Hamlet Research Paper

“People change for two reasons, it’s either that a person has learned a lot or they have been hurt in some type of way.” As we progress in life, we develop and transition through many different levels of emotion in life. In the Tragic Play, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the author creates multiple scenes of change in moods, showing how the main character, Hamlet’s, undergoes some sort of shift during many of his soliloquies. From the first soliloquy to the seventh, the protagonist changes drastically from being depressed to filled with anger, and then deeply depressed again due to the heartbreaking deaths of his loved ones.

In Act 1 Scene 2, Hamlet was discouraged and was in a melancholy state. In the first soliloquy, the character began to mourn because his father was killed. Hamlet could not understand how people could move on from a tragic death of a loved one. Then he reiterated how life has no value, “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt...how weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!” (I.ii.130-134). First off, Hamlet was enraged with anger and was thinking about suicide, wishing his skin to “melt,” and praying that God himself had not made a sin. In addition, Shakespeare is trying to tell the audience that the world is a garden and it is growing constantly, but sometimes, weeds and consumers may grow in it. Sin is natural, it is displayed in every human being. A death a close family member is never an easy task to overcome, but unfortunately, Hamlet let his emotions steer him down the slope.

In Act 3 Scene 1, Hamlet states what he is feeling in his fourth soliloquy. He was filled with a lot of mixed emotions and started to play mind games with himself. These mind games caused him to be unsure of what his next move will be, “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” (III.i.56-58). Hamlet was beginning to think whether if it is better to live or to die. Contemplating whether to be alive or to kill yourself is not healthy at all. His emotions are leading him downhill as a person, but in society as well. Suicide is not the answer for escaping depression.

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Another example of how Hamlet lets his emotions control him was in the fifth soliloquy which occurs in Act 3 Scene 2. In Hamlet’s opinion, he believes his mother did not care nearly about his father’s death as much as Hamlet did, she was just obsessed with King Claudius. In the scene, he gives a speech before visiting to his mother displaying anger, “I will speak daggers to her, but use none; My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites” (III.ii.356-359). Shakespeare is portraying how enraged Hamlet is by using metaphors such as “speak daggers to her,” showing how he will speak very negatively of her. In the phrase “my tongue and soul...be hypocrites,” mentions that their conversation will strictly be a disagreement and that he will show no forgiveness towards his mother. At the end of the day, Hamlet can keep arguing with himself and his family for not having the same effects as he had on the passing of his father, but his emotions will not help him positively.

To sum things all up, Shakespeare created many different soliloquies to depict the transitions of Hamlet’s mind. The protagonist went from being depressed to filled with rage because of the passing of his father. Even though some characters may not react the same way Hamlet did, he could not let his emotions direct his actions. In his speeches he did not change positively, he just kept drawing himself back.

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