Hamlet

6 Pages 1406 Words

In the play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, the cause of Hamlet’s “Rash and bloody deed”(III:iv) is primarily because Hamlet is thrown into an uncompromising situation. As Prince of Denmark he is put in a position, in which he must deal with the betrayal and murder of this father by his own family members. In order to determine Hamlets’ state of mind we can look at a few hints of his behavior throughout the play. We can view how from beginning to end, his rational/irrational thoughts begin and end, and look at how the ghost and Hamlets’ mother’s complexity affect him in the prayer/closet scene. Eventually, the characters of Shakespeare’s play become victims of an unwholesome situation- their own creation.
Hamlet is much closer to his mother than is to Claudius. Therefore Hamlet feels more emotion when dealing with her, “Come, come and sit you down. You shall not budge. You go not till I set you up a glass where you may see the inmost part of you”(III:iv). Hamlet’s anger stems from his mothers hasty remarriage to his uncle and her incestuous acts. It’s this emotion/anger that drives out Hamlet’s deep suppressed feelings of anger, “But to live in the rank sweat of an enseamèd bed, stewed in corruption, honeying and making love over the nasty sty- ”(III:iv). This intense emotional reaction between Hamlet and his mother results in the death of Polonius, who is hiding in the room. We can make an assumption that Hamlet is not crazy and is thinking clearly throughout most of the play. Yet towards the end his thoughts appear to move away from the rational. This is shown in the same scene, after Hamlet slays Polonuis through the curtain he asks the question, “Is it the King”(III:iv). It is apparent that Hamlet’s thoughts becomes colored with passion for revenge. Hamlet already knows that the King cannot be hiding in the room, for he just left the King in the chapel.
In order to have a tragic fault, the...