Only Friend Hamlet example essay topic

William Shakespeare, a name that has been written in all books of English literature with golden letters. If a poll for the most popular person to have ever lived in this world was to be conducted, I am quite sure that Shakespeare would have no problems in winning it with a landslide. I am very glad, and in fact honored to have gotten the opportunity to analyze a drama written by the most prolific writer in the history of English literature. Hamlet is probably the best known of Shakespeare's works, and may well be the most famous English play ever written. Hamlet is a drama that displays Shakespeare's extraordinary talent with the English language and thus leaves no body to think of any other name when asked about the best writer of all times. Hamlet is the story of the young prince of Denmark who comes to his kingdom in Elsinore only to find out that his father King Hamlet had died under mysterious circumstances and that his mother had remarried to his uncle who was now the new king.

Hamlet sees his father's ghost who tells him that he was actually a victim of a conspiracy devised against him, headed by his very own younger brother -the present king Claudius. Thus, this story now concentrates on how Hamlet plans to avenge his father's death, and in the process of doing so is ready to renounce everything in the world including his first love. "The character of Hamlet dominates Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name. Hamlet has always been the subject of admiring critical commentary since Elizabethan times.

Hamlet has also developed a reputation as a difficult work to analyze, one that features a very complicated central character, addresses many complex themes, and presents the reader with a multi-layered text, which defies easy interpretation" (web). Hamlet is portrayed as the ultimate Renaissance man. At the start of the play, Hamlet is not a commanding figure. Moore conveys this point very nicely by saying that "when we first see the Prince of Denmark, his posture is defensive. Hamlet's reaction to the incidents that have occurred is rather passive and resentful" (web).

Then, when Hamlet talks to his father's apparition he turns into an introspective character, who does not know whether to trust the ghost or not, and is thus slow to the conviction that the ghost actually is his dead father and that Claudius is guilty of wanton slaughter, thus this also prevents Hamlet from going straight to the task at hand. Hamlet then decides to behave like a lunatic to find out the 'inside story' on his father's death. Hamlet is very unhinged by his father's death and is utterly disgusted by his mother's free fall from grace by marrying her brother-in-law immediately after her husband's death. Hamlet portrays his true intellectual self only in front of Horatio, who is his friend and student. Thus Hamlet's character is that of the ultimate tragic hero who has to give up his love to avenge his father's death. It is very true that, "Hamlet has been subjected to numerous interpretations and studies over the centuries, and his actions and thoughts have been analyzed and reanalyzed.

This, probably more than anything else, is the reason for Hamlet's enduring appeal" (web). However, I feel that the basic psychological motivation behind Hamlet's actions was his desire for revenge. While reading the play, Hamlet's obscure words truly hide his intentions and sometimes we begin to think that the mountain of grief has taken its toll on Hamlet and he indeed is insane, but the coming of Horatio at regular intervals help us resolve the doubt. Hamlet is immensely grief stricken and it is his emotions that further provide fuel to his plans of taking revenge.

All of Shakespeare's plays comment on certain inevitable factions of the society. In Hamlet, Shakespeare shows that when greed takes over, man does not know what he is doing. He loses all his common senses and also the ability to think correctly in order to be able to differentiate the right from the wrong. In Hamlet, it is Claudius who succumbs to his greed and eventually kills his own brother and then marries his sister-in-law, all in order to achieve and maintain the crown. Greed is the beginning of destruction, and this is what happened to Claudius also. In their lust for materialistic things people often tend to forget that they are not the Almighty and that one-day all their misdeeds will indeed catch up with them.

Shakespeare makes the point very clearly that we have come into this world empty-handed and will leave the world empty handed, thus while living make sure to help others rather than destruct them. Claudius, killed his own brother only to become the king but eventually his crime caught with up with him and he was killed too before he could actually enjoy his position as the ruler. Hamlet has a number of sub plots that move along with play. The best thing about these sub plots is that they do not tend to drift away from the main plot of the play, but instead enhance the play. Polonius' family is the first sub plot that includes his two children, Ophelia and Laertes. Polonius is the lord and counselor to the king, and is totally deceived by Hamlet's acting of a lunatic and is convinced that Hamlet's insanity is actually the result of his unrequited love for Ophelia.

The other sub plots include Horatio and the guards. Horatio is Hamlet's friend who is also the first to inform him about the ghost of Old Hamlet. He is the only friend Hamlet trusts by the end of the play, and he is ordered to reveal the true story of why Hamlet killed Claudius. Horatio also knows of the main motive behind the unusual enactment of the play 'The Murder of Gonzango'. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet's two other 'excellent good friends' form the third sub plot.

They on instructions from the royal couple try to extract some information from Hamlet, but Hamlet succeeds in making them admit their intentions. All these sub plots were extremely important because these sub-plots were like prologues to the next scene of the main plot. Thus we have now seen that how Hamlet was a collection of all of Shakespeare's incredible talents at play. A number of lines from the play have achieved immortality. I would like to quote a line from Hamlet, "To be or not to be".

This line is probably the most famous line that has ever been written and is so relevant about Shakespeare's achievements. What I mean to say is that it does not matter whether a person is with us or not, he is always remembered by his work, the deeds that he committed while he lived, just as Shakespeare will be remembered for his invaluable contribution to English literature till eternity.

Bibliography

PAGE (1) Moore, R. Macbeth. 02/22/03. (2) Us kalis, Erik's. Introduction to Hamlet. 02/22/03. (3) Lowers, James K. Hamlet [electronic resource]. 1999.