Why I Do Not Set My Life Due To Fear
I believe Shakespeare’s quotation, “Why, what should be the fear? I do not set my life at a pin’s fee” (I. iiii. 64-65) by Hamlet, is one really worth tattooing. I think it essentially means, do not miss out on an opportunity in life due to fear, because death is an inevitable ending to everyone’s life regardless. This quotation is one that has made an impact on my life, and inspired me since the day I read it. This may not be as extreme as risking your life, but a common regret for many people such as myself, is not taking a chance due to the fact you may fail or embarrass yourself. But the thing is, if you never take the chance, you will never know how it would have turned out and it could be life changing! After reading Hamlet, every time I contemplate not doing or saying something due to the fear of failure or embarrassment, I take the chance anyways and honestly I have not looked back since.
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In terms of the play, in Act 1, Scene 1, if Hamlet had never taken the chance of following the ghost of his deceased father, he probably would have never known about his father’s true fate, or Claudius’ betrayal of Hamlet’s father.
In Act 5, Scene 1, Hamlet knowingly risks his life by presenting himself at Ophelia’s funeral in front of Claudius and Laertes. Claudius wanted Hamlet dead because he knew about Claudius’ betrayal of King Hamlet, and Laertes wanted Hamlet dead because Hamlet accidentally killed Polonius thinking it was Claudius. This is truly inspirational because Hamlet risked the probable odds of death just to express his true love for Ophelia and make things right, even though she was already dead. In the end of the play, Hamlet ended up dying due to this choice, but I bet he died without a single regret, and that is the way it should
be.
One of the things that stood out to me was Ophelia’s and Laerte’s strange insestuous relationship. At the beginning of Act 1, Scene 3, when Laertes is ready to set off to France, Laertes and Ophelia talk about writing each other and keeping in touch, which is a normal family interaction. Even saying Hamlet does not really love her could be a normal older brother protective reaction. But, it turns extremely odd when Laertes tells Ophelia not to, “Lose [her] heart, or [her] chaste treasure open/ To [Hamlet’s] unmastered importunity” (I. iii. 31-32) and to only “unmask her beauty to the moon” (I. iii. 37) while he is gone. In this quotation, Laertes is essentially saying that no one else deserves her private parts besides him. After this she responds, “I shall the effect of this good lesson keep . . . Do not, as some ungracious pastors do/ Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven/ Whiles, like a puffed and reckless libertine/ Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads/ And recks not his own rede.” (I. iii. 45-49). In this quotation, Ophelia basically says she won’t as long as he doesn’t have sex with anyone else either. And he responds back “O, fear me not” (52), which means that she does not have to worry, because he won’t. And then they immediately end their passionate conversation as soon as Polonius(their father) walks in. This is further shown in Act 5, Scene 1, during the graveyard scene, when Laertes jumps in the grave to hold her one last time, and then him and hamlet start fighting over who loves her more. Given these weird comments and actions shown between Laertes and Ophelia, there is obviously some sort of love ties between them, even though she is basically supposed to be the innocent, virgin mary of the play. When Laertes sees Ophelia has gone insane over Hamlet actions, such as playing with her head and killing her father, and in a sense even driving her to kill herself, this makes Laertes' negative emotions against Hamlet that much stronger, allowing him to be easierly manipulated by Claudius into dueling Hamlet to the death.
The play uses a garden as imagery for the built up emotions and problems within the characters; however, every character goes about dealing with these problems a bit differently. I believe that in Shakespeare's first soliloquy, the unweeded garden Hamlet speaks of refers to his problems and anger regarding his mother remarrying his uncle so shortly after his father’s passing. Hamlet refers to this new marriage as basically incest, since nearly a month before Claudius was Gertrude’s brother in law. As the weeds grow, so does the hate within it. When Hamlet says, “'Tis an unweeded garden/ That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature” (I. ii. 135-136), I think he is referring to the ugly weeds in his way of truly seeing the beauty and joy behind life. Hamlet is never truly satisfied until everyone sees Claudius for the ugly person he is and he kills Claudius, redeeming his father's death. In Ophelia's case, it goes a bit differently. Ophelia never directly refers to a garden, but in Act 4, Scene 5, she walks around holding onto flowers, which are obviously from a garden. I think the weeds blocking her garden, or happiness in life, are due to her guilt of getting so close to Hamlet even after Polonius strongly advised against it, that she almost feels guilty for her father’s murder. Even though at one point Hamlet contemplated suicide as well, he expressed his emotions in a way of anger, and hate, and even though at one point they may have felt the same emotions, Ophelia felt there was no cure for the weeds in her garden and took her life, whereas Hamlet took on the quest of revenge to un-weed his garden. Essentially, there are two different types of people.
In terms of the play, in Act 1, Scene 1, if Hamlet had never taken the chance of following the ghost of his deceased father, he probably would have never known about his father’s true fate, or Claudius’ betrayal of Hamlet’s father.
In Act 5, Scene 1, Hamlet knowingly risks his life by presenting himself at Ophelia’s funeral in front of Claudius and Laertes. Claudius wanted Hamlet dead because he knew about Claudius’ betrayal of King Hamlet, and Laertes wanted Hamlet dead because Hamlet accidentally killed Polonius thinking it was Claudius. This is truly inspirational because Hamlet risked the probable odds of death just to express his true love for Ophelia and make things right, even though she was already dead. In the end of the play, Hamlet ended up dying due to this choice, but I bet he died without a single regret, and that is the way it should
be.
One of the things that stood out to me was Ophelia’s and Laerte’s strange insestuous relationship. At the beginning of Act 1, Scene 3, when Laertes is ready to set off to France, Laertes and Ophelia talk about writing each other and keeping in touch, which is a normal family interaction. Even saying Hamlet does not really love her could be a normal older brother protective reaction. But, it turns extremely odd when Laertes tells Ophelia not to, “Lose [her] heart, or [her] chaste treasure open/ To [Hamlet’s] unmastered importunity” (I. iii. 31-32) and to only “unmask her beauty to the moon” (I. iii. 37) while he is gone. In this quotation, Laertes is essentially saying that no one else deserves her private parts besides him. After this she responds, “I shall the effect of this good lesson keep . . . Do not, as some ungracious pastors do/ Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven/ Whiles, like a puffed and reckless libertine/ Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads/ And recks not his own rede.” (I. iii. 45-49). In this quotation, Ophelia basically says she won’t as long as he doesn’t have sex with anyone else either. And he responds back “O, fear me not” (52), which means that she does not have to worry, because he won’t. And then they immediately end their passionate conversation as soon as Polonius(their father) walks in. This is further shown in Act 5, Scene 1, during the graveyard scene, when Laertes jumps in the grave to hold her one last time, and then him and hamlet start fighting over who loves her more. Given these weird comments and actions shown between Laertes and Ophelia, there is obviously some sort of love ties between them, even though she is basically supposed to be the innocent, virgin mary of the play. When Laertes sees Ophelia has gone insane over Hamlet actions, such as playing with her head and killing her father, and in a sense even driving her to kill herself, this makes Laertes' negative emotions against Hamlet that much stronger, allowing him to be easierly manipulated by Claudius into dueling Hamlet to the death.
The play uses a garden as imagery for the built up emotions and problems within the characters; however, every character goes about dealing with these problems a bit differently. I believe that in Shakespeare's first soliloquy, the unweeded garden Hamlet speaks of refers to his problems and anger regarding his mother remarrying his uncle so shortly after his father’s passing. Hamlet refers to this new marriage as basically incest, since nearly a month before Claudius was Gertrude’s brother in law. As the weeds grow, so does the hate within it. When Hamlet says, “'Tis an unweeded garden/ That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature” (I. ii. 135-136), I think he is referring to the ugly weeds in his way of truly seeing the beauty and joy behind life. Hamlet is never truly satisfied until everyone sees Claudius for the ugly person he is and he kills Claudius, redeeming his father's death. In Ophelia's case, it goes a bit differently. Ophelia never directly refers to a garden, but in Act 4, Scene 5, she walks around holding onto flowers, which are obviously from a garden. I think the weeds blocking her garden, or happiness in life, are due to her guilt of getting so close to Hamlet even after Polonius strongly advised against it, that she almost feels guilty for her father’s murder. Even though at one point Hamlet contemplated suicide as well, he expressed his emotions in a way of anger, and hate, and even though at one point they may have felt the same emotions, Ophelia felt there was no cure for the weeds in her garden and took her life, whereas Hamlet took on the quest of revenge to un-weed his garden. Essentially, there are two different types of people.