Shakespeare's Hamlet

Hamlet is appealing to our own age because we can identify with his complex personal situation. At the start of the play, Hamlet's home and family have been turned upside down--and against social convention. This is true of many people of our own age. Hamlet views Uncle Claudius unfavorably, "no more like my father / Than I to Hercules" (I.ii). He does not understand how Gertrude could forget memories of the marriage with his father. That was a love match. Gertrude "would hang on him, / As if increase of appetite had grown / By what it fed on: and yet, within a month-- / Let me not think on't--Frailty, thy name is woman!" (I.ii). It turns out Hamlet's father was murdered by the new husband. Hamlet must fix this evil. But he is torn between action and thinking about consequences. Because he delays, there are many casualties and tragedies --including Hamlet himself.

Despite Shakespeare's language, the characters' psychology makes them surprisingly modern. By mere facts of the case, Hamlet's mental turmoil makes perfect sense. He comes home to mourn his father. But here is Claudius criticizing his "unmanly grief" (I.ii). And he obtain

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d Claudius. But she is "frail." Gertrude lacks judgment in marrying Claudius. On the other hand, her maternal love is very human. She is worried (like any mother) about her son's emotional state. But she misinterprets his behavior. She thinks he is "mad as the sea and wind" (IV.i). She does not see the horror coming from Claudius until her own last moment. Claudius's universal human quality is his guilt. Claudius is the villain of the play, guilty of "murder most foul" (I.v). But after all, that is just plot. It is not proof of Claudius's human side. That comes when Claudius tries to pray for forgiveness for murder: "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: / Words without thoughts never to heaven go (III.iii). Claudius cannot escape the guilty torment of murder. Indeed, Hamlet's vow to use the players to "catch the conscience of the king" (II.ii) has worked. Claudius is a prisoner of his conscience. However, his lust for Gertrude and for power in Denmark combines with fear of being exposed. Thus he puts aside his conscience and plots Hamlet's death with (1) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and (2) Laertes. Ophelia has the universal human quality of naive youth and trust. And as a typical young girl, she falls in love with the "id
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Approximate Word count = 1240
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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