Pelletier 1

Oliver Pelletier

ERWC 12

Mrs.Jewell

17 March 2022

Hamlet’s Despair

In Shakespeare's Hamlet the protagonist Hamlet goes through a lot. His character is

expertly developed through Shakespearean tragedy. The death of his father and his uncle,

Newly King Claudius, taking over traumatizes Hamlet just as it would any of the readers. In this

emotional shock of a situation Claudius shows how cruel and selfish he can be. In Hamlet as

Caudius’s character comes to power we can see how Hamlet’s character devolves into

madness.

In Act one of the play we see the new kings address to the kingdom. In this we see King

Claudius put on a brave and confident face. Claudius starts this speech with “Though yet of

Hamlet our dear brother’s death the memory be green, and that it us befitted to bear our hearts

in grief, and our whole kingdom to be contracted in one brow of woe”. Through this monologue

we get to see the king's facade. This change in personality aggravates Hamlet and makes him

an emotional mess because Claudius is truly becoming king for selfish reasons. Claudius has

created an environment where Prince Hamlet will have a lifelong hatred for his parents because

Prince Hamlet suspects Claudius of killing the king and hates his mother for remarrying to her

brother in law. We can truly see Claudius’s true colors in the next scene when he says “Of

impious stubbornness. ‘Tis unmanly grief; It shows a will most most incorrect to heaven.”(Act 1

lines 98-100). This quote shows Claudius insulting Prince Hamlet in his grieving; this amplifies

Prince Hamlet's anger and sorrow.

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Another point Prince Hamlet struggles with is when he encounters his fathers ghost and

he says “ Murder most foul, as in the best it is, but this most foul, strange, and unnatural.” Prince

Hamlet finds out in this moment that in fact his father was murdered by Claudius, from this point

on Prince Hamlet is falling into despair unknowing what to do about the situation he’s in. The

ghost of his father doesn't want Hamlet to hold his mother accountable for her sins but that

leaves Prince Hamlet in a situation with a ton of anger and nowhere to vent that anger. With all

this pent up emotion Hamlet is trapped in a situation where he's angry at everything. Hamlet is

trapped in this void of despair.

In act three Prince Hamlet is over with this situation. He does not know if he wants to go

on or if he should stay alive if only not to be eternally damned. He says “To be or not to be that

is the question” (Act 3 Line 64) This line implies Prince Hamlet contemplating life and death

whether it's worth staying in the world he lives in after all the ways he's been slighted. After all

the pain and suffering Prince Hamlet has been through it's easy to see how Prince Hamlet has

come to this point. After Prince Hamlet performs his famous soliloquy His main love interest

enters the room to give him back the gifts he once had given to her. This was just adding fuel to

the fire on top of being frustrated with everything in his life; this was the last straw. Prince

Hamlet responded with “That if you to be honest and fair (Your honesty) should admit no

discourse to you beauty”. This quote is Hamlet insulting Ophelia as a way of venting his anger;

he is sad, angry, and distressed and Ophelia's actions have pushed Prince Hamlet over the

edge making him snap at her.

Over the course of Hamlet we get to see how claudius’ actions affected Prince Hamlet

driving him to madness and distress over the course of this heart wrenching Shakespearean

play. As a viewer/reader we get to witness the expert crafting of a Shakespearean tragedy. The

character development of Prince Hamlet is astounding and will be remembered throughout

history.
 Work Cited

Shakespeare, WIlliam.Hamlet.New York:Simon and Schuster, 2012.