My Experience with Hamlet
I have never enjoyed reading the plays of Shakespeare. Every time we had a Shakespeare unit in English, I would always dread it mainly because I had difficulties in understanding the language and honestly, the characters just seemed delusional. However, the characters may have been this way to better suit the comedic style of the plays which I have studied: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night. It was refreshing to see that we were watching/reading Hamlet this year for a change, and I was interested in what else there was to the play, other than the “To be, or not to be?” soliloquy. The tragedies of Shakespeare just looked more engaging as they felt more ‘real’ as had genuine problems that interested me. There were many aspects of Hamlet that I really liked and they will be further explained as you read on.
At the beginning of our unit, we watched a well-animated video from TED-Ed and answered questions based on the video. For this discussion, I said that “I am looking forward to how Shakespeare depicts Hamlet as the most human character.” After watching various interpretations of Hamlet, his humanity is still the most captivating thing I find about him. Shakespeare portrayed Hamlet as a person who battles with his own mind, to the point where he is constantly torn between thought and action. The overthinking is something that I have not seen in the comedies that I have studied, and this is one of the main reasons why he is considered to be such a complex character.
Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy is a great example as it is the most thought-provoking speech in the play. He explores the consequences of each outcome and decides whether it is worth being alive or dead. This reveals a new side of Hamlet, a softer, more emotional and mature version of himself. Several things are questioned, such as the right course of action and the aftermath of death. At first, he saw death as a more desirable state to be in and says, “To die — to sleep, no more;” (3.1.60–61) Hamlet suggests that dying is simply sleeping but he eventually fears that his memories will haunt him for eternity. He later lists all life’s humiliations: “the oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely…, and the spurns hat patient merit of the unworthy takes” (3.1.71–74). Hamlet doesn’t see a point in living when it seems more ideal to end it all “With a bare bodkin” (3.1.74). After being on the fence for the entirety of the soliloquy, what prevented him from self-slaughter was the uncertainty of the afterlife. Suicide was also considered to be a sin since “His canon [was] ‘gainst self-slaughter” (1.2.132) as it was a form of murder.
Another way he is seen to be so human is by being able to relate to him. I am sure that most people on this Earth have thought about suicide, even if it is not serious, it is still thought about. Even I and many people in my friend group have had the thought and I think the whole bunch of us as very happy people. The way he considers the different outcomes and questions the afterlife is done by most. Hamlet again makes himself relatable when he reveals that he is afraid of dying. Though I doubt Shakespeare intended to make Hamlet relatable in the 2000s, I still find it fairly interesting.
I want to go off-topic for a bit and talk about memorising soliloquies or speeches as a task. Reciting assigned soliloquies did not sound amusing at first, but I soon became aware of the benefits. Reading a certain soliloquy made me have a better understanding of Hamlet’s thought process. In my particular soliloquy (Hamlet’s sixth soliloquy), it was an extremely strong example where there was so much thought behind each action. In my assigned speech, Hamlet saw Claudius praying in a room and initially drew his sword and thought “Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;” (3.3.73) but instantly realises that if he kills Claudius “in the purging of his soul” (3.3.85), he will go straight to heaven. In doing so, Hamlet will not fulfil his aim to seek revenge. Rather, he waits to kill Claudius at a better time, either “When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed” (3.3.89–90).
It demonstrated the depths of Hamlet’s contemplation when it came to carrying out his revenge. It took the audience through his thought process in a very effective manner and it also showed what future plans he had. This soliloquy also makes it clear that Hamlet is constantly delaying his course of action so he can carry out his revenge in the best way possible.
Another thing that interested me was that Hamlet had merged his perception of justice with revenge. However, this was not prevalent throughout the whole entire play. The beginning of the play shows Hamlet being able to differentiate between justice and revenge. His sense of revenge towards Claudius originated from the marriage between Claudius and Gertrude as well as the lack of mourning from Gertrude since Hamlet saw it as an act of betrayal. On the other hand, his sense of justice developed when he found out Claudius had killed Old Hamlet, then he felt the need to avenge his father.
As the play went on, he gradually combines the two and even death itself was not enough for Hamlet to be satisfied. Hamlet was given the chance to kill Claudius in soliloquy six, as mentioned before, but does not take it. “O, this is hire and salary, not revenge” (3.3.79). Death itself is not wanted by Hamlet, and his ideal form of justice and revenge would be eternal suffering and pain. Sending Claudius to heaven would do the complete opposite. His personal needs have corrupted his view of justice and only sees revenge (murder) as his only way to achieve justice.
Some say that the character development of Hamlet was one of the best aspects of the play and I somewhat agree. It was evident that Hamlet had matured as time went on however, I personally thought that he became more irritating as well. What stood out to me the most was the human nature of Hamlet as well as his gradual inability to separate justice and revenge. All in all, I was actually pleased with my experience when studying Hamlet. My teacher made his classes engaging by showing variations of the same play and created fun tasks along the way.
Bibliography
Corum, R. (1998). Understanding Hamlet: a student casebook to issues, sources, and historical documents. United States: Greenwood Press.
Gillespie, I. (2019). Why should you read “Hamlet”? — Iseult Gillespie. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTu39aMg_mU&t=7s.
Mahoney, B. (2015). Determined to prove a villain: Richard III. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/the-almost-complete-works-of-william-shakespeare/determined-to-prove-a-villain-richard-iii-b212bc1f86c3.
Rsc.org.uk. (2017). Tragedies, comedies and histories | Royal Shakespeare Company. [online] Available at: https://www.rsc.org.uk/shakespeares-plays/tragedies-comedies-histories.
www.rsc.org.uk. (n.d.). Hamlet Character Descriptions | Shakespeare Learning Zone | Royal Shakespeare Company. [online] Available at: https://www.rsc.org.uk/shakespeare-learning-zone/hamlet/character/.
