with an astounding variety of readings and settings. No absolute answers are possible, because the text is embedded with contrasting material. The play seems to have changed every time we come back to it--a mysterious effect that intensifies as we age (Grene, 105). Like Aeschylus' Oresteia and Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, Hamlet reflects back to us our hard-won experience of the great fundamentals of life, which are glimpsed but never fully grasped in youth.

Hamlet - Parent Children Relationship

In Shakespeare's tragedy, King of Denmark has been murdered by his brother Claudius, who has usurped the throne and married, without respecting the customs, the dead man's widow, Gertrude. The specter of Hamlet's father appears in the wall of the castle of Elsinore, relates the circumstances of the crime and calls for revenge. Hamlet promises to obey, but his melancholic nature makes him indecisive and forced him to defer action and meanwhile pretends to be crazy to avoid the suspicion that threatens the king's life. It is believed to have disturbed his mind the love of Ophelia, daughter of Chamberlain Polonius, which, having courted before and ...