StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Hamlets flaw of over-thinking/analyzing the world and people so much that it paralyzes him - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The idea that Hamlet is paralyzed by his over-thinking has been a common one since the play was written more than 400 years ago. It can be seen that from the first moments he appears in the play he feels removed from, and alienated from the world that he finds himself in…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.9% of users find it useful
Hamlets flaw of over-thinking/analyzing the world and people so much that it paralyzes him
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Hamlets flaw of over-thinking/analyzing the world and people so much that it paralyzes him"

Download file to see previous pages

Hamlet's alienation is personified by his opening line: It is the fact that his first line is an aside that so perfectly encapsulates his alienation from a society that he should be the center of. He does not speak the line to his Uncle, or even the Court, but rather as an inward comment aimed at breaking the third wall of the stage for the audience. He is alienated from his world, and thus able to be fully involved within it. He can no more act to revenge his father than he can feign happiness at this mother and uncle's wedding.

As the play continues Hamlet's alienation deepens and starts to influence many of those around him. When he decides to put "an antic disposition on" (I.3) the question arises for the rest of the play whether he is playing at being mad, genuinely mad, or perhaps both. Here is the second part of the inaction - madness that removes a person from the common spheres of reality. But Hamlet's madness is in fact closer to the reality and genuine feeling than those supposedly sane people around him. Thus when he is chided for carrying on with his mourning beyond that which is seen as convenient or seemly, he answers, "I have that within which passeth show.

" (Hamlet, I.2) Others show their feelings on the outside, they are merely masks of feeling while Hamlet genuinely feels on the inside. The fact that he cannot show what he feels properly, or more importantly, act upon what he feels brings further alienation. When the actor cries over the death of his imaginary lover Hamlet is disgusted with himself, "what's Hecuba to him or him to Hecuba" (II.2). Nothing is the silent reply, but the actor can show more emotion (and action) than Hamlet can when his father has been genuinely murdered.

Perhaps the deepest alienation that anyone can feel is the wish to leave the world permanently through suicide. It is an even deeper alienation when that individual is young, rich and the heir to a throne. Hamlet's famous "to be or not to be" speech is an example of such alienation and, true to the form of the amoral world that Shakespeare has drawn in Hamlet he does not decide not to commit suicide for any ethical reasons, but rather for the practical fears of what may come in death. "What dreams may come"" he wonders in a frightened manner. Indeed. When Hamlet does act it is often through a sense of irrationality than planning.

Thus the killing of Polonius occurs because he is acting out the role of being a madman rather than actually feeling angry at him or wanting to get rid of him. Perhaps the greatest example of his inaction is when he has finds his Uncle kneeling in prayer, completely vulnerable to any kind of attack. As Hamlet says ""now I might do it pat, now he is praying, and now I'll do it . . . " (III.3) but then goes on to decide that in fact he should kill him when he is not close to Heaven: Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven And that his soul may be as damnd and black As hell, whereto it goes.

My mother stays; This physic but prolongs thy sickly days. (III.3, 95-98)Hamlet decides that he should kill his Uncle when he is drinking, or gambling, or maybe in bed with his wife (Hamlet's mother). This is the ultimate example

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Hamlets flaw of over-thinking/analyzing the world and people so much Essay”, n.d.)
Hamlets flaw of over-thinking/analyzing the world and people so much Essay. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1507154-hamlets-flaw-of-over-thinkinganalyzing-the-world-and-people-so-much-that-it-paralyzes-him
(Hamlets Flaw of over-thinking/Analyzing the World and People so Much Essay)
Hamlets Flaw of over-thinking/Analyzing the World and People so Much Essay. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1507154-hamlets-flaw-of-over-thinkinganalyzing-the-world-and-people-so-much-that-it-paralyzes-him.
“Hamlets Flaw of over-thinking/Analyzing the World and People so Much Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1507154-hamlets-flaw-of-over-thinkinganalyzing-the-world-and-people-so-much-that-it-paralyzes-him.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Hamlets flaw of over-thinking/analyzing the world and people so much that it paralyzes him

Hamlet's Failure as a Leader

Hamlet's tendency to philosophize prevents him from being a rational decision-maker and a doer which are the defining traits of a true leader.... His philosophizing again takes over when a ghost appears to him revealing how Claudius had murdered the King.... Hamlet casts aside his own beliefs and concerns and only thinks about what his father, in the form of a ghost, has told him.... He sets out to avenge the death of his father, against all his beliefs of right and wrong as dictated to him by his Christian values....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

The Play Written by William Shakespeare

The thesis is that this uncertainty is at the root of Hamlet's inner struggles to come to terms with the death of his father and the hands of fate that seemed to have thrust him into the position of avenging son and tormented soul (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Mabillard).... In this scene Hamlet is in a Danish plain, pondering after he had asked Rosencrantz to go ahead of him while he took some time to collect himself (Shakespeare): Now, whether it be  Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple  Of thinking too precisely on th' event, A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom  And ever three parts coward,- I do not know  Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do,'  Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means  To do't....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Hamlet's strengthens and weakness

Through the passion which is the powerhouse of the soul, it is possible for the dead king Hamlet's father to communicate through his son in the spirit world and inform his son about the person responsible for his death.... Hamlet takes this world as a painful place and would wish to move to the world of the dead but he is uncertain whether the world of the dead is also painful.... His action led to the death of 7 persons including him....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Theme of Life in Hamlet- Revenge

The ghost of Hamlet's father appears to him and tells him that Claudius has poisoned him.... He gets many chances to kill Claudius but he delays avenging the death of his father, Hamlet gets possibly the finest opportunity when Claudius is seen to be praying in the play but Hamlet does not kill him there, this prolonging of revenge shapes up the play very well and it is easily the highlight of the play.... To conclude with the character of Hamlet it can be said that since revenge was his sole aim, no one could have predicted the future and there are risks involved when a person seeks revenge, so it is fair to say that the death of Hamlet was not surprising as a reader and he pretty much deserved it....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Embodiment of Hamlets Ghost

It was first performed at the beginning of the 17th century at the Globe Theater in London, and Hamlet continues to fascinate audiences all around the world.... Could it be that his contrived “antic disposition” (Jenkins 1982), the purpose of which was to help him discern the truth of what happened to his father, really did lead to an actual madness?... In two of these scenes (Act 1, Scene 1, and Act 1, Scene 4), the ghost appears to people other than Hamlet, specifically Horatio and Marcellus....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

INTERPRETING CRIME AND CRIMINALS 2

The phenomenological My research was able to establish that there is not much difference in the experiences of male and female victims of cyber-stalking.... But now that we are in the age of cyber technology, it has evolved into a much more sophisticated crime.... people are familiar about the statistics in this crime-there are both male and female victims—however, they tend to focus more on the female victim, and dismiss the male victim to be of lesser importance and concern....
14 Pages (3500 words) Essay

A Brief Overview of Hamlets Characterization through His Soliloquies

The author states that Hamlet's dilemma of action and inaction is central to the misery of his life and the ones surrounding him, thus contributing to a tragic consequence.... This thin demarcation between action and inaction is prominently expressed in the innermost thoughts of hamlets, what is more appropriately known as Hamlet's soliloquies or his self-conversation....
6 Pages (1500 words) Term Paper

Hamlets Philosophy of Life

His deepest questions about death begin in the aftermath of his father's death where he seeks to find out how the world of the dead may be like of what it means to be dead.... However, Hamlet portrays behaviors that even confuse his own closest… Claudius himself tries to understand him, but to no avail.... At the beginning of the play, the ghost comes to Horatio who then calls others to him.... One can say that by doing so, Hamlet is following the philosophical principle of reason and logic as the guiding principles for the justification of any action taken (Burnor and Raley 49)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us