Character Perspective- Hamlet

 

“What is a man/ If his chief good and market of his time/ Be but to sleep and feed? A beast no more….Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means to do it… Rightly to be great/ Is not to stir without great argument/ But greatly to find quarrel in a straw/When honour’s at the stake/ How stand I then/ That have a father killed, a mother stained/ Excitements of my reason and my blood/ And let all sleep? While to my shame I see/ The imminent death of twenty thousand men/ That for a fantasy or trick of fame/ Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot/ Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause” (Act 4, Scene 4)

Hamlet struggles with his inability to act upon avenging his father, causing him to feel ashamed when he sees the lengths Fortinbras goes just to retrieve a piece of land his father lost. In Hamlet’s case, he believes that his father’s honor and name is at stake, so he must act to restore honor in Denmark.


OPENING

  Hamlet. A prince once fathered by a great king and virtuous mother, now fatherless and a witness to his mother’s incestuous marriage to his uncle; Hamlet is filled with grief, anger, and bitterness towards the culprits, Gertrude and Claudius. These feelings grow when he discovers that Claudius murdered his father and seduced his mother. With these emotions swarming in his heart, Hamlet is overcome with determination and passion to avenge his father, however, as a character with great ambitions, Hamlet is also riddled with apprehension and his own paradoxical thoughts.  Overall, Hamlet’s character is one that I can relate to one a personal level. He is stuck in a space of action and inaction, “to be or not to be”. When I imagine Hamlet’s brain I always think of  pendulum swinging back and forth,unable to make a decision, unable to stop himself. Due his impulsive yet thoughtful nature, Hamlet is almost always  stuck in the extremes when trying to “repair” the dishonor that Claudius and Gertrude have caused though attempting to murder Claudius but also proving to be calculating by having the players reenact King Hamlet’s murder in front of Claudius.Although Hamlet’s story isn’t relatable for me, his depth of human emotion and determination to restore honor and certainty to his family name as well as the throne of Denmark after having his father murdered, mother disgraced, and crown stolen- is admirable.


CREATIVE #1

Image result for the way we measure love

This poem represents Hamlet’s grief and how everyone around him, especially Claudius and Gertrude, judge him on his emotions towards his father’s death. Hamlet admired and respected his father deeply;therefore when he died, it affected Hamlet greatly. His sorrow for his father is his way of honoring him and what he did for Denmark;however, Gertrude and Claudius see it as “unmanly grief”. The two are measuring Hamlet’s love for his father based on how long it’s taken Hamlet to let go/get over his father’s death, whereas Hamlet is measuring how much Gertrude had loved her late husband(his father) based on how she didn’t wait at all when it came to marrying Claudius. From my perspective, Hamlet’s anguish is justifiable because when I put myself in his shoes I can see how miserable he must feel losing his father but also the honor that his father brought to the kingdom. On top of that, Hamlet isn’t permitted to express his feelings or mourn causing inner conflict within him and increasing his hatred for Claudius and Gertrude.


CREATIVE #2

Image result for drifting into space cynthia go

This poem represents Hamlet’s descent into madness and his overall existentialism. When looking through Hamlet’s perspective, he’s lost everything: his father, his mother’s decency, his love(Ophelia) , his friends have betrayed him(Rosencrantz and Guildenstern), and he feels inadequate when it comes to fulfilling his father’s ghost’s wishes. And despite all of that, the world keeps spinning, the conflict between Denmark and Fortinbras continues. This is where Hamlet’s loneliness and existentialism comes from. He is unable to cope with all that’s happened to him since it’s happened in such short lengths of time. In a way, Hamlet’s existentialism is his escape when reality becomes too harsh; however, staying in that head space for so long causes him to lose himself within his own thoughts. He begins to question the meaning of his life and its worth, as well as the worth of others. Thoughts such as these assist yet hinder Hamlet’s process in restoring honor and certainty since he is able  to mindlessly commit acts which benefit his agenda; however, he struggles to make wise decisions for he’s “lost on my(his) own axis”. There is something rotten in the state of Denmark, and Hamlet is merely a cog in the clockwork of it.


TRANSITION PARAGRAPH

When considering the two creative pieces above, as well as Hamlet’s character, his responses to uncertainty/certainty and honor/dishonor makes sense due to the ways he displays his logos, pathos, and ethos.  Starting with his logos, it’s evident that Hamlet is a philosophical individual, although, his logic is often skewed because of  his overwhelming pathos that often takes over his rational. For example, when trying to cope with the dishonor that Claudius and Gertrude produced within the kingdom, Hamlet is motivated by his grief, anger, and disgust for their relationship. Through his pathos,we are also able to view his ethos and what he feels is right and honorable. All of Hamlet’s appeals represent how he responds to certainty/uncertainty and honor/dishonor since they influence his actions/behaviors. When I think of Hamlet, I see a man who’s not only struggling to restore honor and certainty into his life, he is also a man fighting an internal battle. Hamlet is lodged between inaction and action; because of this, Hamlet’s responses are brought to surface when these two parts of him clash. To help me emphasize with Hamlet, I imagine him before the play. How he had a noble father and benevolent mother, a devoted lover, and a mighty throne promised to him, as well as a glorious legacy. Due to Claudius’ actions, Hamlet lost that certainty for his future. Furthermore, Hamlet attempts to restore honor and certainty by taking things into his own hands, no matter how drastic, in an effort to get his life back and redeem his father’s honor. And through these efforts, Hamlet loses himself.


PERSONAL CONNECTION PARAGRAPH

There are more occasions where I’ve questioned the meaning of my life than I care to admit. It’s become a daily ritual of mine: to measure the worth of my life. This is a quality that Hamlet and I share. I remember the first time I had an existential crisis. I was nine and staring in the mirror. My gaze wandered around the glass until they met with my eyes in the reflection. “Out of all the people in the world, why are you who you are?” It was all just fun and games then. I was just a curious little girl with a vivid imagination and a broad scope of the world. However, as I grew older, I felt myself losing touch with society and, most importantly, losing touch with myself.  Everyday became a battle.

“To get out of bed or to not get out of bed?”

“To eat or to starve?”

“To create a meaningful life or to let myself fall apart?”

I wanted to know why I was feeling this way. Why everything in my life felt purposeless. And then it hit me. I was at a stage of my life where I had no certainty. After my first years of highschool, I had lost my motivation and any confidence about the future. I needed something definite. Something certain. Something to reach for amidst the fog concealing my fate. But I didn’t have that. It felt like I was aimlessly floating in the universe. Due to these feelings of instability, I was becoming difficult to relate to and no one really knew what to do with me. Everyone has a rock to lean on and for me that was the goals for the future, so when high school came around and knocked me out of balance it caused me to lose touch with these goals. When I didn’t have these goals to guide me, it put me in a state of panic and worthlessness.

I consider Hamlet and I to be kindred spirits in a way. I see my deep emotions and reactions within him, whereas I see his existentialist tendencies within me. To me, Hamlet represents the vulnerability that surfaces when an individual is depleted of certainty and is faced with being dissociated from society and their loved ones.


INSIGHT PARAGRAPH

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the playwright demonstrates how the influence of uncertain perspectives causes one to feel misunderstood as they attempt to restore honor and certainty into their lives; ultimately making them to lash out. Hamlet is a prime exhibit of this for he is constantly being judged for his behavior. In the beginning of the play, the influence of Claudius’ perspective is imminent when he scolds Hamlet for the way he was grieving, fueling Hamlet’s disdain for Claudius and the dishonor that he represents. As Hamlet’s conduct becomes more erratic, another individual chooses to jump to conclusions: Polonius, who suggests that Hamlet is mad for Ophelia. As a result of this perspective, Hamlet begins to attack Ophelia because she is more loyal to her father than she his to him.  As Hamlet is judged by so many different and uncertain perspectives, his awareness for other people decrease. A majority of Hamlet’s struggles come from him believing that he is doing the right thing when trying to restore honor and certainty, whereas others around him perceive his behavior as dangerous.  Overall, through Hamlet, Shakespeare is reiterating the consequences that arrive when the perspectives of others do not correlate with the perspective of an individual as they restore honor and certainty into their life.


CONCLUSION

As a character, Hamlet reveals the most genuine aspects of human emotion in terms of tragedy, heartbreak, betrayal, confusion, depression, and fury. He is a man against the world, but also a man against himself as he struggles to restore honor and certainty into his life. The true tragedy of Hamlet is that no one seems to understand him; therefore, he chooses to not understand anyone else, disconnecting him from everyone. Hamlet’s rash actions/decisions stem from a rooted grief within him that, rather than growing naturally, become cut short by the uncertain perspectives. These perspectives make Hamlet question himself, causing him to feel unsure about his identity and the nature of his motivations. However, there is one fact that Hamlet is certain of and that is that his father was a good man, who deserves honor and respect. Not only did Hamlet lose his family, lover, and mind; he also lost empathy from others since they saw his melancholy attitude as unnatural. Although, from Hamlet’s perspective, the only abnormality is Claudius’ throne and the dishonor that he brings to the state of Denmark. Moreover, if Hamlet cannot grief his father then he will avenge him, obliterating anyone who gets in the way, even if that means destroying himself in the process.


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5 thoughts on “Character Perspective- Hamlet

  1. Dearest Liz,

    Every class I have admired your thought process and the insights you share with Faith and I. This post is no different, it is full of inspiration and wisdom that I can easily steal (sorry) and insert into my own pieces and critical essays.

    To start off, I love how you described Hamlet’s mind as a pendulum because it helped me visualize and contextualize Hamlet’s extreme behaviour. However, by comparing Hamlet to a pendulum you are also saying that his actions are predictable and rhythmic, which they are not. He is an enigmatic character.

    I also appreciate how you shared your first existential crisis with your readers. Through your personal connection, one can see how Shakespeare’s Hamlet has truly stood the test of time as there are people in every generation wondering about the metaphysical. Additionally, throughout this character analysis, you bring up the many tragedies of Hamlet, but also the tragedies that real life humans go through such as being judged by others.

    In terms of improvement, I would have liked to see your own creative pieces, a poem or a short story. However, the pieces you chose expertly convey the themes and motifs of this piece – well done. This may sound a bit “nit-picky” but I also would’ve liked it if you added more images throughout the post. This would add more texture and variety because your piece looks like a big block of words right now.

    Never stop writing!!

    All the love,

    Vic

    1. Dearest Victoria,

      Thank you lots for your kind words and feedback! Your nit-pickyness helps me improve everyday and I’ll always be grateful for it, haha. I’ll make sure I’ll add more photos into my next blog because I do agree that I lack in that department.

      Love you,

      Liza

  2. Dearest Liza,

    As always, I am in awe of your work; truly, you have a brilliant mind, and it was evident in this piece (as well as everything else you have ever written and/or said). Bravo!

    Like Victoria said, your introductory paragraph was very engaging – in fact, it was the pendulum metaphor that led me to want to comment on your character perspective. The visual stuck with me for the rest of the blog, but I think I understood it a little differently from how it was intended – pendulums can sometimes form complex, irregular looking patterns if they are pushed the right way, however, they will always return to the pattern at some point. A method in the madness, if you will, much like Hamlet.

    Hamlet has always struck me as one of those characters people relate to, but never want to admit relating to. This is why your personal connection paragraph really spoke to me – the loss of certainty is just so relatable, and your voice coming through the words makes this even more powerful.

    I also really liked the way that you used Hamlet’s various appeals to tie your creative pieces to the rest of the blog. Considering Hamlet as a character through these appeals really served to emphasize Hamlet’s complexity. Your connections back to the prompt really helped with this as well; I feel so much more ready now for a critical essay about Hamlet after reading your blog, so thank you for sharing your insights!

    I only have a little nit-picky detail for you to improve on; correct me if I am wrong, but I believe with the quotation at the beginning you have to leave the text in the original form if it is more than 4 lines long? I am not one hundred percent certain if that is the exact rule (as I am not a Shakespeare expert). I would also really liked it if you could add the line numbers for the quote (but only because those are some of my favourite Hamlet lines). But again, these are mere nit-picky details.

    Once again, thank you so much for being such an inspiration in class every day, and for sharing your mind and your work with us!

    Sincerely,
    Tarannum

    1. Dearest Tarannum,

      Thank you so so much for your kind words and feedback!! I’m not too sure about the Shakespeare thing but I’ll definitely check it out. Your comment means a lot to me and I’m really grateful that you took the time to comment!

      Thanks so much!

      Love,

      Liza

  3. Dear Liza,

    You continue to inspire me through your writing. Your efforts into this are evident, and I expected nothing less from a genius of your stature. I was wrapped into your blog from the very beginning due to your very well articulated introduction. I liked especially how you intertwined a little of yourself in there, and due to the fact that I know you, I felt like I began to know Hamlet as well. Well done on that! And I agree with Tarannum and Victoria – the use of imagery in comparing Hamlet with a pendulum was a great choice.

    I definitely liked your responses to the creative pieces, but would liked to have seen either a different type of piece or a piece owned by you. Although you still did great with both of them, I found it to be a tad redundant. Maybe it’s because I was hoping for a piece you wrote because you’re such a great writer. Regardless, the insight you provided, I found, was very profound in providing me with a perspective I had not looked deeply into. It was a great paragraph, and I found that it really blossomed when you began using the influence of other characters. I never would have thought of that, so thank you!

    Once again, you have proven to be an amazing writer. I look forward to more from you in the future!!

    -Muhammad

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