Drama Analysis on Hamlet - Essay Example

Teacher Drama analysis on Hamlet Hamlet as a story is essentially about control and using that control to abuse. The characters in the play employed Machiavellian methods such as manipulation and even murder just to be on top of the chain of control (Roe 377). The characters were so obsessed with control and the power that comes with it that not even death can stop them from asserting their quest to control such as the case of Hamlet. Not even kinship is enough to deter the characters in employ Machiavellian schemes (Roe 377) to murder such as the case of Claudius who murdered the King and then marry his sister in-law Gertrude which is considered sick by today’s standard. And even when love is present, it is suppressed and treated as a stumbling block in one’s quest for control such as the case of Hamlet who denied himself the love of Ophelia. The characters’ obsession of who would be in control was so intense that the old Hamlet, the former King of Denmark was killed by his own brother Claudius just to assume his position as King and to take over his court. Familial relationship or any form of kinship was secondary to the consideration of who would take control and this could be nonchalantly disregarded when it impedes the objective of getting the crown. Old Hamlet was slain by his own blood brother, and to aggravate, his death was covered by lies that he even enjoin the kingdom to mourn with him. And to make things worse, Claudius, old Hamlet’s murderous brother Claudius married his wife Gertrude who was technically Claudius sister-in-law before Claudius murdered his brother Hamlet. This is to gain control of the king’s family in addition to seizing control of the King’s court by being crowned as King (Churnin). Apparently, the contest of who would be in control extends beyond the grave. The old King Hamlet will not be put away just like that even if he was murdered. Even beyond the grave, the old king reappeared as an apparition to tell his son that he was murdered. This act of reappearing even as a ghost is beyond the quest of justice but rather a refusal to relinquish power and control (Lewis 611) by planting hatred in the heart of Prince Hamlet by letting him know that old Hamlet died of crime which is evident in these lines; Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night,       And for the day confined to fast in fires,       Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature That instead of asking the young Hamlet to bring Claudius his uncle to justice, the ghost Hamlet instead asked for revenge quoting; Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder Claudius on the other hand put a show of having crocodile tears on the death of his brother Hamlet so that people will not prosecute him as a murderer but will instead become sympathetic to him by his show of grief which he in turn can use to gain control over the court. Claudius elaborate show of grief even enjoins the whole kingdom to mourn as if it was not him who murdered the old Hamlet by saying; Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death  The memory be green, and that it us befitted    To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom    To be contracted in one brow of woe,    Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature    That we with wisest sorrow think on him,    Together with remembrance of ourselves. This cunning device to deceive the public was Claudius effort to gain control on the throne (Roe 376). But the old king will not just easily give up control on the throne as he showed himself to the young Hamlet to tell him that he was murdered. More than justice, it was control that the old king was after as he does not want his murderer to assume control of the kingdom. This revelation has a profound effect towards the young Hamlet as he is now preoccupied with hatred to avenge his father that he could no longer think of anything else except revenge. He could have been happy by diverting his attention to other things that could make him happy such as being with the woman he love such as Ophelia whom he manifested love saying “I loved Ophelia--forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum” but he could not just love her because his mind was grieving and so focused about the power that Claudius took away from them (the young Hamlet could have been King after his deceased father) and he could not rest until he has avenged him and regain control of the kingdom (he was supposed to be next in line after his father). Young Hamlet’s denial of Ophelia’s love is sickening. He loved her so much and so deeply he quipped; “I loved Ophelia--forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum” But when she was alive, she was his doormat and even betrayed her feelings that contributed to her insanity and death (she drowned herself in a shallow creek) to continue his quest for vengeance and control. Hamlet was instead preoccupied with his hatred with Claudius to avenge the death of his father that he forget everything else that matters. Just when we thought that Hamlet’s love for Ophelia may be his redeeming character, it was not and his character was really bound to be doomed. Hamlet did not give much importance to Ophelia even if he had feelings for her. There are a lot of things that contributed to this. The most obvious is that Hamlet was an angry man and his character only revolved with the plotting and scheming and his never ending desire to want Claudius dead to avenge his father. Second, Hamlet was a prince and he might have thought that it was below his dignity as a royalty to get seriously involve with a woman like Ophelia. He may have thought that consorting with Ophelia may reduce his stature as a nobleman and lessen his chance of getting the throne back from his uncle Claudius. It could be also be the reason that Ophelia, made herself available to other men (like Hamlet’s father) sexually and just like most men, made Hamlet think less of Ophelia which explains his disrespect and abusive behavior towards her. And perhaps the most plausible reason why he hated her is because of her complicity with his mortal enemy and Uncle Claudius. And again, this is consistent with his eternal quest to regain back the throne that any stumbling block in getting it should be put aside such as his love for Ophelia. And he successfully overcome this feelings as he said “I love you once” to Ophelia which is an utterance of breaking up. What prompted this may be the speculation that perhaps it is her promiscuity or her unwitting connivance with his mortal enemy Claudius that made Hamlet lost that loving feeling. But most likely, this could be the reason because Hamlet’s expression of affection for Ophelia during her death was profound – that she loved Ophelia that even forty thousand brothers could not match his love for her. But did not express it because of his hatred towards Claudius, pride of being a Prince, distrustful of Ophelia’s promiscuity (of which Hamlet cannot be faulted in this issue) or just utter insensitivity or incapable to reciprocate love just like many men. This is probable because one has to remember that Hamlet was a royalty where everything was spoon fed to him. Given the circumstances of hatred and scheming that surround Claudius, with he usurping the crown from his brother Hamlet through murder and then bedding his brother wife Gertrude with a nephew who is filled with murderous hatred for him, his kingdom is bound to fall. His biggest enemies are within his family circle that perpetually schemes for his downfall and cannot wait to exact vengeance and regain the throne. The power struggle in the kingdom is maddening and Shakespeare illustrated this through the metaphor of Ophelia’s character. Ophelia as a character is more than a vulnerable woman whom Hamlet struggled to overcome his love for, but rather a representation of the kingdom’s power struggle. She, just like the power that almost every character in the narrative aspired for, is ready to consort to anyone convenient for as long as one can get it. Eventually, she got mad died. Ophelia’s madness and death symbolizes the instability of the kingdom that is ruled by Claudius and its eventual and inevitable downfall. Ophelia’s madness is a metaphor of the madness of how Claudius got the throne by killing Hamlet’s father and then shedding crocodile tears for it that he was sad and will seek justice for his death when in fact he was the murderer. This is added by the maddening fact that Claudius also married the wife of the king whose power he did not only usurp, but also killed the king as well. Ophelia’s death is also a metaphor of the fate that awaits the Kingdom of Claudius which is rife with internal strife whose biggest threat are not enemies from without but rather from within with the endless scheming, mongering and endless hatred of people around him in their quest of power whom Claudius unjustly claimed. And as customary of Shakespeare’s narratives, the characters in this story are doomed towards tragedy because of their blind quest for control and power. Works Cited CHURNIN, NANCY. "Theater Review `Hamlet' Puts Power into Play." Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext): 26. Feb 24 1995. ProQuest. Web. 8 Dec. 2013 . Lewis, Rhodri. "Hamlet, Metaphor, And Memory." Studies In Philology 109.5 (2012): 609-641. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. Roe, John. "Shakespeare's Machiavellian Explorations." Cambridge Quarterly 33.4 (2004): 376-378. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. Read More