Hamlet Paper

Character analysis of Hamlet Cindy Ortiz English 102 12/10/09

Mrs. Goffe-McNish

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Table of content

Essay 1 The Connections to themes of Hamlet in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare pgs 3-7

Essay2 Shakespeare

The Characteristics of Hamlet in the play Hamlet by William pgs 8-11

Essay3 Hamlet by pgs 12-14

The relationships of Hamlet and other characters in the play William Shakespeare

Appendix pg 15

Bibliography Pg16

Image one and picture two

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Cindy Ortiz Mrs. Goffe-McNish English 102 12/10/09

The connections to themes of Hamlet in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare

The themes of a story such as the ones in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare give it an appealing plot. Hamlet has numerous links to the many themes of the play which he carries throughout the development of the play. A theme is a thought or idea the author presents to the reader that may be deep, difficult to understand, or even moralistic. Cleansing is the freeing of a place, person, or society from something wrong or unwelcome. Deceit is the act or practice of deceiving; concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating. Tragedy is a serious play with a tragic theme, often involving a heroic struggle and the downfall of the main character. Hamlet is a young man who is tortured with the decision of taking revenge on his uncle in order to avenge his father’s death. The representation of cleansing, deceit and tragedy are the three of the many themes that Hamlet finds himself in the midst of.

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Hamlet executes a major part in the cleansing that takes place in the play because he is one of the main cleansers. He is also a one of the many flawed characters in the play which pollutes it. Hamlet begins to display foul acts as his tactics include murder. His moral is put into question after plotting to kill Claudius. “At least I’m sure it may be so in Denmark. (writes)So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word. It is “Adieu, adieu. Remember me.”I have sworn ’t” (1.5). This occurs after he finds out that his father was murdered by Claudius. This horrible act makes his uncle Claudius a spoiled character as well and someone who must withdraw from the play in order to carry on with the cleansing of the tragedy. Hamlet now begins to show signs of him developing into a flawed character with the loss of morality. Although In Hamlets time period it was common to avenge a love one and it would be acceptable, it is still seen as brutal act. In the process and mix-up of killing Claudius; Hamlet kills Polonius thus blemishing his moral. Hamlet begins to shows poor feelings after killing Polonius stating afterwards; “Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell.I took thee for thy better. Take thy fortune. Thou find’st to be too busy is some danger” (3.4). In development of the play he is led to fight against Leartes and unintentionally kills him too. His indecision of wether to kill Claudius lead him to the discovery that he is not strong enough to handle the revenge of his father hence making it one more of his many flaws. “Am I a coward? Who calls me “villain”? Breaks my pate across? Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face?Tweaks me by the nose? Gives me the lie i' th' throat As deep as to the lungs? Who does me this? Ha! 'Swounds, I should take it, for it cannot beBut I

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am pigeon-livered and lack gallTo make oppression bitter, or ere thisI should have fatted all the region kites With this slave’s offal.” Hamlet is at lost of all that is right due to the mix up occurring in his life. In end he is one of the many characters that die in order to maintain the play spotless of all flaws. Deceit is one of the biggest issues Hamlet has a hard time dealing with considering he is hit with all kinds of cynical acts all at once. He also has to deal with the death of his father and the secondary effects the death of a father may bring him. Even though there is not much told about the royal family’s relationship with each other; it can be assumed that there was some kind of respect from Hamlet to his uncle and mother. He is let down by his uncle Claudius who after committing the sneaky act of marring his mother; takes the throne and expects to receive some kind of warm acceptance from hamlet “This unprevailing woe, and think of us As of a father. For let the world take note, You are the most immediate to our throne, And with no less nobility of love Than that which dearest father bears his son” (1.2). Hamlet is not happy with the poor decisions his uncle Claudius, but is not as upset as he is with his mother. Hamlet is let down in the beginning of the play by his mother who marries his Uncle Claudius. The disillusion that Hamlet’s mother causes him has a great impression on his view on women. He views women as frail individuals with no hope of prevailing out of what they are and what they are meant to be. He sees women as people who cant help themselves because they are weak and feels that his mother is willing to stoop low in order to remain queen.“A little month, or ere those shoes were old with which she followed my poor father’s body, Like Niobe, all tears. Why she,

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even she—O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer!—married with my uncle (1.2). His relationship with Opheliais negatively impacted as he breaks off their sentimental relationship in a very cruel way. “For virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not.”(3.1). Hamlet also received a considerable deception from his father as he has a remembrance of him as much more than his father, but saw him in great admiration “He was a man. Take him for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again.” (1.2). Hamlet is stunned by the things his father tell him that he has sinned and therefore finds himself “Doomed for a certain term to walk the night And for the day confined to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away”.(1.5). Despite the fact that this can be a discontentment Hamlet is considerate of his misdeeds. Hamlet is dazed from the number of despicable acts that have occurred in his life. The theme of tragedy in the play is the main focus of the story line in which Hamlet finds himself wrapped around. A tragedy is well known for the breakdown of a good man in the same way as Hamlet is a decent man and ends up corrupting his decency in the midst of his struggle with revenge. The play opens up with a good wholesome image of a son mourning his late father. As the story progresses he encounters his fathers ghost and discovers that his death is the responsibility of King Claudius. He is angered at the tough that Claudius has killed his father and now taken his place. Hamlet is ready to take revenge and has a lot of motivation to do so. Although his father’s ghost told him to avenge his death; he questions if killing is the right

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thing to do. Hamlet is tormented with the entire catastrophe that his life has turn into and does not Know if its easer to take action right away or if it is easier to be the better person and let things be as they are . “Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, end them?”(3.1) He tries to avoid killing and ops for the mouse tramp, a play based on the murder of the king in order to verify that what the apparition is true. As the play progresses Hamlet finds what he believes a chance to kill the, but he actually kills Polonius. In this situation he demonstrates a colder side of himself. He does not have any consideration when bringing about the death of his childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern after discovering that they had betrayed him. He loses trust in many of the people that surround him and leading him to talk among himself. A story always contains some kind of theme that maneuvers the plot of the story. The themes of the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare associate with Hamlet and the occurrences in his life. The evolution of an ethical man into a corrupt man and leading to destruction is seen in the character Hamlet in the play. The deceits of most of the closest around him affect who he becomes and leads him to his death. The breakdown of Hamlet begins by him slowly changing from a decent man into a flawed character. His life is a tragedy because he is no longer to say that his father is with him and that his relatives truly are gentle people. He has to live with the imperfections of life, but he could not live with the thought of it being that way thus leading to his tragic end.

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Cindy Ortiz Mrs. Goffe-McNish English 102 12/10/09

The Characteristics of Hamlet in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare

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Shakespeare’s play Hamlet exhibits poor principles of a royal family where many characteristics come into lucid view. The play of Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s well-known tragedies as it displays the many characteristics of a man as result from poor circumstances. Characteristic is the pertaining to, constituting or indicating the character or peculiar quality of a person or thing. Emotional is the pertaining to or involving emotion or the emotions. Psychological is pertaining to, dealing with, or affecting the mind. Hamlet is a young man who is tortured with the decision of taking revenge on his uncle in order to avenge his father’s death. A character’s qualities define who it is or who it will become as the story develops. The psychological and emotional characteristics are some of the characteristics displayed by Hamlet in accordance with varying events. Hamlet’s psychological characteristics become vivid after he speaks to his father’s apparition. “The Ghosts most reinventing words to HamletAdieu,adieu, remember me” 1.5.91) are taken to heart , and perhaps to mind and spirit, By hamlet , for he repeats those very words of course(Kozokowski par.4) Kozokowski belief that he might of been psychologically scared with his fathers words. His mind goes into a state of disbelief since his father’s ghost is speaking to him and confessing of committing “foul crimes” (1.5). Hamlet distinguishes his father as a highly regarded man “He was a man. Take him for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again.” (1.2). Hamlet’s father also informs him that Claudius is responsible for his death and demands that Hamlet “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. (1.5). Even tough he acts very vengeful in the presence of his father’s spirit “Haste

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me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge” (1.5); He is merely a man and delays to take action. Hamlet in reality is a decent man who is frightened of the outcome of his actions and is swift to analyze how Claudius’s death will be and were it will take him, but leisurely to pursue it. When he is given the perfect chance to go in for the kill and justifies his dismay with excuses; “He’s praying now. And now I’ll do it. And there he goes, off to heaven. And that’s my revenge.”(3.3). Hamlet gives the situation more than enough turns in order to avoid taking action. As the play progresses his soliloquies reveal how psychologically he to some extent strengthens by strategizing other ways to take action. Rather than screaming to the world his plans, he remains discrete and

divulges a so-called madness to the people in the

palace. Although he makes-believe that he has gone mad in realty he begins to believe it so that much of his words hint lunacy. Hamlet’s state of mind is distressed because what his life was no longer exists. A second event that plays with his psychological status is that shortly after his father is dead his mother marries his father’s brother Claudius “Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven or ever I had seen that day, Horatio. My father—methinks I see my father.”(1.2). His family once seemed genuinely immaculate now illustrates its true colors. He no longer trusts the women in his life because in his mind he sees them as petty entities. He is not fully psychologically stable as he begins to converse with himself consequence of the mistrust he feels towards the people in the palace including his mother. Hamlet now gives the people around him the illusion

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that he has gone mad. “He waxes desperate with imagination”. (1.4). He finds it hard to deal with number of negative events and at one point begins to weaken as he starts to think of suicide as an escape to his problems. “To be, or not to be? That is the question—Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, end them” (3.1). The loss of trust among those closest to hamlet has greatly impacted his aspect on individuals. The circumstances he finds himself in affect his relationship with his love interest Ophelia. He is emotionally shattered and finds it hard to show his true emotion as he demonstrates in this excerpt “for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not.”(3.1). Hamlet does not want to admit that he once fell for a woman as he denies ever being in love or having any kid of attraction towards her. It is as if he were putting up a wall in order to not fall under her womanly enchantment. He cannot see Ophelia as nothing more than as a harlot who would only keep him company in order to obtain some kind of gain. He uses his mother’s actions as examples to support his theory. He asks her to stay away and as if, it would help him from avoiding temptation. Hamlet finds it hard to deal with the death of his father as any other son would and shows much emotion. He is one of the few people that still mourns his father’s death and does not approve of the sudden marriage of his mother with her brother in law. As the play develops, he begins to show negative sentiment towards his family. He acts out as if he is has nothing to

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say about the weeding, but speaks viciously about it when he is alone. He does not try to demonstrate how much it truly bothers him. Hamlet does not speak about his feelings so much because of strategy, but also out of feeling resentment against his mother. He knows he can no longer trust his mother and finds the need to keep her guessing because he is no longer concerned with her emotion. The characteristics of a character are crucial in order to understand it and Hamlet’s characteristics come out when he is hit upon extreme situations. Hamlet begins to reveal two of his traits as the catastrophe develops. Although not many of his physical and other characteristics appear, much is exposed from his psychological traits. It is clear trough this characteristic that Hamlet was greatly impacted with puzzling. The reader gets a better insight into what Hamlet is experiencing during his struggle with the death of his father and marriage of his mother. The description of these attributes gives the reader some aspects as to hamlets emotional and psychological contributions are to the book.

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Cindy Ortiz Mrs. Goffe-McNish English 102 12/10/09

The relationships of Hamlet and other characters in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare

The relationships in the novel are mostly superficial and weekend by incidence in the play. Hamlet is character in the novel that looses significant relationship, but keeps one that fallows him until the end. Relationship is a significant connection or similarity between two or more things, or the state of being related to something else. Hamlet is a young prince who deals with the death of his father and the marriage of his mother and his uncle shortly. Queen Gertrude the queen of Norway and mother to hamlet. Ophelia is Hamlet’s love interest and daughter of Polonius. Horatio is a close friend and fellow student of Hamlet. Hamlet interacts and holds relationships in play with many several characters such as queen Gertrude, Ophelia and Horatio.

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One of the most important relationships in the play is with Queen Gertrude because she is his mother. The connection a son and a mother have seems to be broken for Hamlet and his Gertrude since he no longer esteems her as son would. He is mad at her for taking poor action after his father’s death by weeding her brother in law. He bashes her with the lowest of words as comparing her to an animal “Why she, even she—O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer!—married with my uncle” (1.2). He now perceives her as a week being that she would steep low and marry in order to remain queen. His relationship has weakened and in his perspective can’t be mended. Although Hamlet seems to be the most hurt out of the situation, Gertrude feels his resentment and worries about her son or so she makes others belief. She knows that her actions were shallow and that he hurt her son in process of getting what she sought after. “I doubt it is no other but the main: His father’s death and our o'erhasty marriage.”(2.2). She is aware of the damage that she has done their mother and son bond, but does not try to mend it. She is truly egotistic individual that took action only thinking out her own benefit. Instead of helping her son she stays in the throne as she throws herself into the arms of Claudius a man who killed her own husband. Due to the lost of trust and much deceit from Hamlet’s Woman figure, he now views women as shallow individuals that use their charm to enchant men. While it is pretty clear that something happened before the misfortune of the royals, it is not clear how well developed their relationship was. By hints in the gifting of Hamlet to Ophelia it can be assumed that it was

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sentimental. He is fearful that Ophelia might be just as his mother and may want something out of him. He does not show affection towards her because he does not want to fall for what he believes may be a trap. He is pitiless and tells her to “Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?”(3.1). His demishing words hurt Ofelia and left her heartbroken to hear such hard words from someone she felt good about. As the play continues Hamlet ends up killing Ophelia’s father and leaves her with even more devastation than before. This something she found too hard to deal with and giving her reason to take her life. Hamlet never gets the chance to patch things up with her and in the end confesses that his true feelings. “ I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers Could not with all their quantity of loveMake up my sum. What wilt thou do for her” (5.1) .Taught their relationship began deteriorating long before her death there was no chance to save their relationship now that she was lifeless.

Despite the fact that no much is mentioned between the relationship of Hamlet and his friend Horatio there is a lot that critics have to say otherwise of the importance it has . “Regarding the Playwright’s tragic dramatization of friendship, most critics have focused on Hamlet, particularly the Danish prince’s friendship with the loyal Horatio”. (Janet Witalec par.1) Their relationship is crucial to keep Hamlet somewhat sane because otherwise he would find himself alone a Horatio is one of the few people in the play who is not flawed and who lives all the way through the end. He keeps Hamlet company and tries to help him as much as possible. Their relationship gives

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the impression that it is hamlet’s only genuinely clean one that he has. Considering he was betrayed by two of his childhood friends. It can be settled that Horatio is there for Hamlet in a hard time in his life “Having returned from Wittenberg to find his father dead and mother remarried to his uncle Claudius Hamlet relies on Horatio” (Janet Witalec par.2) In Hamlet’s final breaths Horatio shows his loyalty by wanting to die with him “I’m more like an ancient Roman than a corrupt modern Dane. Some of this liquor’s still left in the goblet. Just as any good friend Hamlet shows his humanitarian side and asks Horatio to save himself . He also relies that Horatio will clear the blemished reputation he is leaving behind. To all which Horatio agrees and as Hamlet is dying ; he dismisses him with amiable words. “Now cracks a noble heart.—Good night, sweet prince, And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!—(5.2) As a good friend Horatio keeps Hamlet in good company until the very end and although he might of also questioned his sanity, he was always on his side. The relationships in the play that include hamlet suffer as consequence of the betrayal from some, but others manage to survive. As the play demonstrates one bad relationship can ruin another such as it did for hamlet and the relationship with his mother and Ophelia. After the betrayal of his mother his other relationship with Ophelia begins to weaken. Even though both of those relationship go sour; Horatio’s bond with Hamlet can be can be judged as stronger than it was before since he was the only character he really relied on to give him some kind of support. The relationships he lost were inevitable, but it is heartbreaking to see the

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rupture of what are suppose to be closest bonds an individual has with a mother a lover.

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(Image 1)Hamlet being visited by his father’s ghost

(Image2)Hamlet putting up a barrier between him and Ophelia.

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Citation

1.Kozokowski,StanleyJ. “Shakespeare’sHamlet.’.”The Explicator. 55.3(spring1997):p126. LitratureResources from Gale. Gale. Dutchess Community College Lib-SUNY.9 Dec. 2009.http://go.gale.com/ps/start.do? p=sunydutchess.

2.“Friendship.@ Shakespearean Criticism. Ed.JanetWitalec.Vol.83.Detroit:Gale,2004.LiteratureResources From Gale. Gale. DutchessCommunity College Lib-SUNY. 9Dec.2009 http://go.gale.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRG&u=sunydutchess .

3. Shakespeare, William. (1604). Hamlet . England : First Signet Classics.

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