Example research essay topic: Horatio And Marcellus Kill The King - 1,496 words

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Hamlets Melancholy accounts for his depressed, pensive, and sometimes hot-tempered disposition. In no way is Hamlet apathetic or lethargic; he merely hesitates. This hesitation is not due to a bestial oblivion, as the critic suggests, but to his thinking too precisely, which is that pensiveness that makes him melancholy. The author of the criticism states that Hamlet is apathetic or lethargic. On the contrary, he shows great emotion throughout the play. In fact, he intentionally exaggerates and fakes his emotions.

Hamlet puts on a mad-act (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet / To put on an antic disposition (I. v. 171 - 172) ) and goes around the castle talking in discombobulated phrases and acting, at times, quite insane. This includes two instances with Ophelia, the first of which takes place off stage. Hamlet, nearly undressed, approaches Ophelia, grabs her, looks over her, and without a word, leaves the room, still looking back at her. Secondly, after the To be, or not to be soliloquy, Hamlet notices Ophelia. He makes harsh and lewd remarks that he would have never made if he werent pretending (and we know he is).

Besides providing false emotions, this mad-act provides a cover for Hamlets real emotions, which come out all at once as soon as he is left alone. Thus, from all of this, there is no way to see Hamlet as apathetic. The statement that Hamlet is lethargic must be refuted as well. Once Hamlet has convinced himself that it is right to act, and kill the King, he overacts, killing Polonius, thinking he was the King. Also, in most nearly every instance he appears, he is always doing something constructive, something that should aid him in his revenge, whether it actually does or not. As to the several months that are not included in the play, one can only assume that Hamlets state of mild action is consistent with what is in the play.

Throughout the whole play, there are instances of Hamlets depression. The first time the viewer sees Hamlet in the play, he is a somber, silent figure in the midst of a gay spectacle, and is clad in garb of deepest mourning. His mother tells him to cast thy night color off and reminds him that all that lives must die. (I. ii. 68 &# 038; 72) Hamlets depression is evident again just after the Ghost leaves him, and just before Horatio and Marcellus arrive: O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else?

And shall I couple hell? O fie! Hold, hold, my heart, And you, my sinews, grow not instant old, But bear me stiffly up. (I. v. 92 - 95) Also, in the famous To be, or not to be soliloquy, Hamlet meditates on the possibility of suicide: To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them. (III.

i. 56 - 60) It could only be his deep depression that causes him to consider such a thing. Quite a few instances of outrage that display Hamlets hot temper are present in the play. In Hamlets first soliloquy, he is left alone to vent his rage. He compares Claudius to a sex-hungry satyr, and is equally upset with his mother. The fact that his mother has married again so quickly, not to mention with her brother-in-law angers Hamlet: O most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets (I. ii. 156 - 157).

Also, much later, he explodes in anger at Claudius: A murderer and a villain, A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe Of your precedent lord, a vice of kings, A cutpurse of the empire and the rule, That from a shelf the precious diadem stole And put it in his pocket (III. iv. 97 - 102) Hamlets pensiveness or thinking too precisely on thereat, as he puts it, leads to his hesitation. The first example of this is Hamlets mad-act mentioned earlier. Hamlet, as an educated man, needs to think his situation out first. A delaying tactic now occurs to him; he makes Horatio and Marcellus swear never to refer to what has just occurred (the Ghost appearing), no matter how Hamlet himself acts. Hamlet then warns them that his actions may seem odd.

Hamlets pensiveness again leads to hesitation when the players come to perform. Hamlet devises a plan to force the king to confess the murder have heard that guilty creatures sitting at a play Have by the very cunning of the scene Been struck so to the soul that presently They have proclaimed their malefactions. (II. ii. 601 - 604) Hamlet is thinking ahead once again. If Hamlet just went right in and killed, his life would be over as well. When Hamlet decided against suicide in the To be, or not to be soliloquy, he meant this sort of virtual suicide as well. This play within the play serves a second purpose.

Hamlet is doubtful concerning the ghost; his instinct tells him to believe, but his pensive nature tells him to check it out first: The spirit that I have seen May be a devil, and the devil hath power Tissue a pleasing shape (II. ii. 610 - 612) The best example of pensiveness and hesitation in the play occurs when Hamlet walks in on Claudius while he is praying. At this point, Hamlets plan has worked: the whole court witnessed Claudius reaction to the play. One sword thrust and he will have it allot revenge and the throne. But Hamlets pensiveness interferes. The king is praying; to kill him now in such a holy task would send him to heaven.

Hamlet muses: A villain kills my father, and for that I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge. (III. iii. 76 - 79) Thus, Hamlet refrains from the deed. He will wait until the king is at some profane activity. Hamlets pensiveness and hesitation end at the soliloquy in act four, scene four. His plan is now failing; Claudius is sending him to be executed in England. He puts the blame on some craven scruple / Of thinking too precisely on thereat (IV.

iv. 40 - 41). Now he is through with intricate plotting and cries out in agony, O, from this time forth, / My thoughts be bloody or nothing worth! (IV. iv. 42 - 44) The critic states that Hamlets hesitation is not a result of a bestial oblivion, and that Hamlet complains about this forgetfulness throughout the greater part of that soliloquy. Both thoughts are wrong. Perhaps what the critic is referring to as the greater part is the section in which Hamlet is comparing himself to an animal. This section finishes with the phrase bestial oblivion, and is the first mention of forgetfulness.

Obviously, Hamlet is not a beast; in fact he is quite intelligent. As in other soliloquies, hes just being hard on himself, and letting a lot of frustration out that he would never have been able to with other people around. At this point, Hamlet is so frustrated with his unsuccessful ness that he considers all of his plots never to have happened. Hamlet then moves on, and mentions his thinking too precisely on thereat, which dominates the rest of the soliloquy. The critic also points out that in another soliloquy Hamlet accuses himself of being a dull and muddy-mottled rascal, indifferent to his cause. Once again, Hamlet is left alone and is allowed to let himself go, but as above he loses some control over himself.

He is bitter that an actor can allow himself to weep, whereas Hamlet can do nothing more than play mad. It is in the midst of this loss of control and berating of himself that he speaks those words. And later, within the same soliloquy, he develops a plan that does lead to helpful results. The critic also mentions the Ghost saying, thy purpose is blunted. This is more easily understood in context.

Hamlet has just got what hes wanted: a reason to kill the King. Hes even had the opportunity, but decided to wait for a better one. In the meantime he decides to talk with his mother. She gets him so worked up that he kills Polonius without even thinking. Then he continues to vehemently denounce the relationship between Claudius and Gertrude.

Then, the Ghost enters. Hamlet, in his anger, has temporarily forgotten reality, and the ghost has come to bring him back to that. In conclusion, there are three things that make Hamlet melancholy: his depression, his hot temper, and his pensiveness. The latter accounts for his chronic hesitation. On the other hand, Hamlet is in no way apathetic or lethargic, and he doesnt hesitate because hes forgotten his duty.

Research essay sample on Horatio And Marcellus Kill The King