Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark may be one of the most criticized plays in all of literature. In addition to being the most criticized of his works, it is also the longest of Shakespeare’s works. As the play progresses the character of Hamlet becomes more and more complex. Hamlet’s madness and Hamlet’s hesitation are the cornerstones of his complexity. Hamlet’s inaction is mirrored in Laertes, the son of Polonius, but what of Hamlet’s madness? The unfortunate, Ophelia serves as the foil to Hamlet’s madness; Thus both Ophelia and Laertes serve as foils to Hamlet’s character.
Hamlet’s inaction is a major topic of debate, and many scholars have written papers about it. Hamlet is given many opportunities ,throughout the play, to kill Claudius, and avenge his father. Why he waits four acts to do so is often questioned. George S. Tubbes may have put it best when he stated that it would have ended the play relatively early on if Hamlet had acted naturally and killed Claudius immediately. This seemingly obvious observation is actually right on target. If Hamlet had killed Claudius right after he spoke to his father the play would have ended at the beginning of Act II and Shakespeare’s longes
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When Hamlet does finally kill Claudius he does do so in an emotional and dramatic way ,but in comparison to Laertes; Hamlet’s brief moment of vengeance is nothing to Laertes accumulation of emotions and willingness to do anything for vengeance. Was Hamlet mad? I don’t believe he was. In this soliloquy Hamlet says that he has so much more reason to rush into action but he doesn’t while this whole army will go into battle for nothing more than fame. Laertes’ first words upon entering he throne room are “O, thou vile king, Give me my father!” (Act IV,v P. A little more thought was given to the subject by William Hazlitt who stated that Hamlet was a perfectionist who wanted everything to be perfect. 77) there is no reason ,besides confirming the ghost’s story, not to kill Claudius. It was imperative that he was mad because as Stubbes said he could have never hid his goal from his mistress in his normal state. These indirect insults and puns such as “Slanders ,sir: for the satirical rouge says here that old men have gray beards, that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree gum and that they have a plentiful lack of wit, together with the most weak hams” (Act II ,ii P. Forty thousand brothers Could not with all their love Make up my sum. Hamlet taking this as proof of Claudius’ guilt. From this moment onward Hamlet hesitates in killing the king, and therefore does not act “naturally”. Before this scene it is very well possible that Hamlet doesn’t believe the ghost.
Approximate Word count =
2219
Approximate Pages =
9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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