The relevancy of Hamlet to the modern audience - Essay Example

Hamlet goes to study abroad and when he comes back, things are no more the same. Hamlet finds it quite awkward that his mother marries his uncle within two months of his father’s death. He ponders over the nature of human beings and their relationships and the way they behave according to their changed circumstances. Hamlet’s interest in human psychology is reflected in the attitudes of people even today. Our personal and familial relationships are as important to us as they were to Hamlet back then.

We tend to grow up and start looking at things in a different manner if facts change around us. It is a natural yet complex process of maturity and Hamlet goes through it just like any person in the modern times would. His life suddenly changes with the death of his father and he finds himself in a very critical position. The meanings of all relationships change for him and he finds himself lost in a complex maze of human emotions and behaviors. Hamlet was fond of speaking in riddles that demonstrated his wit and humor.

He was smart enough to plan a staged play in the palace in order to bring out the sense of guilt of his uncle. Hamlet adopted the technique of modern psychologists that use indirect approaches to understand the psyche of criminals and ordinary people. He reacts in a rational and responsible manner and takes care not to jump to conclusions before investigating the matter thoroughly. Hamlet was apprehensive of his mother’s decision to marry his uncle but he did not show his disapproval openly.

He tried to talk to his mother in person and convinced her to stay away from his uncle. The mother-son bond is also relevant to people of all times. The relationship of Hamlet and Ophelia is complex just like contemporary relationships. At one end, he loves her deeply, as is proved from the love letters and the gifts and his exclamation: “I lov'd Ophelia: forty thousand brothers / Could not, with all their quantity of love, / Make up my sum.” (Shakespeare 5.1) s On the other hand, in his melancholy he treats her very rudely.

He is confused about so many things that it takes its toll over his relationship with Ophelia. This is how men and women of all times behave. Their relationships and personal lives suffer at the hands of unfavorable circumstances.