Hamlet's Thoughts: Madness and Human Struggles

Shakespeare uses Hamlet to reveal how complex the human mind truly is. He utilizes soliloquies to uncover Hamlet's deepest contemplations. Through these discussions, the crowd learns about Hamlet's battle to confront his internal conflicts, choosing when to retaliate for his father, and his appalled emotions about his mom's licentious marriage. These speeches give the opportunity to tell the audience explicit snippets of information which cannot be revealed through ordinary discussion amongst characters. Each one of Hamlet's soliloquies further the plot, uncovering Hamlet's internal contemplations to the audience while generating the environment of the play.

Hamlet's soliloquies prove that he embodies an absurdist mindset, that there is no point to life or living - and because of this, he is his own worst enemy because his mindset leads to his undoing as a character. Hamlet’s absurdist mindset changes his relationships, his overall image of himself, and his view on free will and choice.

Inside Hamlet's Mind: Navigating Complex Contemplations

Within Hamlet's first soliloquy, there is a series of allusions.

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There is a point at which he compares love his late father had for his Mother to Hyperion to Satyr;

“Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother” (Act one Scene 2)

This is a reference to the sun god and his affections.This plainly shows the readers that his heart is breaking, not just for the loss of affections towards his mom, yet the way that she doesn't appear to think about this loss. A subsequent suggestion made over the span of this monologue is a reference to Niobe, a figure in Greek mythology, who was so anguish stricken she couldn't quit crying and went to stone.

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Hamlet looks at his mom as he sees this figure and says Gertrude has got to be as pain stricken as Niobe. He additionally compares himself by saying that his uncle is as alike to his father as he is to Hercules. Hamlet’s relationship with his Mother has changed drastically as he views her as a heartless being, as does he think the same about his uncle. The majority of this data set up together gives the audience a solid early introduction of Hamlet as a character, and how he picks up on his father being a temporary figure in everyone's life due to them dismissing him so quickly, and carrying on with their lives. Within “The Facts On File Companion to Shakespeare”, Joseph Rosenblum talks about how Hamlet reaches the point of turning on Ophelia, his true love. This goes to show how powerful his mind can be. As Joseph writes, “As he concludes his speech, he notices Ophelia. She attempts to return the love tokens Hamlet had given her. He refuses them and verbally assaults her, shouting that she should withdraw to a nunnery. As he departs, he makes a thinly veiled threat against Claudius.

Lamenting Hamlet's madness, Ophelia withdraws”. This expresses how Hamlet is dependent upon the desires of his state, and he will fundamentally break her heart. Ophelia has fallen hopelessly inlove with Prince Hamlet. There is solid proof that she has even had sexual relations with him. Limited by the ruling cultural mores, Ophelia has taken part in a willful demonstration that would destroy her family if it were to become exposed. At the point when her dad dies on account of her lover, Ophelia is left feeling guilty and disregarded. If Hamlet was within a stable mindset, he would most definitely think twice before doing and acting in such a way.

Hamlet is seen again in act 3, talking directly to the audience reciting his well known to be or not to be soliloquy, “To be, or not to be? That is the question—Whether 'tis 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?”. This monologue is particularly meant to stand out in the play since it is composed with wonderful language and uncovers another side of Hamlet. This speech shows Hamlet's gentler passionate side when he discusses his suffering, naming numerous opposing things, acknowledging the internal unrest that he is at battle with. The central issue that Hamlet attempts to make sense of is whether it is honourable to die while defending what you believe in. He compares dying to sleeping because it is peaceful and will lead to dreams. As after Hamlet watches the play, he beats himself up for not being able to express the emotion he should be, as Joseph says, “he chastises himself for showing no passion compared with the player's emotional performance. What is worse, the player's show of emotion is based on nothing but a 'fiction, in a dream of passion.' He is appalled by his own inaction, because there are several reasons why he should display great emotion. He tries briefly to sound like Pyrrhus—'O vengeance!'—but he is so ill-suited to the role that it embarrasses him.” This exact scenario that took place is a perfect example to expose such critique Hamlet holds on himself. He closely observes the world around him, then within his soliloquies, he talks about his failure to act on his own situations. Within the evidence from the text just mentioned, it is clear that Hamlet was comparing his own circumstances to one of the actors, which then makes him feel unsympathetic, as his emotions should be driving him to take action immediately, yet he is no. Meanwhile, there is some actor that can get up there and convey himself as Hamlet should be, with a realistic amount of passion and ambition. Hamlet’s mind has taken him many places, as he now does not know what to do with himself.

Absurdity in Hamlet

This soliloquy happens after Hamlet experiences Fortinbras' military and talked with Fortinbras himself. Hamlet uncovers to the crowd that he feels that if a man has no reason, he is no more superior than a beast so he should utilize his experience with Fortinbras to trigger his revenge. He accepts that God has made people in his picture to accomplish incredible things and he additionally tells the audience that he wouldn't simply like to stay there any longer while his Father is not retaliated for and his Mother is recoloured by the moves she has made to be with his uncle. He is inspired by Fortinbras and his military of twenty thousand men who stroll towards inevitable demise, yet they do it with respectable hearts and courage because their respect is in question. Hamlet additionally thinks about the importance of mortality and how death can come so rapidly. Toward the finish of his monologue Hamlet promises, “O, from this time forth/My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!” (IV, iv, 68-69). These lines show that Hamlet has gained a new view and will attempt to kill his uncle regardless of anything, to finally avenge his Father's death. Hamlet is persuaded that the majority of his activities are justifiable now, and he has no choice, therefore enhancing the fact of no free will. This end line allows the crowd to relate with Hamlet since it is simple for one to comprehend feelings of being wronged and the need to seek revenge. As Joseph Rosenblum points out that Claudius feels as if he can simply control and monitor Hamlets every action, he writes, “Claudius recognize himself as the intended victim and announces that Hamlet will be sent to England at sunrise. He dispatches Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find Hamlet”. Hamlet remains horrendously aware of himself, his weaknesses, and his frailty to right what he sees to be extraordinary wrongs. Poetic, attentive, and philosophical, he tries to defeat his destiny through scholarly moving. Hamlet sees very obviously the fluctuating shades of dim that blur his vision and obscure his decisions. When Claudius starts making plans for Hamlet, his freewill soon fades away. The battle to live between opposing desires and to soothe a throbbing soul comprises the fight Hamlet can't win.

Each of the seven soliloquies allows the audience a deeper perspective into who Hamlet is as a character as he reveals his thoughts, advances the plot and adds atmosphere. These three soliloquies just discuss examined the idea of how absurd humanity is in Hamlets eyes through changes his relationships, his overall image of himself, and his view on free will and choice. When Hamlet speaks in these soliloquies he is always his true self; never pretending to be mad or taking on a superficial way of talking as he did at times in dialogue with others. These monologues, therefore, add much to the overall content of the play Hamlet and leads to a better understanding of the plot and just how inhuman the world really is. It is a direct result of this perfect work of art of a character that this play is so generally examined and discussed. Hamlet's all inclusive statement, his vaugeness, his alleged madness, his energy, his faltering, and his logical inconsistencies have perplexed perusers, researchers, and entertainers for a considerable length of time.

Updated: Jan 25, 2024
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Hamlet's Thoughts: Madness and Human Struggles. (2024, Jan 25). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/hamlets-thoughts-madness-and-human-struggles-essay

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