Q: Analyze the character of Hamlet in Shakespeare's play "Hamlet-Prince Of Denmark"

Hamlet, as a reflective scholar and prince has a wavering attitude to women in the play. His attitudes not only signify his loathing for betrayal but also establish the fact that he moves from the specific to the general, from individual to the universal. Therefore his loathing for his mother, moves on to his loathing in Womanhood itself on voyages onto his detest for Mankind itself. The cardinal sin of incest committed by Gertrude is also a major catastrophe which pressurizes Hamlet. Gertrude describes Hamlet as her "too much changed son" however she doesn't realize the change caused in him is partly due to her own contribution. Hamlet cannot accept his mother's "o'er hasty marriage" and it is this which causes bitterness in his heart and sarcasm in his words. Gertrude, throughout the play underlines her own transient character as a mother, a wife as well as an individual. She is responsible for the cardinal sin of incest as well as a destructive "increase in appetite." Hamlet cannot accept the fact that she moves with "such dexterity to incestuous sheets." It is indeed such thoughts that stain Hamlet's language causing a philosophical scholar to carelessly utter the vulgarity in his thoughts through the use of innuendo. The nunnery scene, Hamlet depicts his loathing for women Hamlet proves his feelings when he says "O frailty thy name is woman," to signify the bitterness in his heart. The word "nunnery" has been repeated five time in his encounter with Ophelia which is yet another suggestion of vulgarity and innuendo. With the clever use of repetition, Shakespeare turns even the sacred implication of the word nunnery into a profane connotation.

Shakespeare has presented Hamlet with a continual death wish. It is the load of the over-burdening responsibilities that causes Hamlet to be wistful for death. Hamlet, in one of his soliloquies raises the perennial question to mankind, "To be or not to be." It is a question that outlines Hamlet's everlasting death wish. For a highly reflective scholar, the time for action never nears. Hamlet realizes the beads of time trickling away from his hands and he prefers a silent, peaceful sleep, rather than "to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." According to Hamlet, life is full of a "thousand natural shocks" and he as a thinker, wants to give up in his conquest for revenge. Shakespeare presents Hamlet's continual death wish and poses that one has to face the uplifts and downfalls of existence. According to Hamlet, his life is "weary," subject to the "whips and scorns of time" however he doesn't realize that the fault lies not within Fate but within his excessively contemplative and philosophical nature. He also presents his death wish when he wants his "too too sullied flesh" to "resolve into a dew." He has the longing for a gentle escape from this world and wants to dissolve into eternity. Hamlet values his life at "a pin's fee" and will not give up anything he owns "except my (Hamlet's) life, except my life, except my life."

Hamlet as an individual and as a contemplative scholar is portrayed as being infested with the germ of procrastination. Despite his otherwise infallible nature, Divinity has inculcated in him a seed of vacillation and indecisiveness which leads him to his ultimate fate and downfall. Shakespeare tries to underline the fact that due to one "vicious mole in nature," most people are in fact admirable. However, it is only one flaw that is needed to erase the vibrant colours of virtue and humanity. Hamlet at various times during the play postpones the opportune moment. One such instance is when he refuses to kill Claudius during the course of his prayers in the fright that his soul may fleet to Heaven. However the Elizabethan Tudor concept of the Divine Right of Kings, states that the murder of a King divinely anointed by God upsets the social order as the King is a determinant factor in the lives of people. There seems to be a reversal of the appropriate social order in Denmark because "virtue itself of vice must pardon beg." Indeed, there is a justified exchange in values and judgments in Denmark. Also since fratricide is punishable by means of revenge, Hamlet's revenge wouldn't be a sin but an offering to his late father. Hamlet is also seen delaying the decision of revenge when he orders the play 'the murder of Gonzago' to be enacted. Even though the play is a foolproof method of determining Claudius' guilt, it acts as a warning to him making him more alert of Hamlet's intentions. The play in fact isn't really a necessity however, it may the product of Hamlet's subconscious desire to postpone revenge and prolong the moment to decide. Even though Hamlet is aware of his germinal flaw, he is inactive in extracting it from his mind and temperaments. We can say that his negativity is a product of low self-worth and can also pinpoint that he suffers from a neurotic Oedipus complex. Hamlet is caught up in a tornado of conflicting emotions tends to lose the trail heading to his ultimate goal. As the story progresses, Hamlet is shown to become more and more reluctant to pursue his revenge. He is unable to translate his thoughts into actions and therefore gradually sinks in the quicksand of is own emotions and judgements. For the tragedy to be averted, Hamlet should have had the impulse of Laertes and the ambition of Fortinbras. Shakespeare presents Horatio, Fortinbras and Laertes as a foil to Hamlet. On one side of the picture lies Fortinbras who is able to find "quarrel in a straw." This is illustrated when he battles the Polack for an "eggshell." On the other hand, Hamlet who has every reason and motive to act doesn't, due to his inability to do so. Shakespeare represents that the two men have conflicting positions in life. Hamlet through out the play is "tearing a passion into tatters." As the play advances his "passion" gradually deteriorates until it becomes a "mote" "to trouble the eye." Shakespeare, through all his tragedies, depicts how even an extraordinary virtue can be misused to a fault and the important fact to consider is where to draw the line so that our emotions don't become empowering banishing us from the ability to reason out with situations and circumstances as we progress as individuals.

Shakespeare elevates the life in the play by the effective use of his language. He is one among several writers who can use language to his command and knows how to create rhythm amongst the audience though his words. The imagery of disease is present all through the play and describes the deterioration of human values. Denmark is described as an "unweeded garden." and there is an existence of "rank corruption" in "ill-breeding minds." Shakespeare, through the sickness imagery describes Hamlet's central worries and his existential despair. The play is packed with the imagery of disease, the most prominent being the phrase "there is something rotten in the state of Denmark." Shakespeare, as part of his language has also included in the play references to spirituality to suit the Elizabethan. He shows awareness of the fact that there is "divinity that shapes all our ends" and towards the end only God can decide our ultimate destiny. He through his words gives out a few timeless messages, for instance "when sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions." Through the simple, yet effective use of militant imagery, Shakespeare establishes the fact that in the course of a lifetime one has to "grunt and sweat under a weary life" and that the ultimate truth is the womb of the "undiscovered country." Hamlet's satirical nature is brought out by Shakespeare's effective use of puns. Shakespeare through the effective use of paradoxes heightens the pulse of the audience by presenting the thought provoking mannerisms of Hamlet. Even Hamlet's first words in the play ("A little more than kin and less than kind!") pose a paradox. Hamlet tries to suggest that even though Claudius is twice related to him both as a stepfather and as an uncle, he is neither caring nor a part of his family. Also when he says that he is "too much in the sun," he gives a reference to kingly gaze as well as a provocative call to the word son. Hamlet's ironic words attract the audience's exhilaration. His cynical attitude is also reflected when he states, "The funeral bakes meats, did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables." His words emphasize on the short length of Gertrude's patience and illustrate yet again her betrayal towards his father.

In conclusion, I would like to stay that Shakespeare throughout this play shows an infinite awareness of basic human psychologies. This is why his plays are not of an age but for all time. He furnishes his plays with some eternal timeless messages. He shows that how thorough one singular weakness, the whole goodness of an individual can be wasted. His plays reflect a great contemporary relevance because the generations of today can still relate to the infinite truth and knowledge in the themes of his plays. Shakespeare through this play wants to teach his audience the value of the self-realization of ones flaws. He tries to suggest that the faster we realize our weaknesses, the faster we can venture out to evolve as individuals. All in all, each play of Shakespeare is a superior work of art reaching out to all the areas of human thought and perception including in itself the aspects of human nature that are ageless.