Being young comes with many hardships and challenges. In William Shakespeare 's "Hamlet", the protagonist, Prince Hamlet of Denmark, is faced with the sudden and unexpected murder of his dear father, King Hamlet of Denmark. Hamlet 's despair and confusion prompt him to try and avenge his father 's assassination by killing his Uncle Claudius, but his determination to take revenge against Claudius makes him seem like a hero seeking justice. Hamlet’s actions prove to be more immoral than Claudius’ due to how much more destruction he causes to the people around him. Hamlet’s quest for vengeance begins when he encounters his deceased father’s ghost. The ghost informs Hamlet that he must avenge the killing of his father by eliminating King Claudius.
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When Claudius hears that Hamlet has murdered Polonius, he arranges for Hamlet to be shipped off to England where he will be killed by executive order. As John M. Major states, “the King does not write the letter ordering Hamlet’s execution until after the prayer scene…and does not write it until after being informed that Hamlet has slain Polonius” (Major, 513). Claudius does show attempts at wanting to become a better person after murdering his brother, because he doesn’t take any action against Hamlet until he has a reason to. His need to send Hamlet to England to be killed only happens after he finds out that Hamlet murdered one of his men without reason. Claudius gives the letter containing Hamlet’s fate to Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, who are instructed to give the letters to the king of England as soon as they arrive. When Hamlet is on the ship he finds the letter that holds his death warrant, and on a whim switches the letters so Guildenstern and Rosencrantz will be the ones to get killed. This seals the fate of the two spies. When Hamlet returns from England and talks to Horatio on how he pulled off the letter switch, and the deaths of his uncle’s men, Hamlet says “(Why man, they did make love to this employment”)/ They are not near my conscience. Their defeat /Does by their own insinuation grow” (V.II.64-66). …show more content…
Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia is demeaning. While Ophelia believes that Hamlet loves her, he denies the idea every chance he gets. During the nunnery scene, Hamlet speaks with Ophelia about his love; he expresses “Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner/ transform honesty from what it is to a bawd…This was sometime a paradox, but now/ the time gives it proof. I did love you once…You should not have believed me, for virtue/ cannot so [inoculate] our old stock but we shall /relish of it. I loved you not.” (III.I.121-129). Hamlet telling Ophelia that he loved her before but not any longer, shows that he never actually loved or cared for her; Ophelia even says that Hamlet misled her, which shows her hurt and sadness. He hits her with the truth and leaves her to figure things out on her own. Author Sandra K. Fischer agrees that Hamlet never truly cared for Ophelia and was too self-absorbed, noting that “Hamlet’s second soliloquy, begins with ‘Now I am alone’. Yet it is Ophelia whose linguistic isolation is more profound, and she is offered no means to vent her confusion” (Fischer, 5). Moreover, when Ophelia finds out that Polonius, her father, has died, her life becomes a downward spiral and eventually she turns insane. With the combined hurt of Hamlet’s treatment towards her, and the death of her father, Ophelia
When Claudius hears that Hamlet has murdered Polonius, he arranges for Hamlet to be shipped off to England where he will be killed by executive order. As John M. Major states, “the King does not write the letter ordering Hamlet’s execution until after the prayer scene…and does not write it until after being informed that Hamlet has slain Polonius” (Major, 513). Claudius does show attempts at wanting to become a better person after murdering his brother, because he doesn’t take any action against Hamlet until he has a reason to. His need to send Hamlet to England to be killed only happens after he finds out that Hamlet murdered one of his men without reason. Claudius gives the letter containing Hamlet’s fate to Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, who are instructed to give the letters to the king of England as soon as they arrive. When Hamlet is on the ship he finds the letter that holds his death warrant, and on a whim switches the letters so Guildenstern and Rosencrantz will be the ones to get killed. This seals the fate of the two spies. When Hamlet returns from England and talks to Horatio on how he pulled off the letter switch, and the deaths of his uncle’s men, Hamlet says “(Why man, they did make love to this employment”)/ They are not near my conscience. Their defeat /Does by their own insinuation grow” (V.II.64-66). …show more content…
Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia is demeaning. While Ophelia believes that Hamlet loves her, he denies the idea every chance he gets. During the nunnery scene, Hamlet speaks with Ophelia about his love; he expresses “Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner/ transform honesty from what it is to a bawd…This was sometime a paradox, but now/ the time gives it proof. I did love you once…You should not have believed me, for virtue/ cannot so [inoculate] our old stock but we shall /relish of it. I loved you not.” (III.I.121-129). Hamlet telling Ophelia that he loved her before but not any longer, shows that he never actually loved or cared for her; Ophelia even says that Hamlet misled her, which shows her hurt and sadness. He hits her with the truth and leaves her to figure things out on her own. Author Sandra K. Fischer agrees that Hamlet never truly cared for Ophelia and was too self-absorbed, noting that “Hamlet’s second soliloquy, begins with ‘Now I am alone’. Yet it is Ophelia whose linguistic isolation is more profound, and she is offered no means to vent her confusion” (Fischer, 5). Moreover, when Ophelia finds out that Polonius, her father, has died, her life becomes a downward spiral and eventually she turns insane. With the combined hurt of Hamlet’s treatment towards her, and the death of her father, Ophelia