Hamlet Shakespeare's Play Hamlet Is Essentially a Essay

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Hamlet

Shakespeare's play Hamlet is essentially a character study of one man's slow descent into insanity. The play opens with the Danish prince presented rather innocently, as his father recently died and it is understandable that he might be caught up in grief. However, the appearance of his father's ghost shakes Hamlet to the core. He is faced suddenly with the arduous task of avenging his father's murder. Hamlet believes himself to be a weak man, as he states that his uncle Claudius is "no more like my father / Than I to Hercules," (Act I, scene ii). Yet Hamlet feels a keen sense of ironic moral duty to kill Claudius. If he listens to his conscience and refrains from committing murder, he risks being damned by not fulfilling his father's wishes from beyond the grave. On the other hand, if Hamlet fulfills his father's desire for revenge, he will become a murderer who is as immoral as his treacherous uncle. Hamlet is caught between two difficult and undesirable positions throughout the play, creating an insurmountable existential dilemma for the prince.

Hamlet is innocent at the beginning, evidenced by the way he reluctantly comes to believe that his uncle is his father's murderer.

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At first, he seems pumped with anger and swears to kill his uncle. "So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word / It is 'Adieu, adieu! Remember me.' / I have sworn 't" (Act I, scene iv). His confidence is false, though. Hamlet falters and flounders for much of the play, revealing the deep rift in his mind. He does not want to believe that his uncle could be capable of a deed as evil as killing his own brother, stealing his wife, and then ascending to the throne. Especially because the truth would also implicate his mother, and Hamlet does not wish to believe that his mother is a bad person, either. At the close of Act II, Hamlet devises a tool by which he can "catch the conscience of the king," (Act II, scene ii). By this, Hamlet means that he requires further proof if he is to execute his plan for revenge. Hamlet sees himself as being an "ass"….....

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