Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
The Madness Of Prince Hamlet - Online Term Paper

The Madness Of Prince Hamlet


In Hamlet, Prince of Denmark the protagonist exhibits a puzzling duplicitous nature. Hamlet contradicts himself throughout out the play. He endorses both of the virtues of acting a role and being true to oneis self. He further supports both of these conflicting endorsements with his actions. This ambiguity is demonstrated by his alleged madness, for he does behave madly, only to become perfectly calm and rational an instant later. These inconsistencies are related with the internal dilemmas he faces. He struggles with the issue of revenging his fatheris death, vowing to kill Claudius and then backing out, several times. Upon this point Hamlet teeters through the play. The reason for this ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

In this statement the play makes an easy to follow shift. This shift consists of Hamlet giving up the role of a student and mourning son. Hamlet says,
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
That youth and observation copied there,
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain
(1.5.99-103)

Hamlet is declaring that he will be committed to nothing else but the revenge of his fathers death. There is no confusion about Hamletis character. He has said earlier that he is what he appears to be, and there is no reason to doubt it. In the next act, however, Hamletis status and intentions suddenly and with out demonstrated reason becomes mired in confusion.

When Hamlet appears again in act two, it seems that he has lost the conviction that was present earlier. He has yet to take up the part assigned to him by the ghost. He spends the act walking around, reading, talking with Polonius, Rosencrantz, ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.


Already a member? Login

About this speech he says,

What is Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her? What would he do
Had he motive and cue for passion
That I have? (2.2.561-564)

In this praise of this players ability to act, Hamlet is saying that if he were such an actor he would have killed Claudius by now. This link between vengeance and acting that is present here is what Hamlet struggles with until very near the end. He is then moved to swear that he should kill Claudius when he says,

I should �ai fatted all the region kites
With this slaveis offal. Bloody, bawdy villain!
O, vengeance!
Why, what an ass am I? (2.2.581-585)

He makes this big buildup of what he should have ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library.
Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports,
and research papers in 2 minutes or less.


CITE THIS PAGE:

The Madness Of Prince Hamlet. (2006, August 3). Retrieved November 28, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Madness-Of-Prince-Hamlet/50145
"The Madness Of Prince Hamlet." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 3 Aug. 2006. Web. 28 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Madness-Of-Prince-Hamlet/50145>
"The Madness Of Prince Hamlet." Essayworld.com. August 3, 2006. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Madness-Of-Prince-Hamlet/50145.
"The Madness Of Prince Hamlet." Essayworld.com. August 3, 2006. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Madness-Of-Prince-Hamlet/50145.
JOIN NOW
Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays


PAPER DETAILS
Added: 8/3/2006 07:57:34 AM
Category: Arts
Type: Free Paper
Words: 2182
Pages: 8

Save | Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS
Save and find your favorite essays easier

SIMILAR ESSAYS
The Madness Of Prince Hamlet
Hamlet - The Love Of Hamlet For...
Hamlet: Emotions Of Despair, Sa...
Hamlet Madness
The Sanity Of Hamlet
Hamlet: Was Hamlet Insane
Hamlet Observations Of Madness
Claudius And Hamlet
Ophelia: The Tragedy Of Love
Hamlet 17
Copyright | Cancel | Contact Us

Copyright © 2024 Essayworld. All rights reserved