Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is a well-known play by Shakespeare that leaves open questions to the audience to mediate and argue over. Over years, this play has been analyzed many times. In the play, it is made obvious that the main character Hamlet is mentally unstable.
It is easy to see that the main character, Hamlet, is struggling with a mental disorder that perhaps was brought upon him from learning that his uncle murdered his father to take over the throne and marry his mother, Gertrude.
Hamlet is a revenge tragedy. He got too involved in getting revenge, that he caused his mental breakdown. At one point, he was not sure if he was acting or being himself. With his anxiety increasing, he seems to be losing touch with reality.
This play shows a point that revenge, greed, and vanity always leads to downfall by taking over a person’s mind. By him trying to take justice into his own hands, nine people died, including him. His friend, Horatio, is the only one left alive.
At a great cost, his procrastination, lack of empathy, and impulsiveness led to a deadly ending. He thought that everything revolved around him and always putting his needs before others.
Shakespeare is astounding for leaving open questions for the audience to mediate and argue about. Theories after theories are formed about the main character, and that’s the magic of Hamlet. We can say that the play is merely about revenge. But not everyone sees it the same way.
Each individual may think of the play uniquely as it means different things to different people. Although the central theme in this play is loyalty, revenge, and death, Hamlet inspires the audience to wonder what they would do if faced with betrayal, challenges, and mental instability.
Nevertheless, as a result of his bad choices. The minute he decides to get revenge and feigned madness was the moment he loses his true self and leads to self-destruction. The unexpected tragedies in his current life and him not being treated for his mental illness may have triggered his severe behavioral and emotional problems.
It made it even harder to go about his daily life. It is crucial to keep in mind that in the medieval and Renaissance time, an identity was one of the essential aspects to maintain.
In today’s modern society, it is easy to become selfish. Some situations that occurred in the play, such as Claudius obtaining wealth and power by deceiving others, is something that’s faced daily among people.
Just like in Hamlet, in today’s families, we see unsteady relationships that are based merely on money and what may be gained out of each situation.
The main idea that can be gathered from the play is that Hamlet is doesn’t think of anyone else but himself, his obsession with finding out the truth ends up killing every main character in the play, except for Horatio, who is to tell the truth behind the tragic events that took place.
Even upon his death he has no sympathy for the harm his actions have caused, as he is more worried of dying as a hero by obtaining the main goal in the play, revenge over his father’s murder.
