Through the course of time people and organizations have tried to justify killing as a way to end troubles in there lives and in the world. The people or organization who carry out the orders to kill may know deep down that it is wrong to take another human life but instilled on to them is a since of justification for what they have to do. No civilized culture of the world believes that unjustified killing is right, but if there is a way to justify the taking of another life to avenge or to save others then society will sometimes agree with the decisions made by the people in power. The United States government formed a weapon that they knew would take thousands of lives, but save millions in the long run. Two of these weapons were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end a war that would probably still be waged today if the bombs were not dropped. On the evil side of this argument Adolf Hitler believed he had a problem that could be answered with murder, although Hitler’s so called “final solution to the Jewish Problem” was not justified, even though he found a way to convince a large number of people in his radical regime that this was not only the way out but that it was gods way. Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows the main character young prince hamlet needing a morally right way to kill the new king Claudius and avenge his fathers murder, so Hamlet turns to madness to carry out his murderous wishes without being held accountable.
The Essay on Capital Punishment Death People Life
Capital Punishment Capital punishment is an extreme punishment used to correct extreme crimes. The death penalty has been used for centuries before Christ and hopefully centuries after him. The old version of the death penalty was used for strange crimes such as: marrying a Jew, cutting down a tree, treason, or stealing. Capital punishment today is more humane today with new methods like lethal ...
To prove my statement that Hamlet is acting insane you have to look at the other side of the argument. There are critics in the world, past and present who have said prince Hamlet is truly insane. T.S. Elliot put it best when describing those critics, he said “They knew less about psychology than more recent Hamlet critics.”(Twentieth Century Interpretation of Hamlet pg22.).
I believe that when T.S. Elliot says “psychology” he does not mean psychological problems but he is talking about mind games, or you could go as far as to call it psychological warfare, that prince Hamlet is playing with the rest of the cast in the play. In my own opinion Hamlet is an expert at these sort of mind game, he can truly convince the characters that he is insane and that he means to do them harm. This quote from Ophelia to Polonius shows she is truly terrified of hamlet “O my lord, my lord I have been so affrightened.” (Hamlet 2.2.85.).
This statement comes after he visits with her after seeing his fathers ghost. Hearing the terror in Ophelia’s voice Polonius commands Ophelia to break correspondence with a obviously mad prince Hamlet, he doesn’t want her to ever see or talk to Hamlet again Ophelia replies “I did repel his letters and denied his access to me.”(Hamlet2.2.121-122.) This Quote shows how persistent Hamlet is to show Ophelia he is insane he is using her as a tool in his great show of madness so that she will get the word out to the rest of the cast that prince Hamlet is truly insane.
There is one undisputable fact in the entire play that is not argued by Hamlet critics and that is that prince Hamlet is a very intellectual individual he is well educated obviously because he is of noble birth. With education one may possess a talent or ability to look outside a problem and see there may be humor in the actions and comments of those who are confused at what a person does or says but the person speaking is making perfectly logical sense to themselves. The talent that I am discussing and prince Hamlet possesses is sarcasm. There are many examples of prince Hamlet’s sarcasm throughout the play one of which comes in his conversation with Claudius in act one scene two when Claudius as he is celebrating his victory of becoming king he asks prince Hamlet “How is it that the clouds still hang on you?”(Hamlet 1.2.68.) hearing this prince hamlet is infuriated but being intelligent he does not lash out instead he gives this reply “Not so my lord for I am too much in the sun.” (Hamlet 1.2.69.) a sarcastic remark with hidden meaning and that is by saying “sun” prince Hamlet is making a statement that he is feeling pressured by his uncle and new king Claudius to except him as he would his real father. Act two scene two gives the reader another look at Hamlet’s witty and sarcastic side also his ability to play around with his insanity disguise when prince Hamlet is talking to Polonius before the play which prince Hamlet has titled himself the Mouse Trap and helped produce to try and find a trace of guilt in Claudius’s face. As prince Hamlet begins his conversation with Polonius, Polonius asks “Do you know me my lord?” (Hamlet 2.2.189.).
The Essay on On How Tragedy Leads To Deception In The Tragedy Of Hamlet Prince Of Denmark
On How Tragedy Leads to Deception in: "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" In the play "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark," William Shakespeare has used the theme of deception, and how its use by one or more characters leads to their downfall. Polonius explicitly stated this theme when he said to Laertes in I, ii, "By indirections find directions out." Each major character in Hamlet, ...
Hamlet replies “Excellent well you are a fishmonger” (Hamlet 2.2.190).
With no research the ordinary reader could mistake this comment for merely crazy talk but when you investigate the word “Fishmonger” the Quote makes sense it is a direct insult on Polonius’s Honesty and a clever way of telling Polonius he is a dishonest man. This section of the play offers the reader another sign that Hamlet is in fact perfectly sane, and that is his ability to turn his insanity on and off. What I mean is his ability to plan a trap for Claudius such as the play the Mouse Trap and then make rude comments to Polonius and the women of the crowd like when prince Hamlet was speaking to Rosencrantz Hamlet says “Then you live about her waist or in the middle of her favors” (Hamlet2.2.250-251.) Clearly speaking sexually which was not custom to talk about back in Hamlets days.
In the recent paragraph I have sited many specific examples that prove prince Hamlet is merely acting out a character who is insane to get what he wants. A huge argument deeper into this debate is why is Hamlet acting out these insanity traits. An explanation for this argument is that prince Hamlet has what you could call a Christ complex and by this I mean prince Hamlet feels he was born to set a wrong to get a word out of what is right just like Christ did in the Christian bible. Samuel Coleridge tells us in his Quote talking of Hamlet as a everyday Joe with extreme responsibilities, “A person of small mental caliber may be quick in decision and headstrong in action just because the thing to be done takes complete possession.”(The Genesis of Hamlet pg.2).
The Essay on Hamlet: A Man Of Action?
Hamlet: Man of Action or ah A Man Not of Action? When Hamlet receives his order for revenge from the ghost of his dead father, he is shocked and outraged. He vows to avenge his father by the death of Claudius. However, the following scenes do not show the undying dedication to the avengement of a father, but the unproductive meandering of a man unsure, a reluctant son. When compared to the actions ...
The statement shows how giant a task lay before prince Hamlet such as the one which lay before Christ as prince Hamlet expresses in this Quote, “Oh cursed spite that ever I was born to set it right.”(Hamlet1.5.210-211.).
Prince Hamlet is letting the audience know that now that he has found out about his father’s murder the only thing that matters in his life is the uncovering of Claudius’s guilt. Michael Feingold offers an interesting point on why hamlet picks insanity to carry out these deeds, he says “Revenge is not Christian and Hamlet is a Christian prince it is not rational, and Hamlet is a philosopher; it is not gentle and Hamlet is a gentleman” (William Shakespeare’s Hamlet pg17.).
When comparing prince Hamlet to Christ one might not find any similarities on the surface but when you bring the idea of pretending madness to justify killing which in prince Hamlet’s mind if he were sane would not be right because of his moral and religious beliefs. Prince Hamlet by convincing others that he is insane in a way convinces himself that his murders will be ok because he knows not what he does is wrong when in reality he is fooling himself. Why does Hamlet take this way out? D.G. Jones explains in this Quote “The strength of the emotional shock he has suffered is equaled by the weakness of his mind in the face of difficult moral and metaphysical issues.”(Twentieth Century Interpretations of Hamlet pg.43.).
I feel that there is a lack of time to make a different decision and because he feels such a burden from his father’s ghost who in his days as king was a morally good man, to do the right thing, so I guess you could say Hamlet does the right thing but not in a noble proud way. In my opinion he thinks he is taking the easy way out but in reality he has brought a great task upon himself, he must now perform in public as he is mad to convince the characters completely.
Towards the end of the play as the climax is drawing near prince Hamlet shows the audience signs that he is getting tired of the act he is preforming for the rest of the characters. Hamlet is a good man he is a righteous man but he does not possess a very critical characteristic that many like him do and that is patience. He is so ready to set right the wrong that was committed on his father. Samuel Coleridge says “he has a restless desire to do something a desire that will not be put down but even to satisfy this desire he cannot force himself to decisive action.” (Genesis of Hamlet pg.5.).
The Essay on The Tragedy Of Hamlet: Prince Of Denmark
In Shakespeare's early 17th century work of The Tragedy of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, the universal and fundamental idea of death is adequately expressed throughout this revenge drama. Using death as a theme emphasizes Shakespeare's plot and point of whether the consequences of moral corruption surrounding death are justified by the relationship of thoughts, motives, and actions.What is death? ...
In waiting for the right time prince Hamlet gets so anxious and so into the character he is portraying that he feels that this is all his life has to offer him. Prince Hamlet expresses this feeling in this quote “What is a man in his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more.” (Hamlet 4.4. 35-37.) Hamlet doesn’t understand that what he does now in waiting will help him to achieve his goal. This right here proves he is faking his insanity because he is complaining that his decided course of action is taking too long and he is letting his ideas and dreams of revenge get in the way of his already laid out plan. In this part of the book hamlet could be described as a child who is saving money to buy something expensive but then finds out it is just taking too long so goes out and buys the next best thing with what he or she has to spend. This quote proves that Hamlet is think too much about revenge “My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!”(Hamlet 4.5. 69.).
The quote also gives the audience a bit of foreshadowing into the play. The to be or not to be speech is an excellent example of the murderous and many times suicidal thoughts that prince Hamlet has had.
The play has been argued since the day it was released and many still follow the views of some of the very first Hamlet critics. Others like Michael Feingold just state that “Hamlet may be the most complex character any playwright has ever placed on stage.” (William Shakespeare’s Hamlet pg 15) and left it at that. Whether or not he is mad he certainly pretends to be and that show begins shortly after he learns of the murder of his father. Hamlet has in my opinion chosen a way out he is preparing to justify his future actions whether he is trying to justify his deeds to his friends or family or possibly St. Peter at the pearly gates as his religion would let him believe. He is trying just as hard to justify killing as my examples of the United States government during WWII and Adolph Hitler during the Holocaust at the beginning of this research paper. The fact is that Hamlet is a intellectual as well as feeling person who has a conscious and knows the right and wrong in all his actions and without the justification he has chosen the offence of murder would be particularly painful to him so to ease his conscious he becomes a madman and fools the state of Denmark.
The Essay on The Central Themes Presented in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark
William Shakespeare is perhaps best known for being the father of plays. Of all playwrights, none can compare to Shakespeare’s style, creativity, and wit. A great example would be Hamlet which could perhaps be viewed as the best of all his plays. The lines of the play have been remembered in the minds of many that it is impossible not to remember, “To be or not to be.” This essay would discuss the ...
