The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare - Research Paper Example

Family Relationships in Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Hamlet William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which is believed to be written between 1599 and 1601, is one quintessential tragedy of all time. The various themes depicted in the story including that of revenge make Shakespeare’s work a classic. More importantly, it has shown that Hamlet’s relationship with others, especially in his own family, plays a vital role in the series of events in his life. Essentially, the Tragedy of Hamlet revolves around various relationships especially between parents and children. According to Lieberman, this aspect of the story is so important that it is regarded to have carried a pivotal role in the development of the whole plot. Without these relationships, especially the presence of dysfunctional families, the tragedy could have gone very differently. Subsequently, familial relationships were developed in the story in such a way that a certain relationship purports conflict after conflict. One family significantly affects another family, which eventually leads to conflicts and dilemmas. For example, the relationship between a father and son or daughter causes conflict between the uncle and a nephew. Father-son relationship between Old King Hamlet and Hamlet In order to grasp the function of family relationships in the story, it is important to examine one-by-one the different relationships present in the play. First is the father and son relationship between the old King Hamlet and Hamlet--considered as most crucial and one which started it all. This relationship, although very superficial, was very complicated because Hamlet was forced to deal with a dead father who happened to tell him that he [old King Hamlet] was murdered by the incumbent King, Hamlet’s uncle--King Claudius. For this part, it was very effective for Shakespeare to use soliloquies and to insert Hamlet’s act of “madness” because it actually pulls the readers’ attention back into “reality,” i.e. free of extraordinary scenarios like talking to a ghost. On the other hand, it complicates the situation even more when this dead father instructed him to kill his own uncle. Since Hamlet’s personality tends to value morality and tends not to easily jump into actions without investigating the reason why such actions are necessary, he did not immediately obey his father’s command. Despite this, the story still shows a positive father and son relationship. Hamlet has a huge respect for his father so that when he commanded him to “Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven” (1.5.85-87), he obeyed him and started to show care for his mother. As in the story, the seemingly perceptual bond between them has contributed to their inner memorial bond (Russell 99). Father-son Relationship--Polonius and Laertes Second relationship, which is parallel to the one between King Hamlet and Hamlet, is Polonius’ relationship with son Laertes. However, they are quite opposing, in that the narcissistic Polonius used his authoritative nature to gain domination over Laertes. He commands Reynaldo to take away Laertes’ fame; hence he has a very bad disposition against his son. Nevertheless, despite Polonuis treatment, Laertes was still willing to take revenge for his father. He immediately rushed to face King Claudius, declaring his will to kill him in exchange of his father’s life. This showed Laertes’ compassion as well as his responsive action to attain justice for the death of his father. Father-son Relationship--Hamlet and Laertes Comparison From the above discussion, Hamlet and Laertes’ characters could then be juxtaposed in terms of their treatment with respect to their father. Actually, Shakespeare has molded both characters to depict Laertes’ character as a foil of Hamlet’s; hence, they have many similar characteristics. First, Hamlet and Laertes are both confronted with the same dilemma, i.e. to kill the murderer of their fathers. Second, they have a common motive: revenge. Third and more importantly, they are similar in their compelling reason to avenge their fathers’ death, i.e. their loyalty to their family. There are also differences in that, in some cases, Hamlet has the tendency to submit himself to inaction while Laertes responds immediately. This makes others question the faithfulness of Hamlet to his father as compared with Laertes. Nonetheless, it is important to note that faithfulness cannot be seen purely on how fast the revenge was taken, rather it is on how deep the understanding of one person why such action should be necessary. In the end, Hamlet still followed the advice of his father and proved that he is a loyal son just as how loyal Laertes was. Father-daughter relationship--Polonius and Ophelia Also, a parent-child relationship, it is worthwhile to describe Polonius relationship with his daughter Ophelia which later on affected Hamlet. According to Mabillard, Polonius exploited his daughter Ophelia in order to get back with Hamlet. Despite her youthfulness and innocence, he used his daughter to spy on Hamlet’s unusual behavior. He also warned her not to get too close with Hamlet. Commanding Ophelia, he said, “Tender yourself more dearly...running it thus, you’ll tender me a fool” (1.3.105). Ophelia then had no choice but to obey the rules of her father. Polonius greatly dismantled her daughter by owning her life, her actions, and her own right to love. Now, it is clear that the father-daughter relationship has really made the latter too dependent, which led to her misery. Mother-Son Relationship--Gertrude and Hamlet Meanwhile, Hamlet’s weakness and his tendency to self-abandonment were rooted in his character because of her mother (Shakespeare et. al 341). Hamlet had a very small regard for his mother, which made him belittle women in general. Hamlet’s relationship to his mother was often subject under scrutiny, most especially by psychoanalytics. They questioned Hamlet’s true motive in killing Claudius evidenced in his often delayed decisions. Freud, for one, interpreted Hamlet as having Oedipal desire, a psychological term, which refers to the repressed emotion that makes one unconsciously desire one’s mother for sexual reasons (Selden 208). Adelman also refers to the mother as the “deep fantasy of the play,” which could easily corrupt a man (qtd. in Bunbury). The validity of this assertion, however, is still subject to further investigation. Nonetheless, there are also evidences that Hamlet had a positive relationship with his mother. Following the advice of his Ghost father, Hamlet did not only lessen his anger towards his mother but also attempted to save her, or to forgive her (Johnson). Uncle-nephew Relationship--King Claudius and Hamlet Finally, this tragedy’s most difficult relationship was between Hamlet and his uncle, King Claudius. Since the beginning of time, Hamlet disliked Claudius for marrying his mother, Gertrude, soon after his father’s death. His hatred became even more intense upon learning that it was King Claudius who killed his father. Basically, Shakespeare wanted to show that Claudius was the root cause of all betrayal. On the other hand, in the part of Claudius, his hate was apparent when he planned Hamlet’s demise in England. However, his planned failed so he told Laertes that Hamlet killed his father. He fed Laertes’ anger saying, “Requite [Hamlet] for your father” (4.7.138). In the end, Claudius mistakenly killed Gertrude instead of Hamlet. This eventually angered Hamlet more and finally killed Claudius by way of poisoned sword. Hamlet was killed by Laertes. Shakespeare really did a good twist here because after all, both Laertes and Hamlet succeeded in their revenge. Also, Claudius relation to Gertrude was the primary reason for all these revenge and conflict, so it is quite meaningful to close the story by ending this relation as well. These relationships, convoluted and confusing as they are, made the Tragedy of Hamlet the most excellent tragedy in English literature. This just goes to show that family has always been the basic unit of society; that the depth of relationship in the family could affect well beyond the members of the family but has the ability to affect any individual in the society as well. Thus, conflict in the family could spur a lot more conflicts around, which could lead to tragic events and dilemmas. Works Cited Bunbury, Bob. The Tale of Sir Bob. Blogspot, 24 Feb. 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. . Johnson, Amanda. Relationships. VCCS Litonline, 20 Apr. 2005. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. . Lieberman, Daniel. “Family Relationships in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.” Yahoo Associated Content. Yahoo Associated Content, 11 June 2008. Web 22 Nov. 2011. . Mabillard, Amanda. “Ophelia.” Shakespeare Online. Shakespeare Online, 20 Aug. 2000. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. . Russell, John. Hamlet and Narcissus. Massachusetts: University of Delaware Press, 1995. Print. Selden, Raman. The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism, Volume 7. George A. Kennedy, (Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. USA: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1916. Print. Shakespeare, William, et al. A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare: Hamlet. 15th ed. 1918: Volume 4 of A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare, William Shakespeare. Horace H. Furness, (Ed.). USA: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1918. Print. Read More