Preview

Relationship Between Family And Hamlet's Life

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
919 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Relationship Between Family And Hamlet's Life
The relationships between Hamlet and his family are not that different from family relationships today. Industry and technology advances, but human nature doesn’t change that much over the years. Young people face many of the same challenges growing up today that Hamlet faced. Relationships in step-families are always complicated. Family makeup is more diverse today than in Hamlet’s day, but the dynamics remain the same.

Hamlet’s relationship with his mother is complicated. He has a deep love for his mother, but he’s extremely angry with her for celebrating her new marriage to Claudius, instead of mourning the death of King Hamlet. Hamlet decides that a woman’s love is fickle, or easily changed. He says “frailty, thy name is woman” (Shakespeare
…show more content…
Claudius represents the villain, while Hamlet is the hero. Claudius uses murder and evil acts to reach his goals. He poisoned his own brother to become king. He plots to kill Hamlet, when Hamlet challenges his authority. Claudius doesn’t show any remorse for his deeds. On the other hand, Hamlet wants to do the right thing. He wants to avenge his father’s death, but he struggles with the idea of taking a life. He feels the pull of his own conscience, but eventually kills anyway (Stockton 1).

The family dynamics in Hamlet can be compared to the dynamics in today’s families. Human nature doesn’t change that much over the years. Hamlet is a young man who has a hard time deciding between right or wrong. He loves his family, but he is struggling to become his

Mossman 3 own person. He wants to trust his friends, but he’s being pulled in two directions emotionally. In the end, he believes what he can prove and remains loyal to his father and his upbringing. Today’s teenagers face some of these same challenges in their families. They are trying to become independent, while being held back by the demands of parents and family life. They want to make the right decisions, but are often indecisive, just like Hamlet. Teenagers today don’t usually kill their family members, but there is often

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Hamlet Sr. becomes more than the king and father he once was. Not knowing exactly…

    • 1564 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mrs. Mallard is an upper-class women opposed to Mrs. Sommers being poor. Chopin describes the appearance of Mrs. Mallard’s face in the story: “She was young, with a fair, calm face”(paragraph 8). Mrs. Mallard is an attractive, admirable, and a simple woman as learned from the Chopin’s description. “There stood facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy chair”(paragraph 4) connotes that she has wealthy-living. Generally, Mrs. Mallard is a refined, elegant woman during the nineteenth-century that belongs to the upper-class society. In contrast, Mrs. Sommers is fighting poverty and is struggling with the fact that she does not have much to support her family. For instance when Mrs. Sommers suddenly finds $15 on the ground, it seemed to her quite…

    • 218 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Detail 1: To begin with, Prince Hamlet in “Hamlet” is considered to be a scholar, a thinker, and the kind of person who would not act without thoroughly analysing the circumstances. Hamlet’s flaws as a central character become evident when the intrigue begins to take shape. The intrigue in “Hamlet” shows Hamlet’s father coming to him, as a ghost, and pleads revenge for his death. Hamlet becomes aware that his uncle, Claudius,…

    • 1618 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Hamlet, Prince of Denmark has remained the most perplexing, as well as the most popular, of William Shakespeare’s tragedies. Whether considered as literature, philosophy, or drama, its artistic stature is universally admitted. To explain the reasons for its excellence in a few words, however, is a daunting task. Apart from the matchless artistry of its language, the play’s appeal rests in large measure on the character of Hamlet himself. Called upon to avenge his father’s murder, he is compelled to face problems of duty, morality, and ethics that have been human concerns through the ages. The play has tantalized critics with what has become known as the Hamlet mystery, that of Hamlet’s complex behavior, most notably his indecision and his reluctance to act.…

    • 1773 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Characters in Hamlet

    • 2062 Words
    • 9 Pages

    One of the most controversial relationships within Hamlet is that between mother and child, and…

    • 2062 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    One single moment or event during the course of an individual’s life can effectively alter their priorities and transform their identity drastically. In The play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare introduces the readers to the protagonist Hamlet who is draped in anger and emotions and has a new-found mission in life. Initially, Hamlet is portrayed as an individual in mourning over his father's death and his mother's haste in remarrying to her brother-in-law and Hamlet's uncle, Claudius. However, Hamlet’s character and personality were drastically altered after meeting the Ghost and discovering the true nature of his Father’s death. Hamlet is now a man with a lust for revenge and a willingness to do anything that will enable him to accomplish this goal. When burdened with the task of killing Claudius, Hamlet chooses to sacrifice all he holds dear by transforming his identity in a noble effort to avenge his father’s death.…

    • 1723 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ghost In Hamlet

    • 1324 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Hamlet was considered to be wallowing in self-pity over everything that had recently transpired. His father’s death, his mother’s marriage to his uncle as well as he had been stripped of his rightful place as King of Denmark. Hamlet was of high morals and religious background. He was raised within the Lutheran Christian Faith and was appalled by everyone’s behavior. Resentment now raised its ugly head towards his mother in her “incestuous” union when Hamlet during his soliloquy, proclaims “Frailty, thy name is Woman!” to reflect his disgust of her weakness. But due to the love for his mother Hamlet keeps his resentment and disappointment to himself at this time. Faced with the realization of the murder of his father, who he had idolized and compared to a Greek sun-god and whose ghost has demanded revenge in order to leave purgatory, Hamlet is further torn between his moral values and his Christian faith, as his faith does not allow murder (“Thou shall not…

    • 1324 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Father and Sons

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hamlet was a man that looked up to his father throughout his life, during and after his father's death. The younger Hamlet tried to follow in his father's footsteps, but as much as they were alike, they were very much different. The man named Hamlet had a son named Hamlet and after everything was over, that is one of the few things that they had in common. Although they may exhibit some similar traits, all fathers and sons are individuals. They are, or will become, their own man. This development is based on life experience, which is never the same for any two people. In the case of King and Prince Hamlet, this is true.…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The single act of Claudius murdering the King sets a world of wrongs on Hamlet, his family, and his God. It is Hamlet’s self-claimed duty to dispel the wrongs that have been set upon him. Each of these aspects that has been broken is what motivates Hamlet to act in the manner that he does. He acts to fix a broken family, a broken self, a broken promise, and a broken God. It’s not about how he lives in this broken world of his. In fact, it’s quite the opposite; Hamlet is about his effort to correct his world so he won’t have to live in a broken world. Exacting revenge on Claudius in the meticulous way that he does is his attempt at avenging everything that is important to him, and everything that is broken.…

    • 1259 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the emphasis placed on a parent-child relationship is vital, as family plays an important role in developing a character’s values as well as bringing stability to their life. Throughout the play Hamlet, the values brought on by a parent are instrumental in developing a character’s familial obligation and sense of purpose. Following the loss of their fathers, the characters of Ophelia, Laertes and Hamlet lose the motivation and stability their fathers once provided. In order to fulfill their obligations to their late fathers, each character must look for a new sense of purpose, which ultimately leads to their death.…

    • 1351 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hamlet's Paranoia

    • 2158 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Hamlet once saw his mother as the epitome of virtue. This image is dashed against the rocks when he finds her married, incestuously, to his uncle less than two months following his father’s death. Having only seen his mother with his father, Hamlet perceives that he has lost her after she marries Claudius. Hamlet has, “All his life he has believed in her, we may be sure, as such a son would” (Bradley, 98). Hamlet looks down upon his mother’s second marriage as disrespect to the memory of his father. Hamlet cries out “O, most wicked speed to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” (I. 2. 161-62). Now alone save for Horatio, Hamlet’s madness is left to grow unchecked.…

    • 2158 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is Hamlet A Good Father

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hamlet appears to still be loyal to his mother even after she married her husband’s murderer. This is because Hamlet tells his mother, “I shall in all my best to obey you madam” (I.ii. 120). However, Hamlet really thinks of his mother a malevolent woman. As he is talking to himself, he says, “O most pernicious woman!” (I.v. 105). Even after the ghost of King Hamlet told Prince Hamlet to not go blame his mother for this--“Leave her to heaven /And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge / To prick and sting her” (I.v. 86-88)--Hamlet still chooses to hate her.…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hamlet Theme Family

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The theme, family, in The Tragedy of Hamlet is major theme with lots of major points. This play is notorious for how it dwells on the issue of incest. In Shakespeare’s time, incest was a sin against God and the state. Queen Elizabeth I asked the Church of England to come up with a list of rules about marriage, basically a list of relatives who couldn’t marry, including in-laws. Also another focus is how politics can impact the dynamics of family. The values brought on by a parent are vital in developing a characters values and sense of purpose.…

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet is the representation of Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. Aristotle’s definition of tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. As you read the book you will begin to notice that Hamlet has all the characteristics and traits that tragic heroes have. Hamlet has flaws, error of judgement and he suffered more than he deserved, etc. (123helpme.com)…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    I am course leader on the Foundation Degree for Early Years at the further education institution in which I work. The foundation degree is delivered in collaboration with a higher education institution. There are fourteen modules on the course and I teach on up to ten of these modules over a two year programme of study. The course is delivered through a blended learning approach, encompassing both face-to-face and online ‘Moodle’ sessions, the latter being the name for the college’s virtual learning environment. The scheme of work (Appendix 1, pp8-15) that I have chosen for the purposes of this assignment relates to the module, ‘Perspectives on Play’, which is the first module taught on the first year of the foundation degree. There are a total of eight face-to-face and seven Moodle sessions occurring weekly on the Module.…

    • 2350 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays