Horatio's Transformation In Hamlet

In Hamlet, Shakespeare creates a world of characters, unique in their own traits and motives. Many times these characters appear to be boxed in, limited in what they can do before they reach their breaking point. Because the character may not realize their restraints, they continue to pursue motives that are either harmful or null in making a difference. Under certain circumstances their actions are even rendered useless. Characters who are unaware of their own flaws are unable to fully comprehend situations, generally leading to their downfall. Hamlet is characterized as restricted to reveal his constraints and the nature of his thoughts; Shakespeare uses Hamlet to illustrate how people can not change due to limitations placed by themselves …show more content…
He becomes so lost in insanity that he can not distinguish what 's real and what is not real. There is a moment where Hamlet tells Horatio that he envies him as a person that is “not passion 's slave”, he views Horatio as a person who accepts “ 'Fortune 's buffets and rewards” (3.2.71-7). Here Hamlet acknowledges that he is unable to separate himself from the lust for revenge. Unable to accept the cards that are given to him, Hamlet decides they are not good enough. Shakespeare difference between the two characters is that Horatio is thankful for both the good and bad, calmly accepting his fate. In “The Imagery in Hamlet: Acting”, Jacqueline Latham states that Hamlet “has a tendency to become trapped in imagination” (Latham 199). Hamlet does this to get away from the confines of reality. He goes mad, treating everything as a setup for Claudius to confess what he has done. After killing Polonius, Hamlet shows no care towards the fatality and acts as if nothing has occurred. Also Hamlet’s misogynistic rant towards his mother shows that he has detached himself from any sense of reason or remorse. This inability to snap back to reality is ultimately what caused Hamlet’s death. The game Hamlet thought he was playing with Claudius and Laertes is concluded when “reality intrudes” (Latham 201). Hamlet, lost in imagination came to the fight unprepared declaring that “ If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come” (5.2.235-6). Hamlet has decided to leave it for fate to decide. Lost in an imagination, trying to hide from responsibility and societal expectations, Hamlet has confined himself. Hamlet’s negligence of his own weakness became his greatest downfall. Hamlet’s inability to change has caused him to die in the end. Shakespeare uses the request from Hamlet’s father to signify how a person’s request can make the other blind to the