Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

Hamlet is considered to be the summit of Shakespeares art. It was written in 1601-1602

and first published in 1603. It is a work of profound philosophy.
This famous tragedy has as its scene the kingdom of Denmark. But Danish names couldnt
hide from the spectators and readers the fact that it was England, which the great writer depicted in
his play.Hamlet is the profoundest expression of Shakespeares humanism and his criticism of
contemporary life.
The present king of Denmark has come to the throne upon the mysterious death of his brother
and has just married his brothers wife. Hamlet, son of the late king, is deeply affected because of
his fathers death and horrified at the action of his mother in taking a second husband so soon.
While he is in this unhappy frame of mind the ghost of his father appears to him and tells Hamlet
the circumstances of his recent death. He declares that he was really murdered by his brother who
had stolen the queens love. Bidding Hamlet to revenge him the ghost disappears.
Hamlet is in love with Ophelia whose father Polonius forbids her to have no more to do with
the prince, fearing that Hamlet can mean nothing honourable towards a girl of inferior rank.
Hamlet however in his anguish of spirit at the discovery of the villainy of his uncle and
treachery of his mother has no more thought of anything but vengeance. So much dowse the horror
of the situation press upon his mind that the court thinks he has gone mad. In bitter mood he
contemplates suicide and comes his famous monologue:
To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whethertis 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? To die, - to sleep,
No more; and, by a sleep, to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, - tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wishd. To die, - to sleep; To sleep! Perchance to dream: ay, theres the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: theres the respect,
That makes calamity of so long life,
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressors wrong, the proud mans contumely,

The pangs of despisd love, the laws delay,

The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life;
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscoverd country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will;
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied oer with the pale cast of thought;
And enterprises of great pith and monument,
With this regard, their currents turn away,
And lose the name of action.
Hamlet is not assailed by doubts: was the apparition really the ghost of his father, or was it a
device of the devil to lure him to violent action? Is this uncle really guilty? To satisfy himself on
this score Hamlet devices a plan: a company of travelling actors is to perform before the king and
Hamlet instructs them to act out in a play the precise circumstances of the later kings murder as
revealed to Hamlet by the ghost. When the actors come to the murder scene, the king can stand it no
longer and leaves the room. Hamlet is now convinced of the kings guilt. In a stormy scene with his
mother he reproaches her bitterly for her part in the affair. Hearing someone behind the curtains
Hamlet stabs through them thinking it is the king. But it is instead Ophelias father, who thus meets
his death. The death of her father added to her lovers supposed madness is too much for Ophelia.
The poor girl is subsequently drowned in a brook.
A poisoned weapon through the machinations of the king wounds Hamlet. But before he dies
he slays the murderer. The queen also meets her death y accidentally drinking a cup of poisoned
wine, which had been prepared for Hamlet.
The character of Hamlet recalls the titans of the Renaissance. Hamlet is a man of genius,
highly educated, a man of searching mind and sparkling wit. Hamlet is the pride of all Denmark.
The common people of the country love him. Hamlet is a humanist, a man who is free from
medieval prejudices and superstitions. Shakespeare makes him a student of the Wittenberg
University, a seat of learning, associated with the famous doctor and destiny find expression in the
following speech: What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty!

In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In
apprehension how like a God! The beauty of the world. The paragon of animals!
This enthusiastic exclamation could have come only form a man of Renaissance. Such is
Hamlet, who opposes a cruel hypocritical and treacherous world.
Bright hopes and aspirations of his youth come to a clash with crude reality. The infidelity of
his mother, the servility of the courtiers who bowed and cringed to the unworthy king, the falsehood
of his friends and, finally, the crime committed by his uncle, made him realise how wicked and
unjust the world he lived in was. He understood that he was not the only sufferance in the country:
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time
The oppressors wrong, the proud mans contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the laws delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,?This indignation at what he sees is summed up
in bitter and condemnatory words: Denmark is a prison.
Claudius Shakespeare's villains are complex. Unlike the earlier antiheroes of the revenge or
morality plays that were popular in Elizabethan and Jacobean culture, Shakespearean criminals lack
the simple clarity of absolute evil. Claudius is a perfect example of a quintessential Shakespearean
antagonist.
Claudius is socially adept, and his charm is genuine. He can exhibit deep distress over his "dear
brother's death" and admiration for his wife, "Th'imperial jointress to this warlike state." He knows
the value of a great funeral, but quickly turns mourning into celebration and moves on "With mirth
in funeral and with dirge in marriage" to whatever lies ahead. He is a decisive man, fair in his
politics and commanding if Gertrude's allegiance is any indication in his bedroom.
The Queen has chosen to marry Claudius, and she defends him even to her son. In fact, she never
opposes Claudius in anything. Were he dark and sinister in all things, she would fear and despise
him; she follows him willingly even when he arranges to send her beloved son into the jaws of
death. He must be sincere in his love for her. He explains his feelings for her at the end of Act IV,
but he has proven these feelings consistently throughout the play
The Queen his mother
Lives almost by his looks, and for myself,
My virtue or my plague, be it either which,
She's so conjunctive to my life and soul
That as the star moves not but in his sphere,
I could not by her.
A character who loves is not merely a cold-blooded killer. Like Hamlet, his conflicting imperatives
tear him apart.
Whereas he recognizes that he his "offense is rank" and "smells to heaven," he also admits that he
will not make amends with God because he refuses to give up what his crime has bought him. He is
willing to take the consequences of his actions.
In some ways, Claudius exhibits more heroism than Hamlet. He manipulates fortune and takes what
is not rightfully his, but remains unapologetic for his actions; he possesses enough strength to admit

that he would do the same again. Hamlet, torn by conscience to smite the morally deficient
Claudius, causes the death of six innocent people before he accomplishes his goal. By taking full
responsibility for his actions, Claudius mitigates his evil nature.
The mark of a great Shakespearean antagonist is how completely he mirrors the protagonist.
Claudius is no more Machiavellian than Hamlet; both ultimately believe that the end justifies the
means, and both ultimately sacrifice humanity and humaneness in the acquisition of their goals.
What makes Claudius a villain is that he is wrong, and Hamlet is right. Claudius is a sneak who
murdered and lied. Hamlet commits his murders in the open and suffers the pangs of his own
conscience. Claudius subverts his conscience and refuses to ask for divine forgiveness. Hamlet
seeks contrition and absolves himself of guilt before he dies; Claudius receives no absolution and
seeks none. Hamlet will spend eternity in Heaven; Claudius will burn in Hell.
Gertrude
Few Shakespearean characters have caused as much uncertainty as Gertrude, the beautiful Queen of
Denmark. The play seems to raise more questions about Gertrude than it answers, including: Was
she involved with Claudius before the death of her husband? Did she love her husband? Did she
know about Claudiuss plan to commit the murder? Did she love Claudius, or did she marry him
simply to keep her high station in Denmark? Does she believe Hamlet when he insists that he is not
mad, or does she pretend to believe him simply to protect herself? Does she intentionally betray
Hamlet to Claudius, or does she believe that she is protecting her sons secret?
These questions can be answered in numerous ways, depending upon ones reading of the play. The
Gertrude who does emerge clearly in Hamlet is a woman defined by her desire for station and
affection, as well as by her tendency to use men to fulfill her instinct for self-preservationwhich,
of course, makes her extremely dependent upon the men in her life. Hamlets most famous
comment about Gertrude is his furious condemnation of women in general: Frailty, thy name is
woman! (I.ii.146). This comment is as much indicative of Hamlets agonized state of mind as of
anything else, but to a great extent Gertrude does seem morally frail. She never exhibits the ability
to think critically about her situation, but seems merely to move instinctively toward seemingly safe
choices, as when she immediately runs to Claudius after her confrontation with Hamlet. She is at
her best in social situations (I.ii and V.ii), when her natural grace and charm seem to indicate a rich,
rounded personality. At times it seems that her grace and charm are her only characteristics, and her
reliance on men appears to be her sole way of capitalizing on her abilities.