Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most important plays in the history of literature, and its main character’s behavior deserves thorough studying. Throughout the book, his state of mind changes and evolves, and it is key to understanding his actions and interactions with other characters. It is essential to analyze his thoughts and mood since they clearly show the reasons behind his decision to kill his father’s murderer.
At the beginning of the play, Hamlet feels frustrated because he is baffled by the actions of his mother, who chose to quickly marry Hamlet’s uncle Claudius after her husband’s death (Shakespeare 16). When the Ghost tells him that his father was killed by Claudius, he does not rush to defend the honor of his father and instead chooses to test the words of the Ghost. He stages a double play recreating a scene of his father’s death to observe the reaction of Claudius, who cannot bear seeing it and leaves, which allows Hamlet to conclude that the Ghost was right. Hamlet avoids killing Claudius in Act 3 because he sees him praying and does not want him to go to heaven. By unknowingly killing Polonius, who stands behind the arras, Hamlet demonstrates his determination to defend himself and his mother.
In his soliloquies, Hamlet criticizes himself for not being passionate about his vengeance and not acting decisively because he fears what may happen to him in his afterlife (Shakespeare 52). When Hamlet reads the letter carried by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern containing an order to kill Hamlet, he decides to leave the two to their death by pirates and heads back home. His interactions with Polonius in Act 2 and with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are quite similar since he does not respect them and feels dismissive of them, deciding to keep them at a distance. At the beginning of Act 5, Hamlet argues about the imminence of death, which demonstrates his state of mind that he is ready to die for his cause.
Hamlet is a play that everyone has to read at least once in their life to see how the feeling of grief can affect a person’s behavior. Hamlet’s state of mind evolves from depressive into decisive, and each time manifests itself in his actions. By soliloquizing and observing his friends and enemies, Hamlet masters control over his emotions and becomes determined to avenge his father.
References
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Bradbury and Evans, 1859. Project Gutenberg, Web.