Hamlet essay

Hamlet essay
       In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare creates complex characters that are at first difficult to decipher. Through close examination of each character we can conclude there is a method to Shakespeare’s madness, and we all are more like Hamlet then we could have expected. Many sites, that are meant to help people read Hamlet easily, just wind up giving us the answer that Hamlet himself is crazy. Instead of just taking their word for it us, as a class, questioned it and decided that maybe Hamlet isn’t crazy, his character is just misread constantly throughout the play.

         In the “Performative Utterance” by de Boer we learn that Hamlets “madness” is something that can be easily questioned. Hamlet makes quick witty reactions to things, which lead us to believe he is sane, and can make logical decisions. De Boer questions whether or not Hamlet has problems with his locutionary force (unable to act on an action). When we relate this back to the play we begin to realize that maybe Hamlet just had an odd way of expressing himself. Today we don’t call the people with locutionary force problems insane, we just classify them as shy and reserved individuals. It is difficult to believe Hamlet to be “mad” when you think about his character in this way. Believing Hamlet to be “mad” would almost be like calling every individual mad who ever had a problem expressing themselves.

        Speech is something that doesn’t portray Hamlet as crazy in any way. When we read his soliloquies they are full of emotion and depth. In “to be or not to be” he is fully aware of everything and we can really see how sane he is in it. Memorizing this soliloquy allowed us to see Hamlet as a different character for the first time. It gave us a better understanding that the things going on in his mind aren’t “mad” they are just normal thoughts everyone may have on the matter.

         Comparing Hamlet to people today allows us to see that although Hamlet is hundreds of years old he is a complex character that is very relatable to everyone. My thoughts run me back to the question of did Shakespeare want Hamlet to be relatable to the common people for generations to come? I think the answer is yes, and no. Hamlet is a man who wants to get revenge for his father’s death, which any person would rightly want to accomplish if their father was poisoned. On the other hand Hamlet is a Prince, and it is pointed out many times throughout the play, which makes me skeptical whether he meant to be relatable or not. Hamlet is meant for the audience to be wondering and maybe even be confused at the end, and Shakespeare does a good job at confusing his audience as the play goes on, which allows you to remain thinking about the play even when you aren’t watching/reading.
    
      Hamlet, and Hamlet the character are both very complex, and it takes looking back a couple times to try and understand certain characters actions. Even though this play took place so many years ago, many character’s, especially Hamlet, are relatable to aspects of people’s lives. Through discussions, essays/articles, Sparknotes, and reading the play itself we can gain many different perceptions of the character Hamlet. My understanding of Hamlet is that he is just a man who doesn’t know how to express himself, and this is why many people perceive him as mad. In the end we can all be considered mad if we think about it, we aren’t much different from Hamlet himself.