miércoles, 4 de enero de 2012

Hamlet

Hamlet, one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, portrays what seems to be the strongest internal conflict in a single character. Prince Hamlet had some good reasons to act the way he did, such as his father’s murder and his mother Gertrude’s overhasty marriage to Claudius, the murderer. However, I believe the main reason why Hamlet acted like an immature child was because he was psychologically afflicted as a consequence of not succeeding his father to the throne.
It is very plain that the sudden knowledge about his father’s murder and his mother’s incest did upset Hamlet; nonetheless, I believe there are two reasons why this was not what mainly accounted for Hamlet’s actions (and inactions). First, I believe Hamlet’s misfortunes were overstated throughout the play, which is meant to dissuade from the other layers of meaning under the obvious surface.  And second, since the conflicts were alien to Hamlet’s person, that is, they involved him indirectly, it seemed to me that Hamlet was using these as an apparently legitimate excuse to be upset with the world; thus overshadowing the real conflict within him.
As it is, Hamlet did not succeed to the throne immediately after his father’s death because his uncle Claudius married his mother Gertrude, and not because Hamlet was not able to rule a kingdom. Nevertheless, this event had more catastrophic outcomes than we are often persuaded to acknowledge. In the psychological realm, not succeeding to the throne had two major effects on Hamlet. First, slowly but steadily, Hamlet began to swallow the destructive lie that he lacked the ability to rule. And second, he came to the strong realization that he was alone in his task of recovering the throne and purging Denmark from its rottenness.
As a result of the first psychological realization, Hamlet pledged to avenge his father, which demonstrated that unlike everyone’s belief, he was capable of something. However, his insecurity was stronger and he yielded to the belief of his powerlessness, leading him to the second realization: that nobody minded him. This sensation started by Hamlet’s observation that even though his father had died just two months ago, everyone seemed to have moved on, except for him. As Hamlet understood it, he was alone in the realization that Claudius’ and Gertrude’s marriage was incestuous and that his father was murdered. He agonized at the unhappy thought that despite him being the prince, he had been neglected. This, precisely, is what led him on to have existentialist thoughts such as the famous Shakespearean line “to be or not to be.”
While Hamlet reflected on his unhappiness and his unfortunate life, a dreadful idea crossed his mind. Since nobody cared about him he might as well act like a madman. Unknowingly, Hamlet began to act like a child not just by being mindless of the consequences of his actions, but by playing, and not just crazy. Hamlet decided to play with the feelings of others, the intelligence of others and finally, with everyone’s and his own life.
For the most part, Hamlet played crazy because he wanted attention as a result of feeling neglected despite his importance as prince. Hamlet wanted everyone to know how upset he was about his father’s death and his mother’s marriage. He feigned to be a madman in order to make everyone uneasy about his mental health, and consequently the future and wellbeing of the kingdom (since he was going to succeed Claudius). Not surprisingly, this method of making people aware of himself and aware of his suffering proved very effective for Hamlet. Everyone in Denmark had now become acquainted with the fact that he was a madman, and even the king found himself worried and sought to find the cause of Hamlet’s affliction. It was at this moment where Polonius, a flattering and foolish courtier fancied himself to know the cause of Hamlet’s affliction and congratulated himself on the fact that it was probably mad love for his daughter Ophelia.
Now, despite the fact that Ophelia and Hamlet had a separate story, Hamlet’s misery left not one of the aspects of his life untouched; consequently, “the beautified Ophelia”, as he once called her, fell victim of his childish game as well. There were two main reasons why Hamlet was disappointed on Ophelia.  First, she left him alone by returning his letters unopened and denying him admittance when he was afflicted by the ghost incident. And second, he found her pretending to read a prayerbook and using makeup when it was clear she was waiting for him. Thus, Hamlet assumed that she was as fake as all the others and a king’s puppet too (unsupportive of Hamlet’s recovery of the throne). What Hamlet did not understand was that poor Ophelia was just obeying her father’s commands and that she was happily deceived in the fact that the king was trying to find an antidote for Hamlet’s madness.
Clearly there was a huge misunderstanding, but this did not give Hamlet licence to torment innocent Ophelia with his frequent sexual comments and his scorn of the female role; in doing such he was acting like a child, mindless of the consequences. Thomas MacCary said: “He plays the madman most, when he treats Ophelia with so much rudeness, which seems to be useless and wanton cruelty." Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia with contempt made her seek the more his approbation and his love (eventually leading to her madness), and she even risked her purity and virtue as shown during the scene of the play within a play.
Furthermore, Hamlet not only showed his childish attitude by playing with Ophelia’s feelings but also by playing with other courtiers such as her father Polonius and Osric. Richard Corum says: "it seems clear that, among other things, Hamlet is using camel, weasel, whale, and cloud to attack Polonius under the cover of his feigned madness."  Both nobles were certainly not very clever, but this did not give Hamlet the right of making fun of their want of wits. It seems Hamlet gained his sense of value and worth by slighting his own people, which resulted in both their deaths.
And finally, Hamlet shows his insecurity and childish mindset by his inaction. Despite the fact that he knew his father was murdered by his uncle since the very beginning, he resolved to kill him till the very end. Like a child, Hamlet spoke about his father with such love and admiration as there was no doubt his father was his hero and he hoped one day to become like him.  We even see the projection between the father and son as both bear the same name. But despite his admiration of his father and his promise to the ghost to avenge him, still like a child, Hamlet was still too noble and easy going to make up his mind to do something about Claudius. It seems he would rather spend his time in existentialist speeches. In light of this, Roy Walker says: “Hamlet is thus compelled, but can by no means find the form of action which will pass current in this world, a good that might overcome this evil. He is reduced to inaction; Hamlet's mind turns again to agonized contemplation of his powerlessness.”
Finally, as the end of the play approaches, there were two factors that successfully changed Hamlet’s mind. The first, Hamlet finally understood that death was unavoidable. He realized this at the scene in the graveyard, which’s purpose was to “relieve the tension before the catastrophe and to show that Hamlet is no longer concerned with the threat of damnation in an afterlife (MacCary 83). And second, his being acquainted with Ophelia’s death, caused by her madness made him realize the devastating consequences of his own contemptuous deeds and sparked in him a desire to move into action and purge Denmark from its festering evil.  
At last, Hamlet was able to live like a man and die like one too. Consequently, Fortinbras decided to give him a military funeral because he knew that had Hamlet been granted his rightful place in the throne, he would have proven “most royal.” In other words, had Hamlet been given the opportunity to assume a position requiring responsibility, he would have gotten rid of Denmark’s disease without the unnecessary death of Denmark’s courtiers, caused by Hamlet’s own childish games of feigned madness.
  
Works Cited Page


W. Thomas MacCary, Hamlet A Guide to the Play (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998) 102, Questia, Web, 11 Dec. 2011.
 Richard Corum, Understanding Hamlet A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998) 5, Questia, Web, 10 Dec. 2011.
Roy Walker, The Time Is out of Joint: A Study of Hamlet (London: Andrew Dakers, 1948) 19, Questia, Web, 11 Dec. 2011.
W. Thomas MacCary, Hamlet A Guide to the Play (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998) 83, Questia, Web, 11 Dec. 2011.




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