Shakespeare1 Essay Example For Students

Shakespeare1 Essay Sidorowicz-2and by agreeing or disagreeing with those opinions I will prove that he was acting in very logic way, and his decisions and actions were very deliberate. If Shakespeare had not given us the complex psychological state of Hamlet, then one could conclude that Hamlet was really insane (electric library), but Shakespeare did. He made sure that there was an explanation and, or logical reason for all his actions. Hamlet proves to be in complete control of his psyche in several parts of the play. First, the fact that Hamlet acts irrationally only in front of certain individuals shows that he is only acting. He acts insane in front of Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude and Ophelia; while remaining perfectly normal in front of Horatio, Marcellus, the players and the gravedigger. â€Å"I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw†(Guth, hamlet, p. 820, v.35-37). This is the classic example of the â€Å"wild and whirling words† (Guth, hamlet, p808, v.90) with which Hamlet hopes to persuade people to believe that he is mad. These words, however, prove that beneath his emotional disposition, caused by his father’s death and very fast remarriage of his mother, Hamlet is very sane. Our hero is saying that he knows a hunting hawk from a hunted â€Å"handsaw† or heron in other words, that, very far from being mad, he is perfectly capable of recognizing his enemies. His imagery involving points of the compass, the weather, and hunting birds, he is announcing that he is precisely and calculatedly choosing the time when to appear mad. Shakespeare’s â€Å"Hamlet† is based on the legend of fabled Danish Prince Amleth, who feigned insanity to veil a plot of revenge against his uncle for his father’s murder. Sidorowicz-3Set down by Saxo Grammaticus at the end of the twelfth century in the Historiae Danicae, the legend included two parts, however, we have no evidence that Shakespeare came into contact with either of these versions. The most direct source for his drama seems to have been another play of around 1588 know as Ur-Hamlet, which was based onBelleforests, one of these versions, but is now lost (Watts, p.2). In Saxo version of the tale, Amleth not only killed the eavesdropper (the Polonius character in Hamlet) but also cut his body into morsels, he seethed it in boiling water, and flung it through the mouth of the swine to eat (Watts, p.5). In contrast, Shakespeare’s Hamlet feels remorse after the murder of Polonius:â€Å"I do repent; but heaven hath pleasd it so, to punish me with this, and this with me, that I must be their scourge and minister.† (Guth, Hamlet, 3.4. v.175-178, p.851). Hamlet’s speech reflects the more Christian viewpoint of Shakespeare’s time, butalso tells us that he is not a coward, like some critics say. Fact that he actually kills Polonius (being sure that he is killing Claudius) proves that he does not suffer from any weakness of will or inability to act, that he has the ability to think clearly, and that he does not suffer from any mental disorder. Moreover, E. E. Stoll said: â€Å"The delay functions in Hamlet as it had from the Greeks on, as part of the epical tradition; it does not reflect upon the defects of the hero, but makes the deed momentous when it comes at the end of the play.† (Weitz, Hamlet, p.50)Hamlet has really strong character, which we can also witness in the very democratic and human way he treats Horatio and the players. His hesitation is not a result Sidorowicz-4of cowardice, but a result of evil nature of the society in which he lives. â€Å"Hamlet himself is a moral man in an immoral world, a sens itive man in a cruel society, society which accepts the concept of revenge as perfectly moral. (Aichinger, criticism, Vol. 35). This social roles tell him to take revenge, but the socially created urges to revenge, force him to do something against his real nature. Hamlet’s rejection of the moral standards of his society is crystallized by his father’s death, his loss of the election to the throne, Gertrude’s casual acceptance of her husband’s death, and her hasty marriage. These events serve to heighten his awareness of the condition of society (Aichinger, criticism, Vol. 35). One can say, that they could go their way and he his, but the problem and the tragedy is that this society and this individuals make a specific demand upon him. Hamlet thinks about rejecting these standards of his society but, on the other hand, he also thinks But this is not the only reason for which Hamlet delays in killing the king. The other reason is, that he is not sure of th e Ghost’s origins and its reality. Critic E. E. Stoll says: â€Å"The doubting of the Ghost is not moment of weakness; this is Hamlet as a typicalElizabethan, knowing that the Ghost could be the devil rather than his father’s spirit.†(Weitz, Hamlet, p. 52) â€Å"The spirit that I have seen /May be the devil† (Guth, Hamlet, p.828, v.616-618). Horatios comment that the ghost disappeared because of the rooster crowing which, in Hamlet’s times, was considered as a God’s sign, makes Hamlet wonder even more. If this is the God’s sign, and if the ghost is not evil, then why the Ghost disappeared after hearing it? Sidorowicz-5Hamlet also wants to find out whether the Ghost tale of murder is true. In order to do it, he decides that when he finds it suitable or advantageous to him, he will put on a â€Å"mask of madness so to speak† (Schucking, Hamlet, p. 67).He confides to Horatio that when he finds the occasion appropriate, he will â €Å"put an antic disposition on† (Guth, Hamlet, p. 810, 1.5.172). Mark Van Doren points out in his book â€Å"Shakespeare†, that â€Å"Hamlets antic disposition† is used â€Å"as a device for seeming mad† (162). He uses it as a tactic in order to buy time in which he can discover the truth. If the Ghost is telling the true, this strategy will give Hamlet a chance to find proof of Claudius guilt, and to First, he decides to â€Å"appear unthreatening and harmless† so that people will divulge information to him, much in the same way that an adult will talk about an important secret in the presence of a child. (Barnes ; Noble, A review of Hamlet, Vol. To convince everyone of his madness, Hamlet spends many hours walking back and forth alone in the lobby talking like a crazy man. When asked if he recognizes Polonius, Hamlet replies, â€Å"Excellent well; you are a fishmonger† (Guth, hamlet, p. 819, 2.2.175). Although the response seems crazy sin ce a fish-seller would look totally different that expensively dressed lord Polonius, â€Å"Hamlet is actually criticizing Polonius for his management of Ophelia, since fishmonger is Elizabethan slang for pimp† (Addison, Shakespearian criticism, Vol. 1). He also plays mind-games with Polonius, first agreeing that a cloud looks like a camel, then a veasel, then a whale, and Sidorowicz-6finally, he comments, in very sane way, that â€Å"They fool me to the top of my bent† (Guth, Hamlet, p. 843, 3.2.393). Although he appears to have lost touch with reality, he kips reminding us that he is not at all â€Å"far gone, far gone† (Guth, Hamlet, p. 819, 2.2.190) as Polonius claims, but, in fact, Hamlet can control himself and the situation very well. Although Hamlet manages to convince Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern of his insanity, other characters in the play such as Claudius, Gertrude, and even Polonius Claudius is constantly â€Å"on his guard† (Intern et), because of his guilty conscience and he therefore recognizes that Hamlet is faking. Theking is suspicious of Hamlet from very beginning. He denies Hamlet permission to return to university, so that he can keep an eye on him. When Hamlet starts acting strangely, Claudius becomes more suspicious and sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on him. Their tasks are to discover why Hamlet is pretending to be mad: â€Å"And can you, by no drift of conference, Get from him why he puts on his confusion, Grating so harshly allhis days of quiet With turbulent and dangerous lunacy?† (Guth, Hamlet, p.829, 3.1.1-4). Claudius doesn’t believe that Ophelia’s rejection has caused Hamlets lunacy, because he does not believe in his madness at all. Even if Claudius has any doubts of Hamlets sanity, he gets rid of it in â€Å"The main action, which reaches its apogee in the play within plays.† (Schucking, hamlet, p.3) When Claudius realizes that Hamlet knows the truth a bout his father’s death, he immediately sends him away to England. The final and prevailing evidence demonstrating Claudius knowledge of Hamlets sanity is the fact that he, filling threatened by Hamlet, orders the king of England to kill him. â€Å"For like the Sidorowicz-7hectic in my blood he rages, And thou must cure me: till I know tis done, Howeer my haps, my joys were neer begun.† (Guth, Hamlet, p.857, 4.3.67-69) A lot of people and some critics state that Hamlet is insane because of the way he acts toward his mother; but those people obviously didn’t read the play carefully enough. Mi Familia Sample Essay Sidorowicz-11We have to remember that although king offers his consolation for Hamlets grief, it comes at the wrong time, from the wrong person and with wrong inflection. Even if the words were true, not the words, but sympathy is what the grieving Hamlet needs; but this Hamlet does not receive, not from the court, not from his uncle, and most important, not from his own mother. Moreover, for those people, his grief over his fathers death is alien and unwelcome. This is shown in the beginning of the play, even before Hamlet sees the ghost, where Gertrude, ask him: â€Å"Good Hamlet, cast thy knighted color off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not for ever with thy vailed lids / Seek for thy noble father in the dust. Thou knowst tis commonall that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity.† After Hamlet’s respond, †Ay, madam, it is common, if it be† she then asks: â€Å"Why seems it so particular with th ee?† After this question, Hamlet revolts: â€Å"Seems, madam! Nay, it is; I know not seems.† Throughout the play, hamlet is preoccupied with delay, and with the metaphysical Issue of the relation between thought and action, but as his own experience shows, â€Å"there is finally no action that can be commensurate with his grief, and it is Hamlets experience of grief, and his recovery from it, to which we ourselves respond most deeply.† (Downer, Hamlet is acting sometimes uncommonly during the play, but one must recognize that he is a young man who comes home from his university to find his father dead and his mother remarried to his father’s murderer. In the same time, the women he loves Sidorowicz-12rejects him, he is betrayed by his friends, and finally and most painfully, he is betrayed by his mother. In addition, the ghost of his father visits him and assures Hamlet of his love and ask for vengeance. Now, one has to answer if he or she, being in this kind of situation wouldn’t act with the presence of frailty, or grief which is so common in our life. Moreover, I think that Hamlet handles this situation way better than majority would. He not just deals with these events, but also, in the same time, thinks so clearly and makes plans, which finally helps him to discover the truth. The same way he ask himself if he should live or die, he also plans and questions the strategy of his plans: To be insane or not to be insane? If I will appear sane, I might never discover the truth. From pretending madness, I can only benefit. Then I will pretend to be sane. Can we blame Hamlet for the way he thinks? Can we blame him because he thinks?Hazlitt, William. Hamlet: in His Characters of Shakespeare’s Plays. Reprinted in Shakespearean Criticism, Vol. 1, pp.79-87. J. M. Dent sons: Ltd., 1906. Electric Library. Hamlet. http://www.the/ray.com/literature/hamlet.html. Guth, P. Hans. Discovering Literature. â€Å"Hamlet.† New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2000. Watts, Cedric. Twaynes New Critical Introduction to Shakespeare: â€Å"Hamlet.† Boston: C. P. Aichnger. Culture. Vol. 21, No. 2, pp.142-49. Reprinted in Shakespearean Van Doren, Mark. Shakespeare, p. 162. New York: Doubleday ; Company, 1939. Levin L. Schucking. The meaning of Hamlet. New York: Barnes; Noble Inc., 1873. Sidorowicz-13Barnes ; Nobles Books. A Review of Hamlet: â€Å"The Psychology of Role-Playing and Acting, pp. 57-102., Vol. 37. Barnes ; Noble, 1996. Addison, Joseph. Extract from Shakespeare: â€Å"The Critical Heritage 1693-1733.† Weitz, Morris. Hamlet and the Philosophy of Literary Criticism. E. E. Stoll, p.50: Toronto, Canada, The University of Toronto Press, 1964. Schucking, Levin L. The Meaning of Hamlet. New York: Barnes ; Noble Inc., 1873. Johnston, William, Preston. The Prototype of Hamlet. New York: Belford, 1890. Traversi, D. A. An Approach to Shakespeare. 3rd ed. New York: Doubleday ; Company, 1969. Epstein, Norrie. The Friendly Shakespeare. New York: Penguin Group, 1993. Internet. Lynch Multimedia: â€Å"Hamlet.† http://www.lynchmultimedia.com/hamlet_pbook2chpt2.html Kirch, Arthur. ELH, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 17-36. Reprinted in Shakespearean Criticism, Vol. 35. Spring,1981. Downer, Alan S. The British Drama. New York: 1950. Cliffs Notes. Hamlet. Lincoln, Nebraska: Cliffs Notes Inc., 1971. Alexander, Nigel. Poison, Play, and Duel: â€Å"A Study in Hamlet.† Lincoln, Nebrasca: Routledge and Kagan Paul Ltd., 1971. Bibliography: