Shakespeare, Hamlet play author, demonstrates numerous complexities of mankind’s situation through the experience of King Claudius, Hamlet, and more characters such as Gertrude. The whole story is about revenge. However, the reasons that led Hamlet to seek vengeance reveal the nature of mankind, particularly Claudius’s greed and selfishness. To achieve personal goals people, tend to engage in various senseless activities. These senseless like greed and selfishness are what we refer to as human complexities. In simpler terms, a complex person is one who undergoes perilous situations that are not conclusive and this is caused by their distinct choices and perceptions. Hamlet’s play has numerous scenes that optimize the complexities of mankind’s nature. Shakespeare, therefore, conveys mankind’s situations in a unique way through indecisiveness, fatalistic views, and dramatic characterization.
Shakespeare uses a number of literary devices to come up with complex personalities in Hamlet’s character. The author describes Hamlet as a person with a habit of postponing things above being unsure as stated by Sosnowska (2018). Hamlet takes a lot of time to decide whether the ghosts are real or just satanic illusions to influence him to make wrong decisions. Similarly, Shakespeare uses things like ghosts and clothing to illustrate numerous catastrophes in people’s lives. Hamlet has made many difficult plans that are ambiguous at the end. When Hamlet loses his mind all these things are not apparent which explains the feeling of controversy that Hamlet is experiencing.
Similarly, Shakespeare uses women as a symbol of explaining the complexity of humanity in society. When interacting with women in the play, Hamlet exhibits frantic behaviors. When his mother asks him to remarry, Hamlet disagrees with her and he argues that it’s not right and that it was a hurried decision. He argues that his mother’s idea shows that she did not love his mother. He describes his secret admirer Ophelia as a bother when he starts acting mad as stated by (Muno 2011). He terms Gertrude, Claudius, Polonius, and Ophelia as his enemies. It’s still difficult to comprehend why Hamlet hates women so much and why Shakespeare characterizes women as the complexity of the nature of mankind’s condition.
To conclude, Shakespeare uses King Claudius’s character to show the selfish character of people. Claudius kills his own brother in the play so as to ascend o the throne. This is a selfish act steered by greed. The king was a noble person who didn’t deserve to die n the hands of a selfish person. This shows that human beings can engage in stupid acts n order to fulfill their selfish desires and ambitions. This leads us to conclude that people are narcissistic and all they care about is their own interests. In contrast, different situations can trigger different emotional, physical, or psychological reactions. It’s therefore difficult to conclude how people will react when dealing with their problems or challenges. This can lead to the conclusion that human conditions are complex and they vary from one person to another. What makes one person react in a harsh way can also make another person reason in an upright manner. Others take time to think over situations but also can make haste and ambiguous decisions just like Hamlet.
References
Lessa De Oliveira, M. (2018). Was Hamlet Really Mad? The Function Of Shakespeare S Hamlet In Brian Friel S Volunteers. Traducao Em Revista, 2018(25)
Munro, L (2011). Shakespeare and the uses of the past. Critical approaches and current debates. Shakespeare, 7(1), 102-125.
Sosnowska, M. (2018). Shakespeare’s Hamlet/Hamlet, Shakespeare 3.0 and tugged Hamlet, the comic prince of the polish cabaret POTEM. Multicultural Shakespeare. Translation, Appropriation, and Performance, 17(32), 81-93.
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