In the The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare creates a protagonist that is truly dynamic and motivated. Hamlet is determined to complete his revenge on Claudius, intelligent and clever in dealing with other characters, but is brought down by his faith. Throughout the play, Hamlet’s character becomes advanced and developed with his fatal flaw slowly emerging. Each Act allows Hamlet’s character to develop, becoming more advanced and intelligence and slowly builds up to his fatal flaw.
His character is incredibly compelled and devoted in exacting his revenge on Claudius and throughout the play is determined to complete his revenge, but spirals downwards due to conviction in God. Hamlet utilizes a sarcastic tone in order to convey his disappointment and anger with his mother’s new marriage and Claudius taking the throne of his late father. Sarcasm is the protagonist’s default emotion; he disguises his true feelings about his mother and uncle through the use of sarcasm because he does not know how else to express his honest feelings.
The Prince displays his bitterness and displeasement towards all these new changes in his daily life. When Hamlet is talking to Horatio, he refers to the marriage as a way to save money. “Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked meats / Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables,” (1. ji. 179-180). He believes his mother wed Claudius for a financiallystable position, and her decision is illogical but becomes logical through her necessity to maintain the title of the Queen.
When Hamlet speaks to his mother in a sarcastic tone, his harsh criticism allows him to more easily cope with the unfortunate events which have enveloped his life as of recent. In addition, to cope with his mother’s decision, Hamlet states, “Ay, madam, it is common,” (1. ii. 74). He is insulting his mother and her decision to remarry to Claudius so quickly. He calls her a commoner because she was able to so quickly remarry without a second thought or grieving for her husband, something only lower class people did.
His mother, however, is not able to pick up on his rude remark directed towards her. This demonstrates that Hamlet is far more intelligent and clever than his own mother. His sarcastic remarks demonstrates his level of intelligence and the complexity in his character. Act I reveals Hamlet’s agitation and dismal feeling towards his mother and Claudius but in turn reveals how witty and bright He truly is. Hamlet’s feelings towards his mother and Claudius, lead him to contriving a plan– faking his insanity– to find out whether or not Claudius did in fact murder King Hamlet.
Although to outsiders it may seem as though the protagonist is going insane, he is as sane as he can be. Hamlet uses his intelligence and wit to trick people into believing he has gone hysterical. His decision to fake his insanity is part of the protagonist’s objective to seek revenge because if the plan fails, insanity is his backup reason. Hamlet even admits that he is not crazy to multiple people, but when he discloses this information to his friends and family members, they are not able to understand his situation and comprehend the real reason for his insanity.
When Hamlet is talking to Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, he says, “I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, / I know a hawk from a handsaw” (II. ji. 364-365). He simply tells them that he is able to differentiate reality from insanity, and that he is only crazy when it is necessary. However, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are not able to pick up on his hints; this demonstrates how Hamlet’s intelligence exceeds Guildenstern’s and Rosencrantz’s. In addition, the young Prince’s crafty tongue exemplifies his wittiness contrasting the other characters’ obliviousness.
Near the end of Act II, Hamlet informs the players of his plan: “The play’s the thing / Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king” (I1. ii. 583-584). He announces that he is adding an extra scene into the play to see whether or not his uncle murdered his dad. These lines unveil Hamlet’s reason for faking his insanity; he is only fabricating his insanity in hopes of getting his uncle to admit that he killed his father. The audience now sees his real reason for faking his insanity and how it will benefit his end goal.
Since Hamlet is revealing his plan, the audience is able to see how cunning and conniving he is because he is able to thoroughly think this plan through. Act II reveals how brilliant and sharp his mind is because he goes from being depressed and sarcastic in Act I to coming up with a plan to find his father’s killer. Most importantly, it reveals to the audience his dedication to his mission, and his love and loyalty to his late father. Hamlet faking his insanity could lead to suicidal thinking because his insanity will slowly fade into his personality which will lead him to becoming depressed and edging towards suicidal thought.
Hamlet beings to edge towards suicidal thoughts and into a depressed state due to his emotions fluctuating up and down. His emotions waver and he often ponders about his life and whether it is worth living anymore, but he has no intention of following through with his plan. He often wonders if everything he is doing is worth it anymore and has a very negative view point in his own life because he believes that he cannot amount to anything.
Throughout Act III, Hae drops hints to his friends and family that he is considering suicide. “Sir, I lack advancement” (III. ii. 15), here Hamlet is truly questioning his life. He is saying that he see no future for him because he is having suicidal thoughts. Hamlet is in this state-of-mind because he believes that he cannot achieve anything. Hamlet wanting to follow through with his suicidal thoughts reveals his depressed and dejected feelings. While this may show that Hamlet is considering suicide, it does not show that he has any intention about following through with it. He is simply stating that he sees no future for himself, not that he has a plan already intact for ending his life.
Hamlet’s suicidal thoughts are merely thoughts, nothing else. He does not have the ability to commit suicide because of his fear of what the afterlife holds and God’s judgement. “The undiscovered country from whose bourn No traveler returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ill we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all” (II. 1. 80-84) Hamlet could have committed suicide in Act I, when he found out about his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle, but he did not follow through with it because he has a fear of what the afterlife hold for him..
The afterlife is unknown and no mortal dares to approach the afterlife until they must. He does not want to commit suicide because not only does Hamlet not know what the afterlife holds, he is afraid of God’s judgment. It is looked down in Christianity to commit suicide. Hamlet is slowly slipping into a depressed state and is becoming despondent towards his own life, he will not commit suicide due to his religion and belief in God. As Hamlet’s emotions continue to waver, his path to revenge becomes bumpy and rocky.
