Morals are a widely debated topic through the international community, and continues to play an important role in the shaping of society. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet struggles with balance between familial obligations and religious doctrines as he attempts to take revenge on his father’s murderer, his uncle and current king, while remaining morally righteous. Failure to comprehend the subtleties of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ultimately bring about his demise and he, ever faithful and rigid in his beliefs, loses in the hedonistic and corrupt politics of court. From the beginning of the play, Hamlet is presented with a dilemma that is emotionally and physically tolling. Instructed by his father’s ghost to kill the current king,…
In every person there is a flaw of some sort, due to the fact that no one is perfect. All humans have at least one flaw in their life that they struggle with. In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the young prince possesses a flaw of his own. He struggled with this flaw that led him to a tragedy in his life. How much struggled with procrastination, and that led him to many problems that he could have resolved much differently.…
William Shakespeare’s tragedy plays fascinate readers by highlighting characters’ flaws that lead them to their downfall even today. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare demonstration of the characters’ flaws makes individuals victims of their own. According to Aristotle, “Men were full of self-control and were, therefore, responsible for their own actions. It was the tragic heroes’ own actions, then, that brought about the chaos and tragic events” (“Aristotle’s Poetics”).…
In Shakespearean plays it is a prominent technique to portray a character having ambition to obtain power, which leads to them making selfish decisions and committing evil actions. This was seen in Macbeth, as Macbeth killed King Duncan in order to achieve his goal of becoming King, and in this play, Hamlet, Claudius’ desire to become King of Denmark triggered him to kill his brother and start making decisions in order to sustain his power. The hunger to maintain authority motivates Claudius to make choices for personal benefit, and this puts the lives of others in jeopardy, thus evoking chaos. Also, the obsession to keep power causes Claudius to weaken the relationships between those around him, leading to the demise of several characters.…
Ethics is the science and study of the ideal human character (Kidder). However, with everybody holding a different idea of right and wrong, how is it possible to lead an ethical life? In a world of cynics, spies, and once friends, Hamlet is faced with this exact dilemma. Should he exact revenge on his father's murderer or show clemency? Revenge is a major theme in Hamlet by William Shakespeare.…
When Hamlet continually asks his friends to play the flute, it is not because he wants to mock them or because he wants to tell them that they’re liars, but it is more an expression of how easily the concept of dishonesty comes into peoples lives. In saying that playing the flute is “as easy as lying” (Ham. 3. 2. 87), the reader sees best the ease with which this dishonesty comes. Also aiding in the expression of this concept of betrayal is the incident when Hamlet likens Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to a sponge. In this moment he expresses how they have soaked up the king’s commands and unflinchingly served their own purposes by doing such. What is most striking about this…
A motif in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility. There are many different emotions and drives that may conflict with a character’s moral duty in literary works such as: a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, or a determination to redress a wrong. In Hamlet a tragic play by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is in a war between his desire for revenge against the man who murdered his father, and his responsibility as a prince to do the right thing. This war has a negative effect on Hamlet because it slowly turns his façade of being mad into a reality. This conflict is significant because it expands on the works theme of how Hamlet’s constant confusion, along with his inability to act on his desire for revenge ultimately…
Betrayal has been a tool used to gain power throughout history. It has been used to climb the corporate ladder, gain political power and even win wars. At any point in history someone has been stabbed in the back for someone else’s personal gain and Shakespeare’s time was no exception. In many plays by Shakespeare, the characters are involved in physical battles in order to gain power, however; in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the battles for power are fought through spying, lies and backstabbing. In Hamlet, Shakespeare demonstrates that betrayal leads to a radical development of Hamlet’s personality.…
Deception leading down a destructive path ending in corruption is a primary theme displayed in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Deceit is like quicksand because the more someone sinks into it the more they struggle to get out and getting out of it is the hardest part. The characters around Hamlet sink into the deceit and corruption so quickly that they can no longer act as they normally would. They begin to act irrationally and be completely filled with the lies they tell. One single thing does not cause the deception amongst the characters though.…
The use of deception is created throughout the play on numerous occasions such as the staging of the Murder of Gonzago shows Hamlet trying to get Claudius to confess, ultimately Hamlets false display of Insanity creates deception in itself by drawing attention away from his true motives, and when Claudius lies to everyone in the speech pertaining to the murder of the King of Denmark. Ultimately Hamlets actions created deception by drawing attention away from his real motives by displaying false insanity. Hamlet only pretends to be insane in order to deceive the rest of the characters with the exception of Horatio in order to achieve his goal so he may claim vengeance over the murdering of his father in cold blood. His apparent madness is a concept that he created to blind the other characters in a clever rues, so in laymen terms he is fully aware and conscious of his own actions so that he may mislead others into thinking that he is insane in order to hide his true motives for revenge. Hamlet’s deceptive plan becomes apparent in the play when he fore warns Horatio about any odd behavior that he may display in the near future as told when “Here, as before, never, so help you mercy, How strange or odd sooner I bear myself, As I, perchance, hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on, That you, at such times seeing me, never shall, With arms encumbered thus, or this head-shake, Or by pronouncing of some doubtful…
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the moral corruption that occurs between family members causes animosity that results in their downfall, and eventually their ultimate demise. More specifically, the tainted view of an individual in a family may result in the downfall of the other family members involved. Evidence of tainted view of a family member causing undue harm can be found in the relationship between Hamlet and Claudius, Hamlet and Gertrude, and Hamlet and Old King Hamlet. The relationship between Hamlet and Claudius is problematic, largely due to the fact that they both wish death upon the other.…
To Act or Not To Act: Tragic Flaws in “Hamlet” “Conscience doth make cowards of us all,” (Shakespeare 3.1.83). This quote from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a starting point to show a main characters tragic flaws. For Hamlet, the main character in the play, he often procrastinates in completing tasks. Moreover, even once he completes an action he tends to overthink his decision. By allowing Hamlet to have destructive flaws, one being procrastination and the second being indecisiveness it shows that these flaws bring Hamlet to his downfall.…
According to Businessdictionary.com the definition of abuse of power is, “The act of using one’s position of power in an abusive way. This can take many forms, such as taking advantage of someone, gaining access to information that shouldn’t be accessible to the public, or just manipulating someone with the ability to punish them if they don’t comply”(BusinessDictionary.com). Today we see this kind of behavior in North Korea with dictator Kim Jong-un and even in the past in Germany with Hitler. In William Golding 's ¨Lord of The Flies¨ and Shakespeare 's ¨Hamlet” the theme of abuse of power is present amongst few characters. Jack from “Lord of the Flies” and Hamlet and King Claudius from “Hamlet” all show signs of misuse of power, which will…
William Shakespeare accentuates the negative impact of family relationships in his play Hamlet by highlighting the harmful repercussions of disrespectful gestures on Hamlet's character. Claudius and Gertrude degrade their relationship with Hamlet as they resort to manipulation and espionage in a greedy attempt to attain an understanding of the source of Hamlet's melancholy and insanity. Hamlet deems Claudius and Gertrude untrustworthy, which forces them to use other resources to begin to restore a normal frame of mind in Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet's friends from school in Wittenberg, are summoned by the King and Queen "to draw him on to pleasures, and to gather so much as from occasion you may again" (II.ii.15-16). Claudius…
Hamlet by William Shakespeare is full of plotting, cunning, and unfortunate instances where choices lead from one unsavory consequence to another. Sin is the primary instigator and end result of these actions and reactions. Marcellus rightfully states, “something is rotten in the state of Denmark” describing the ruling family’s influence on the state of Denmark. The air of corruption is present because of the moral decay and disease rampant among the characters.…