Everyone faces loneliness and despair in their lives. In today’s world people may feel misunderstood or isolated. In Hamlet, much of the loneliness and suffering he endures is due to the secrets and betrayals he is forced to keep. There were many instances where Hamlet felt alone and upset but he could not share his pain with anyone else. This was a factor that added to his suffering. We can also find many examples of Hamlet’s despair due to betrayal from his so called friends. All of these factors not only contributed heavily to his depression, but caused his overall demise.
Throughout the play, Hamlet discovers who is loyal to him and who his real enemies are. Right away, Hamlet dislikes his uncle. He is already distraught over losing his father but on top of that he has to deal with the marriage of his beloved mother to his uncle, who he perceives as being cruel and cold-hearted. “A little more than kin, and less than kind.” (I; ii; 65) This is Hamlets first line in the play, which clearly demonstrates the extreme hatred Hamlet has towards his uncle. Hamlet also feels intense betrayal from his mother. He trusted her and feels like she has disregarded any love she ever felt towards her former husband. ” Mother, you have my father much offended.” (III; iv; 11) ” A bloody deed-almost as bad, good mother, As kill a king, and marry with his brother. (III; iv; 29-30). Hamlet is revolted by the idea of his uncle and his mother married.
Hamlet also encounters loneliness and despair from Ophelia. As part of Hamlet’s “plan” to put on an antic disposition he distances himself from Ophelia who he is actually in love with. He does this by insulting her and convincing her that he is mad and never had any true feelings for her. “I loved you not” (III; i; 117) “Get thee to a nunnery……Marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them” (III; i; 135-137) Hamlet also kills Polonius (by mistake thinking it was Claudius). Both of these incidents cause Ophelia a great deal of grief and so she kills herself. Hamlet is of course devastated because he never actually meant to hurt her. “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum.
Free Hamlet Essays: Hamlet’s Fatal Mistake
Hamlet’s Fatal Mistake
When you play a part or a role to disguise your true character it harms you in the end. Hamlet’s antic disposition was a tragic error on his part because it let to his eventual demise. Hamlet displays the antic disposition in order to fool Claudius, although Claudius is the only character to not be fooled. When Hamlet denies Ophelia his love, she goes mad and takes her life. Hamlet becomes confused as to whether he is insane or not. For these reasons, Hamlet’s decision to portray an antic disposition is a tragic error.
When Hamlet found out that Claudius killed his father Hamlet was furious, and got right to work on how to get his fathers revenge. Hamlet went to work by coming up with a plan to act mad so that it would hide the truth from Claudius, which was that Hamlet was going to kill Claudius. Hamlet has no such luck. Claudius does not believe Hamlet’s attempt at pretending that he is mad. “Was not like madness. There’s something in his soul” (III; I; 161). This means that Claudius does not believe that Hamlet is insane, but rather has some sort of plan being brewed. Claudius also has a plan that is to kill hamlet. This is ironic because in the end they end up Claudius is in the end murdered by Hamlet.
Hamlet must act mad if he wants Claudius to believe him, so Hamlet uses his confrontations with Ophelia to display it. Ophelia is manipulated by Hamlet for his own personal gain. Hamlet uses Ophelia to get the word that he is mad around the kingdom. This is sad because Ophelia is innocent and she ends up committing suicide in the end. One of the way’s Hamlet fools Ophelia into believing that he is insane is by scaring her. (II; I;75). ” I have been so affrighted”. Hamlet fools Ophelia into believing that he is mad by killing Polonius behind a curtain in the Gertrude’s room. This incident drives Ophelia into becoming insane and leads to her taking her own life.
Hamlet spends much of his time pretending to be mad, that he starts to believe that he really is insane. Hamlet feels as if he is losing control when he sees his father’s ghost in Gertrude’s chambers. Every other time the ghost appeared, someone else saw it as well, only this time his mother did not see it.