Hamlet And David Hume

Many directors choose to make many different decisions when producing their version of Hamlet. Every actor portrays the character Hamlet in several ways making each version almost a new story. Mel Gibson's 1990 version and the 2009 David Tennant films are very different in style, scene omissions and several other aspects.

William Shakespeare once said that “brevity is the soul of wit.” This is heavily evident in regards to Hamlet and all of his short, witty comments throughout the play. In Act I Scene II Hamlet 's wit comes out in full force during a discussion with his mother, Gertrude, and his uncle/stepfather, Claudius, with Hamlet’s very first words in the play:

The tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most popular and greatest tragedy, presents his genius as a playwright and includes many numbers of themes and literary techniques. In all tragedies, the main character, called a tragic hero, suffers and usually dies at the end. Prince Hamlet is a model example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Every tragedy must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero must own many good traits, but has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. If not for this tragic flaw, the hero would be able to survive at the end of the play. A tragic hero must have free will and also have the characteristics of being brave and noble. In addition, the audience must feel some sympathy for the tragic hero.

Throughout the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, the main character is given the overwhelming responsibility of avenging his father’s "foul and most unnatural murder" (I.iv.36). Such a burden can slowly drive a man off the deep end psychologically. Because of this, Hamlet’s disposition is extremely inconsistent and erratic throughout the play. At times he shows signs of uncontrollable insanity. Whenever he interacts with the characters he is wild, crazy, and plays a fool. At other times, he exemplifies intelligence and method in his madness. In instances when he is alone or with Horatio, he is civilized and sane. Hamlet goes through different stages of insanity throughout the story, but his neurotic and skeptical personality amplifies his

  Hamlet feels that if he is to kill Claudius at a time when he is praying then he will go to heaven, and Hamlet does not want that so he decides not to kill him. Hamlet wants Claudius to suffer for what he has done to his father. But may be Hamlet chose the wrong decision because when he finally decides to kill Claudius he too suffers as well. In Act 5, scene 2 Laertes, the son of Polonius challenges Hamlet to a dual. Hamlet agrees to the dual because he does not want to be

Hamlet with a fragile mind as it is with the death of his father and the the commitment made by both his mother and his uncle has been told of a ghost sighting outside of elsinore by the guards of Denmark. He is then asked to watch upon the night to see if it is or is not the ghost of his late father. With everything that has been going on in Hamlet’s life is he prepared to encounter such a paranormal event; or, is he not in the right state of mind to acknowledge and comprehend his late father’s ghost and the request he makes to Hamlet? The ghost sighting could even just be an allusion to the start of Hamlet’s madness.

Weight, height, awkwardness or other, societal pressures and standards have people struggling with insecurities and suppressed actions. Humans always have a flaw in themselves that they will repress. With this, they believe it is gone forever until something traumatizing will bring it out. Stress and shock from the event will be so intense that there is no time to consider the societal expectations. The one common thing all humans can agree on is the need for love and recognition.

Although the famous Shakespearian play, Hamlet, was written many years ago during a time that may be in great contrast to today’s, it is quite astonishing how many morals in Hamlet compare to those of today’s society. In this play, there are many different themes and morals that present themselves that are not only important to the plot line of the script, but they also allude to things we believe in today. For instance, revenge, lust and madness are all examples of themes that are in Hamlet. Revenge was present between Prince Hamlet and his uncle, King Claudius. At the beginning of the play we learn that Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, was killed by his own brother.

such things that he can then begin understand his true reality. Descartes starts by looking

1. “King: But now, my cousin Hamlet and my son— Hamlet (aside): A little more than kin and less than kind. King: How is it that the clouds still hang on you?

act of revenge and waits for the ideal moment to avenge his father’s murder. He

Over many years after the play “Hamlet” was written by Shakespeare, people have directed the play in many different ways depending on the time period and directors.

In the play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, Prince Hamlet uses many double meaning phrases to speak his mind to the audience and the other characters in the play. "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw" (II.ii.387-8). This is a classic example of the "wild and whirling words" with which Hamlet hopes to persuade people to believe that he is mad. These words, however, prove that beneath his "antic disposition," Hamlet is very sane indeed. Beneath his strange choice of imagery involving points of the compass, the weather, and hunting birds, he is announcing that he is calculatedly choosing the times when to appear mad. “Hamlet feigns

     "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a

Violence and evil played a huge role in Hamlet, which begins with his mother, Gertrude. At first glance, the Queen seems to be just another innocent bystander who expresses her grief at the loss of the King, but as the play develops, and Hamlet is filled in on the details of the Queen’s treachery, the depiction of Gertrude changes dramatically. Though Gertrude does not come out directly and kill the King of Denmark, her role in the death of the King of Denmark drives a huge wedge right between her pure innocence and her unequivocal betrayal. Hamlet believes at first that Claudius is the sole assassinator of his Father. Later, through the Ghost of the King of Denmark, Hamlet comes to understand the role of his own Mother in the treachery. In other words, her infidelity of marriage to the King is a direct consequence of her having fallen in love with Claudius, the King’s brother. Another aspect of Gertrude is that there is some doubt that when she begs of Hamlet in the Third Act to remember her as his Mother, whether she is acting the role of Mother or as an aid to Claudius. (Stone, 71) Recent studies question whether or not Gertrude is supposed to be understood as a Queen Mother or taking on the role of an androgynous character, which is neither male nor female. (Stone) Despite the vast amount of evidence stating that Gertrude was a co-conspirator to the death of the King, some modern scholars choose to paint a compassionate picture of Gertrude. (Smith, 194) They choose to