Melancholy in Hamlet Essay

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet as his greatest work, if not the world’s greatest play written in the English language. However, some famous critics such as T.S. Eliot see Hamlet in a different light — they see Hamlet as nothing more than an “artistic failure” full of inconsistencies. For example, why exactly is Hamlet not crowned king when he is already of age? Is it because he is away at Wittenberg? Despite this fault, these myriads of analyses only highlight the fact that Hamlet is without a…

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is based on strength and deficiency of one’s memory. Recollection shapes Hamlet’s overall character, inside and out. For Hamlet, remembering the past brings back thoughts of separation or loss. Knowing the right time to remember, as well as the right time to forget can affect the present and future. In Act I, Hamlet’s encounter with the ghost supports that its appearance is due to the memory of the living. Hamlet, mourning for his father, remembers King Hamlet better than…

The soliloquy of act 2 scene 2 is focused on inner struggles with revenge. Earlier in this scene, Hamlet asks the actors to recite the story of Priam. While viewing this play hamlet realized the flaw in all that he has been doing, or hasn’t been doing, to act revenge on Claudius. Claudius killed Hamlet's father and stole the crown and hamlet is the only one who knows so he hatches a plan. He has made a few attempts of Claudius' life but failed. He is beating himself up at this point. As the play…

The character of Hamlet is considered as one of most complex fictional character created by William Shakespeare. Every time we see and examine the character, we find some new traits in it. Hamlet is like an enigma. No matter how many times it is analyzed, the real color of Hamlet’s character is never found. On one hand, hamlet is miserable young man, in self imposed exile from the society and on the other he is the hero…

between the many personas in the story. He adequately explores many roots that lead towards madness as well as various forms of it, two plays that exhibit this issue perfectly are Hamlet and Macbeth. In order to achieve a greater understanding of William Shakespeare’s timeless Hamlet, the roots of the madness that Hamlet and Ophelia endure must be understood. Whether feigned or real,…

first person narrative style, they were the ones who told the story. Hamlet was told differently, it was a third-person narrative style, which is told by a narrator. Hamlet suffers from his father's murder and vows revenge for him. This tragedy that happened changed the poor Hamlet. Loving someone so much can make the affected become sad, angry, or even unemotional. For Hamlet, it made him the depressed type. "Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off, And let thine eye look like a friend…

to resist its authority would only lead to frustration and disillusionment. In Shakespeare’s iconic character Hamlet, this dilemma between the reasoning of the conscious and the overriding intuitive powers of the unconscious can be observed as Hamlet’s trying to make sense of every step he takes only makes him less decisive and brings him unhappiness. Research Questions Why does Hamlet struggle so much in making decisions and taking steps? What keeps him from acting out his revenge? How does…

The significance of “madness” in Hamlet In the play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, the main character Hamlet experiences an irrational behavior of madness throughout this piece of work. While reading this play there is a question that crosses the reader’s mind of, “Is Hamlet going crazy or is he going mad?” The reader can often wonder this because of the way Hamlet starts to act as soon as his father dies and the actions and choices he makes leads the audience to think that he isn’t…

Hamlet’s Hesitation Analysis Hamlet is a character that seems to be a victim of circumstances. The unexpected death of his father leaves him depressed, not forgetting the wedding between his mother Gertrude and his uncle Claudius that took place just three months after the funeral. His father’s ghost appears to him and asks him to take revenge on Claudius for murdering him. Though he gets convinced to take revenge at the beginning, he later becomes hesitant to do so. He drags his feet until he…

Hamlet is the prince of Denmark. His father was the king but dies before the play begins. In the beginning of the play Hamlet is visited by his father’s ghost who tells him that he was killed by king Claudius. King Claudius is not only Hamlet’s mother’s new husband but also his father’s brother. With that information Hamlet conceived a plan to pretend to be crazy to avenge his fathers death. His plan is successful and King Claudius confesses and commits suicide with the help of Hamlet. Hamlet…