No Compromise In Defense Of Mother Earth!

The obvious motivation for Hamlet’s transformation begins with the death of his father, and gets reinforced when he discovers, through his father’s ghost, that his father was murdered by Claudius, his uncle, who has now become the new king and married his mother. Claudius is correct when he tells Guildenstern and Rosencrantz that nor Hamlets’ interior or exterior are the same, and that there must be more reason behind this transformation than the death of his father.

Internally, Hamlet’s entire world has been shaken. He begins with mourning for his father, and feeling hatred towards his aunt-mother and uncle-father. He feels as though his father has been betrayed, and forgotten. He is in a constant state of anger or misery, and begins contemplating things such as life and death, and the meaning of life. He comes to believe that the reality of mankind is quite distasteful. He becomes possessed with the idea of revenge. We know that Hamlet is highly looked upon, and this must be because he was a kind and loving Prince. Therefore, the fact that Hamlet’s thoughts constantly return to murder is a great change. The thing to note is that there is still much honor and good in the reason behind his revenge. He believes that he must make things right and avenge his father’s death, a great man who was terribly wronged. He wants to restore the justice that has been broken. Although we only hear from others how great he was before, through comparison, we can come to the conclusion that he has suffered quite a large internal transformation, which is very convincing.

His external transformation has posed the question as to whether or not he has lost his mind. To me, it is obvious that he was putting on a show, in one way or another, not only to confuse people, but also because he no longer really respected them and thought nothing of making a fool out of himself, or others around him. His appearance changes in the sense that he almost always wears dark clothing and he often looks sad or crazed with incredible passion in his eyes. As far as his speech goes, it seems like it is constantly a play on words. To others, it is quite scrambled, although there is still meaning within it. He is mostly sarcastic, rude, and mocking when speaking to others, but also goes on tangents, giving passionate speeches. His emotions seem to jump up and down. His actions are also quite strange. At times, they turn to anger. He does “suicidal” acts, such as bravely meeting his father’s ghost. He crazily visits Ophelia when she is in her bedchamber at night and slowly walks away. Mostly, it seems as though his actions are completely unexpected and spontaneous. All in all, whether or not you believe that he is putting on a show, his exterior transformation is very successful and convincing.

Hamlet’s transformation is accepted differently by the people around him. Claudius and Gertrude both believe that Hamlet is crazy, although specifically Claudius questions it at times due to the fact that Hamlet’s words do have sense to them, even though they might be scrambled. Either way, he believes Hamlet to be a threat, and dangerous, and decides to send him away and try to have him killed. This proves that Claudius is convinced that Hamlet has transformed, and that it is for the worst. Gertrude on the other hand is tempted at times to believe that he is not mad, specifically when he tries to tell her the truth behind his father’s death, but is then quickly convinced of the opposite due to Hamlet’s actions, such as talking to a person who she cannot see. She is heartbroken and hurt by her son’s actions. Ophelia believes that he has gone mad from grief as well as heart break. She somewhat blames herself, and is heart broken to see that the man she once loved has been degraded to such a degree. Horatio, knowing the truth, does not believe that Hamlet is mad and might have a better understanding of why he has transformed. It seems that Horatio is more sympathetic towards Hamlet’s state. You can also tell that he is at times a bit worried though, and does not quite understand why Hamlet does some of the things he does. Simply the fact that all of the people who are the closest to him are worried, believe him mad, and do not understand him, are good indications that his transformation is incredibly convincing and successful.

Describe Hamlet’s personal reality using Maslow’s Hierarchy

Due to various events in Prince Hamlet’s life, he is far away from reaching the point of self-actualization.

As far as most his physiological needs go, there are no problems, with the exception of sex. He no longer sees is Ophelia, therefore he is deprived of sex.

Most of the safety needs that can be applied to him have been shattered.

• He no longer has safety of his body, for he at times doubts his own sanity wondering whether or not he has been fooled by the devil. This would tie in to his safety of health as well.
• He no longer has safety of the family, for his father was murdered by his uncle, who married his mother and is now his new father figure. Would you feel safe knowing that your new father murdered your biological one? Hamlet’s family has fallen apart. He no longer even trusts his mother.

The needs of Hamlet which were probably dented the most are love and belonging.

• He no longer trusts any of his friends, for he knows that Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are simply serving the King and Queen and have betrayed him in a sense. They did not come to see him out of their own wills, and were ready to lie about it. To them, serving the King and Queen became more important than their friendship with Hamlet. So much for friendship.
• Hamlet’s family provides him with no love and belonging whatsoever. His father, whom he adored, is dead. He feels betrayed by his mother, and in a sense he has been because she chooses to believe her new husband instead of her own son, thinking he has simply gone mad. In fact, when Hamlet is mourning over the death of his father, there is no comfort given to him, he is simply told that he should move on. Even when Claudius and Gertrude believe him to have lost his mind, they chose to send him away to England instead of try and help him.
• As for sexual intimacy, his lover Ophelia does what she is told when asked to no longer see Hamlet. Because of this, he is completely deprived from any sexual intimacy, and has his heart broken.

His esteem needs have been affected fairly strongly as well.

• He loses respect for the people around him; His mother, Claudius (if there was any to begin with), Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, and the list never ends. He begins to mock people constantly and treat them with no respect whatsoever. There are a few people whom he does treat respectfully, which are the players, an Horatio – and he also respectfully regards Fortinbras and his army, willing to give up their lives to fight for a piece of land worth absolutely nothing.
• He also loses respect from others by acting disrespectfully towards them. A main factor in this is that people believe him to be crazy, and crazy people aren’t usually respected. Claudius is willing to have him killed, his mother betrays him, Ophelia betrays him, he is spied on, his friends discount his intelligence, and it goes on. This is not a way that a respected person would be treated.
• As far as achievements go, Hamlet has one main task on his mind – which is getting revenge and killing Claudius- , and it seems that there are always reasons for him not to achieve this. It keeps on getting pushed, for which he was aware, and it takes a long time before he starts to take matters into his own hands and actually start at least planning to achieve things. There is one good achievement that he had, which was coming up with the idea of the play to find out if the ghost he saw was actually telling the truth. Then, at the end of course, he finally kills Claudius, only he dies shortly after, not having much time to rejoice over his victory.

Question: Did Hamlet truly love Ophelia?

Thesis: Hamlet was truly in love with Ophelia.

Reason: Hamlet’s love for Ophelia is proven by his actions

Ex: He writes her a poem addressed as follows

 “To the celestial, and my soul’s idol, the most beautified Ophelia”. (Shakespeare, 105)

Ex: After not having seen Ophelia for quite some time, Hamlet seeks her in her bedchamber

 “He took me by the wrist and held me hard. Then goes he to the length of all his arm, And, with his other hand thus o’er his brow, He falls to such perusal of my face as he would draw it. Long stayed he so. At last, a little shaking of mine arm And thrice his head thus waving up and down, He raised a sigh so piteous and profound As it did seem to shatter all his bulk And end his being. That done, he lets me go, And, with his head over his shoulder turned, He seemed to find his way without his eyes, For out o’ doors he went without their helps, And to the last bended their light on me”. (Shakespeare, 100)

Reason: Hamlet’s love for Ophelia is proven by his words

Ex: When Ophelia and Hamlet meet in the hall Hamlet expresses the fact that he did love her

“I did love you once”. (Shakespeare, 126)

Ex: When Hamlet discovers that Ophelia is the body that is being put to the grave he strongly expresses his feelings.

“I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers Could not with all their quantity of love Make up my sum.” (Shakespeare, 187)

Reason: Ophelia’s own opinion, as the receiver of this love

Ex: She tells her father in which fashion she as received Hamlets love

“My Lord, he hath importuned me with love In honorable fashion”. (Shakespeare, 84)

Ex: When Ophelia betrays Hamlet, she reflects upon what harm she has done him, which indicates that she believes him to be heartbroken.

“And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, That sucked the honey of his music vows Now see that noble and most sovereign reason Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh; That unmatched form and feature of blown youth Blasted with ecstasy”. (Shakespeare, 127)

Prince Hamlet:

Although the play begins with Old Hamlet already having been murdered, it is obvious that before his father’s death Prince Hamlet lived a very comfortable and stable life. He had his mother, and his father whom he adored and admired greatly. We know that he was very close to Ophelia, that he went to university to study, and that he was very fond of drama. When his father get’s murdered, his entire reality begins to unravel. Firstly he is appalled by the fact that his mother re-married his uncle not even two months after his father’s death. This alone destroys everything that Hamlet used to live by. Claudius is nothing like his father, yet his mother is now willingly with him. He also accuses them of being incestuous. We can see that he is utterly shocked. Also, he does not understand why everyone has finished mourning so early, while his pain is greater than he can express. Then, when he finds out about the murder, things begin to unravel even further. He can now blame someone for destroying everything that was real to him – Claudius. He simply cannot cope with what has happened to him, he loses almost all sense of decency, and vows to have revenge against the man who ruined it all. He eventually becomes completely disenfranchised with man. He no longer pays attention to the woman he once loved, he kills Polonius, and gets sent away by the King… In the end, he is killed by a plan devised by Laertes and Claudius, not before getting his revenge.

Queen Gertrude:

In Queen Gertrude’s reality, what is important is a happy family. She doesn’t understand why her son would be grieving so greatly when he now has a new father to replace the one he just lost. Her family was in tatters for a bit and she made it better by re-marrying another man, making it “whole” again. She does not understand nor share Hamlet’s pain, and does not believe to have betrayed her deceased ex husband. This leads to her loosing any respect from her child, agreeing to have her son sent off to England where he could have been killed, and drinking from a poisoned drink which killed her.

King Claudius:

In King Claudius’s reality, he has killed his brother, taken his throne and his wife, and although he wishes to simply forget about the bad things and move on to being a good king and a good father/uncle to Hamlet, he cannot help but feel that Hamlet is a threat. In his reality, if he does not do something to stop or get rid of the Prince, something terribly wrong will happen. He attempts to have him killed in many ways, by plotting his death in England, by poisoning his drink, and by poisoning a blade. The outcome is that he ends up accidentally killing his wife, and dying at the hand of Hamlet – drinking his own poison. Ultimately, he is the main reason for most things that go wrong in the play.

Polonius:

In Polonius’s reality, all that matters is serving the royal family, and caring for his children (which I believe to still be of secondary importance to serving the throne). He does not want his daughter to be with Hamlet because he is a prince and needs to marry someone of better blood. He believes that the reason behind Hamlet’s madness is his having forbidden Ophelia to see him. His willingness to please the king leads to his aiding in breaking his daughter’s heart, and ultimately getting himself killed. He was so eager to help find out more about Hamlets madness that he was stabbed when spying upon him and Gertrude.

Laertes:

In Laertes’s reality, Hamlet is not to be trusted in the case of his sister. He does not believe that he truly loves her, and therefore tells her to be weary of him. When learning of his father’s death and poor burial, he immediately blames and plots to overthrow the king. When finding out that his father’s true killer is Hamlet, and that his beloved sister has gone crazy due to her father’s death, he plots to kill Hamlet in a battle that was supposed to only be false, with a poisoned blade. In the end, he dies at Hamlet’s hand the same way he killed Hamlet.

Ophelia:

In Ophelia’s reality, Hamlet truly does love her but she must obey her brother and father. She goes against her heart, agreeing not to see her lover and being used by her father and the king to find out what is wrong with Hamlet, betraying him as well. She ends up believing that Hamlet has gone mad. She loses the man she loves, and goes completely insane due to a failure to cope with her father’s death. This also leads to her own death; a possible suicide.

Fortinbras:

Although his father lost fairly to Old Hamlet, Fortinbras is not at all happy with this outcome and attempts to invade Denmark as a way to avenge his father’s death. He almost get’s in serious trouble with his uncle, the new King, and finally gets what he wants in the end –because all the heirs to the throne are dead in Denmark, he claims his right to the kingdom.

The Importance of a Family Unit in Society

Truly functioning family units are of vital importance to society. They provide a place of love, comfort, safety, and much more for a growing child, who will eventually be part of society and affect it in one way or another. Some may believe that most things are innate inside of us, but I believe that things are a product of nurture much more than nature. The type of family unit that you have will almost always affect the person you become when you’re older. The majority of the time, most of the things you learn come from your family. If you are used to abuse, violence, neglect, etc. than this may be the things you come to expect from those around you. If your family unit teaches you good morals and values, then you have higher chances of becoming a better individual. There are always exceptions, but I believe this in most cases to be true.

The type of people we want in society are those who care for others, strive for better things, are honest, respectful, and much more. These are the kind of values you learn in a family unit. Every single person in society comes from some sort of family unit or other, therefore, these have a large impact on society. There are often misconceptions about what a functioning family unit is – many people believe it to be the nuclear family- but I beg to differ. There have been plenty of single parents, adoptive parents, etc. who have successfully created wonderful members of society.

All in all, when people are treated well and taught how to treat others well, they tend to do it. This is why, if functional, a family unit can lead to a very happy and successful society.

Denmark’s Royal Family:

There are many crises which affect Denmark’s royal family. The crisis around which the entire play revolves is that of Old Hamlet’s murder, committed by his own brother, Claudius. One could justify Queen Gertrude’s early remarriage to her deceased husband’s brother as a way to cope with her loss.  In mourning, we are sometimes craving comfort and Claudius might have provided that for her, presenting her at the same time with someone to replace the man she so recently lost. Prince Hamlet at first does not really try to cope with this death. On the contrary, he mourns and believes that he has every reason to do so.  Once he discovers that his father was actually murdered by his uncle, his way to cope is by plotting murder as well as ranting and expressing his emotions in order to relieve himself of his troubles. Another major crisis for the family is that of Gertrude and Claudius’s belief that Hamlet is going mad.  The King and Queen first get his friends to try and find out what is troubling him. Then, when things start getting out of hand, Claudius’s way to cope with this is by plotting and succeeding in having Hamlet murdered, where as Gertrude agrees with what she believes is simply having him “go on vacation”, away from Denmark, risking her son’s life.

Polonius’s Family:

Being advisors to the Royal family, many of that family’s troubles end up affecting this one. Firstly, both Polonius and Ophelia are affected by Hamlet’s obsession with Ophelia. Hamlet’s “unstable” actions towards Ophelia frighten and sadden Ophelia, and trouble Polonius. Then, there is Polonius’s murder. Ophelia does not really cope with this, having first lost her lover, then her father, she simply goes over the edge, that is, she completely loses her mind. In the end, she kills herself. As for Laertes, his way of coping with both his father and his sister’s death is by plotting revenge against Hamlet, whom he believes is to blame by default considering he killed his father, which was the main cause of his sister going mad.

Norway’s Royal Family:

Although barely mentioned in the play, this family also faces a set of crises. The King, Fortinbras is defeated and killed by old Claudius, after making a deal which gave old Hamlet a right to his land. Prince Fortinbras is greatly troubled by this, and as a way to cope basically plots to ignore the agreements made between his father and old Hamlet, and plans an attack against Denmark. His father’s brother, now king, upon hearing of his Nephew’s behavior, is deeply upset. As a way to cope with his anger, he orders for his nephew’s arrest. As a way to cope with this, prince Fortinbras promises never to threaten Denmark again.

The Nuclear Family:

Given that a nuclear family is one composed of a biological mother and father and their children, living in a nice and loving environment, we can easily see that any concepts of such a family are destroyed in Hamlet. Prince Hamlet used to have this nice and stereotypical family, living with his mother and his father, until his uncle murdered his father and married his mother, making prince Hamlet’s uncle his new father figure. When this happens, all things start to unravel.

Although a wife is never mentioned for Polonius, we can assume that at some point the family was composed of Polonius, his wife, and their two children; Laertes and Ophelia. All is well until Polonius is murdered by Hamlet and Ophelia and Laertes both die.

Once again, although no mother is mentioned for Prince Fortinbras, we can assume that there was one, but when Old Fortinbras died, things quickly start going bad. Prince Fortinbras becomes determined to fight for his father’s honor by invading Denmark, even if this means defying his king.

In all situations, the biological father is murdered, no longer being part of the family, therefore destroying any concept of a nuclear family. All things begin to go downhill as these families cease being “nuclear”. It is as though these losses create a lack of love and destroy any sense of family unity, which always leads to no good.