Hamlet
Hamlet is often regarded as one of Shakespeare's greatest tragediesbecause it is timeless in its preoccupation with the dilemmas and theuncertainties that are at the heart of life (Hibbard, p. 2). Indeed, it isthe playwright's preoccupation with the internal conflicts in a man's soulthat are inevitably created by life's dilemmas, which ultimately turnHamlet into one of the world's most revered tragic figures. Faced withdifficult, disillusioning circumstances, Hamlet is torn by the need toavenge his murdered father and the personal desire to appease his ownconscience. In fact, nowhere is Hamlet's agony more evident than in thenow immortalized lines, "To be, or not to be - that is the question: /Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows ofoutrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, / And byopposing end them'" (3.1.57-61) Hamlet's struggle to resolve the conflictbetween his conscience and his duty also leads to an apparent gap betweenhis thought versus action or word versus deed. Interestingly, Hamlet is notthe only character in the play where the audience sees a gap between wordand deed. The same gap manifests itself in several other main characters
Thus, once again,the gap between the use of words and deed is seen. But perhaps themost telling note in the play is that when Hamlet finally does kill hisuncle, it is not an act of vengeance but an outcome of the King's plot tokill Hamlet. is't not perfect conscience / To quit him with this arm'" (5. Indeed, his angerat first makes him determined to take revenge, as evidenced in the lines,"Haste, haste me to know it, that I with wings as swift / As meditation orthe thoughts of love / May sweep to my revenge. 1-7) Claudius, here, to an unsuspectingaudience, comes through as a good and noble successor to the recentlyburied king, but it is almost immediately revealed that there is somethingquite awry in the seemingly tranquil scene. 72) Hamlet seizes his mother's use of the word "seems," and notes thatbehavior and appearance do not reveal the inner man: "These indeed seem, /For they are actions that a man might play, / But I have that within whichpasses show, These but the trappings and the suits of woe. 83-86)Obviously, Hamlet thinks his mother's hasty marriage to Claudius so soonafter her husband's death is a form of betrayal. True, that the play does not show the virtuoustriumphing over the conscienceless, but perhaps this is precisely whatdefines a tragedy. Yet, Hamlet sheathsthe sword he has ready to carry out his avowed revenge.
Common topics in this essay:
Claudius Polonius,
,
Hamlet Hamlet's,
Murder Gonzago,
Indeed Claudius,
Reynoldo Paris,
Obviously Hamlet,
Polonius Indeed,
Polonius Bradley,
Interestingly Hamlet,
word deed,
action word,
characters claudius,
shakespeare's tragedies,
gap word,
characters claudius polonius,
claudius polonius,
gap word deed,
|
Acceptance Essays
