Hamlet Analysis

Rachel Wilson

J. King

Eng. 102

6 March 2015

Title

Hamlet, a tragic drama written by William Shakespeare, is a timeless classic; one that has been told for centuries. Shakespeare was considered to be one of the greatest play writers of his time and he was a writer who knew how to compose dramas full of conflict and passion, much like what we see in Hamlet. Shakespeare uses the characterization of Hamlet to explore the ephemerality of life and its consequences, along with a number of notions such as: revenge, tragedy, deceit, madness and suicide, all of which we observe in today’s society. These notions are explored throughout the drama from the dissociated conduct of the character Hamlet.

Dramas constructed of revenge gained popularity during Shakespeare’s time and this period has been identified as the revenge tragedy period. Revenge tragedies are frequently driven by a number of things: one being a corrupt character who has no regard for laws and another being the leading characters duty to seek revenge. This is established in the drama Hamlet, when the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears in an unearthly visit to persuade Hamlet that his death was not a misfortune but a homicide, telling Hamlet if he ever loved him he will “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (Hamlet). Hamlet then seeks out to take revenge on his uncle Claudius for the murder of his father. There are several different ways to look at the revenge we see in Hamlet to me the hero in Hamlet represents modern-day society distracted by the desire to seek revenge, which in return guides him towards evil. The desire to seek revenge not only leads to Hamlet’s own death but also the death of his family and the woman he loves. Most of society would do anything for our families; and while we may not always make the right choices, we do it out of love. In today’s culture, everywhere we turn we are bombarded with stories of revenge. Just by turning on the news we can see multiple stories where one person sought out revenge on another. Another common place we see revenge is the movies; many movies we see today are often centered around the characters pursuit to take revenge on each other.

        Deceit is that of another theme in Hamlet and it is a theme that largely affects every character in the drama. Although every character took part in deception at one time or another, Claudius deceived the most. Claudius deceived people early on when he is giving his speech, he acts as if his brother’s death was an accident when he was the actual cause of it. Deceit is something that the characters in Hamlet all had a part in, and just like society today they each had to learn from it.

Suicide is another major theme in Hamlet it is the most repeated theme throughout the drama and can be seen in multiple variations; this theme is also what joins Hamlet and Ophelia together. After the death of Hamlet’s father, Hamlet becomes infatuated with death, often contemplating his own suicide and if suicide is indeed justifiable in an intolerable world. Hamlet first lets us know that he is contemplating suicide early on in the drama when he states: “O that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into dew! Or that the everlasting had not fix’d his cannon ‘gainst self-slaughter”. (Shakespeare Act I. Scene II. #130) Although Hamlet is considering suicide as a way out of the turmoil he is living in; he however knows that it is not an option as God has made it a sin. Hamlet is not the only character who contemplates suicide in the drama Ophelia is another. Ophelia contemplates suicide when she cannot endure the chaos around her. Feeling caught between the men in her life Ophelia feels she has no choice but to jump into the river to drown. Suicide is the theme that Hamlet revolves around, it is crucial to the dramas plot, and it affects how each character in the drama behaves. In today’s society the reason people contemplate suicide is not much different from the reasons we see in Hamlet. Most who are contemplating this act are those who are simply depressed and believe there is no way out of their situation as use it as a final escape from their turmoil.