Love And Loyalty In Hamlet example essay topic

Love and Loyalty in Hamlet Love is a very powerful theme in Hamlet. Hamlets love was mainly driven by revenge of his fathers murder. Hamlet is too confused and shocked after his mother married his own uncle two month after his fathers death. Different feelings overflow Hamlets sole. Hamlets revenge is successful, but very costly.

Hamlet had paid his revenge with his treasured Ophelia, his friend, and his own life. His love for Ophelia is dispersed. It can be seen as the reflection of the true love for his mother. Hamlet only declares his true love for Ophelia at the funeral scene, "I loved Ophelia: forty thousand brothers Could not with all their quantity of love Make up my sum". (V, I, 58-60) Nevertheless, Hamlet believes that he has to separate himself from Ophelia in order to complete his revenge. The most important aspect of Hamlets declaration of love is nunnery scene.

Hamlet has transferred both his love and anger for his mother into a rage of anger towards Ophelia. Maybe, Hamlet assumes that Ophelia will understand that he is pretending it for the sake of the spies. In the nunnery scene, Hamlet is actually thinking as much about Ophelia as of his mother. However, in order to achieve successfully a revenge Hamlet should break all the personal ties. Love supports revenge, because Hamlet should sacrifice his love for Ophelia and for his mother, again because of his love for his father. It shows what how important the love was for Hamlet and how loyal he was to his father.

This makes Hamlet to be tragic hero. He should choose the love that is the most valuable for him. I think that it was a tough decision, but Hamlet should take care of his future happiness by establishing good relationship with Ophelia and by being totally dedicated to her. Before Laertes departure for France, he tells his sister about Hamlets true intentions and gives her an advice to be wary of Hamlets love. He explains to Ophelia that Hamlet is a Prince and he it is more likely that he will have an arranged marriage. Hamlet's strong love for Ophelia causes him to suffer greatly when she rejects his affections.

Hamlet's normally well-groomed appearance becomes sub-standard due to Ophelia's rejections, "Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking at each other" (2, 1, 81). The loss of Ophelias love drove Hamlet to insanity. Laertes becomes very sad when he hears about his sisters death. Hamlet is also shocked and angry over Ophelias tragic end.

Hamlet and Laertes do not like each other, however they both feel sincere love to Ophelia. They are also similar in the ways they associate with their families. Laertes loves his father, while Hamlet also is very respectful for his dead father. After the deaths of their fathers, Hamlet and Laertes want to revenge upon their killers. They both show dominant attitudes in the relationship with women. Laertes gives advices to his sister about her relationship with Hamlet, while Hamlet can to some extent to manipulate his mother into following his instructions and makes her to feel guilty in his fathers death.

"Thou turns mine eyes into my very soul, and there I see such black and grained spots as will not leave their tinct" (3, 4, 89). Hamlet and Laertes have many similarities in their loves. They are both loyal too. They also act spontaneously upon their anger.

All the relationships of these heroes are complex. They include a wide range of emotions such as the plot advances. However, there is a recurring theme of love threaded throughout the play. We see Hamlet's filial love for his mother, Gertrude, and romantic love for Ophelia, daughter of Polonius.

However, Hamlet's platonic bond with his best friend Horatio proves to be the strongest tie of all and commands the most attention as it relates to the theme of love. While emotions, relationships, and loyalties are constantly changing, it is the platonic love of friendship and loyalty, shared by Hamlet and Horatio, that remains unchanged and unchallenged. In Act V, Scene II, the final scene of the play, Horatio shows his final act of love for Hamlet. At this point their mutual and lasting love is brought into full focus. Hamlets mother accidentally took a drink of poison that was intended for Hamlet by Claudius the King. When Hamlet duels Laertes, he is absolutely helpless to help his mother and he just observes how she dies.

Hamlet kills Laertes with Laertes own sword, which was poisoned to kill Hamlet. Hamlet on the peak of his anger kills Claudius the King in front of kingdoms court. At this point it is clear to Hamlet that he should die or suffer all the consequences of his actions. Horatio, who quickly understands the situation, would prefer to see his best friend to be the master of his own destiny, while the single thought of losing his friend is very painful: I am more an antique Roman than a Dane.

/ Here's yet some liquor left" (5.2. 342). Hamlet asks Horatio for poison and when he is ready to drink it, he states: If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, / Absent thee from felicity awhile, / And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, / To tell my story. (5.2. 347-350). Hamlet said that if Horatio ever loved him, he should separate himself from Hamlets death, even though it is very painful to Horatio, and should tell the world what had happened.

Horatio's love and loyalty to Hamlet that remained constant throughout the play. It is interesting to note that while Hamlet dedicates himself to testing the loyalty of those around him, Horatio is never once subjected to such a test. Further, it is obvious that Hamlet does not feel that such a test of loyalty is even necessary. Horatio is the only character close to Hamlet with no relationship to the royal family.

This lack of subservience to Claudius, Get rude, Polonius, and Ophelia keeps Horatio out of the circle of characters that would act to cause Hamlet the most harm. However, in the absence of social, economic, and political motivations, Horatio's platonic love for Hamlet can be shown to be truly unconditional..