Free Hamlet Essays – Hamlet’s Character In Hamlet’s speech in act three, scene three Hamlet discloses many facets of his character to us, aspects that we have thus far only been able to see as fragments in other speeches. He reveals himself to be an over-analytical man who often procrastinates. He also shows that he does not really want to kill Claudius but feels compelled to out of a sense of duty to his dead father. Hamlet demonstrates his over-analytical nature in line seventy-three of the speech when he says “That would be scann’d:”, meaning that he should examine his situation more closely. Instead of simply killing Claudius while he had the chance he over-analyses and eventually decides to postpone Claudius’ murder, missing the best chance he will obtain in the play. Hamlet is also a procrastinator and this is demonstrated many times in the play. In line eighty he says “Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge”. He knows that he must kill Claudius but he postpones it. This almost suggests that Hamlet does not really want to kill Claudius, but feels obligated to do so. Through his over-analysis he seems to be almost talking himself out of doing his job. One of Hamlet’s most renown traits is his over-analysis of conversational topics and situations in which action must be taken. An example of his over-analytical nature is apparent in his speech in act one, scene four, line 13. He begins his speech quite normally, replying with a simple answer to Horatio’s inquiry but then his thoughts begin to wander and he starts to analyze and philosophize about topics unrelated to Horatio’s question. Another trait of Hamlet is the way he procrastinates. For example, in act two, scene two, line 603 he convinces himself that his plan to add sixteen lines to the play and watch Claudius’ reaction, rather than completing his task, is the best plan of action. Although in the end he postpones the murder of Claudius, beginning on line 570 he acknowledges his lack of action. This also shows that Hamlet does not really want to kill the king and that he will go to great lengths to postpone his duty. In fact, Hamlet reveals to us about his unwillingness to kill Claudius early in the play. In act one, scene five, line 189 he says “O cursed spite,/That ever I was born to set it right!”, meaning that he is angry that he is now put in the position of having to kill the king and he is sorry that he was born with this destiny.
Free Hamlet Essays: Freud and Hamlet
Hamlet Essay: Freud and Hamlet
Freud believed that Hamlet did not kill Claudius the first time
he saw him because Hamlet saw himself as the enemy. This sounds like a
solid reason to me. Who am I to say that it is not? However, I also
find Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s reasoning very interesting. He
believed that Hamlet did not kill Claudius the first time because he
was praying. This sounds almost too easy, although very legitimate.
Now, I am not one to say which interpretation is right, or even ponder if
either is right; however, they both come credible critics. So, who is
right and who is wrong–that is the question? No? Maybe both are right
to an extent. We do not actually know what Shakespeare was feeling when
writing Hamlet.
This brings me to the point Chris Early made previously. I, like
Chris, do not believe that works should only be investigated on the
surface, but it is difficult to uncover every meaning of every aspect of
every work. Is there always something bigger and more meaningful than
the original words? Sometimes I would say yes, and sometimes no. So,
this leads me to my next question: how does one know if the words mean
something bigger or not? I believe that there is no actual way to
know if something has hidden meaning or not; therefore, almost
everything is scrutinized as if it does. I am not trying to make
silly excuses; I am being completely serious. No one, even the great
critics, know what is symbolic and what is not; therefore everything is
considered symbolic in the beginning, causing some sort of symbolism to
be uncovered. Whether this symbolism is correct, no one will actually
know. As Chris touched on, who knows what Shakespeare was thinking
when writing Hamlet? We can only make educated guesses at what
Hamlet was thinking when he withdrew from killing Claudius the first time.
These educated guesses come from what the reader thinks, along with
what critics have interpreted and written.
