The two passages I chose from Hamlet are from Act 1 and Act 3. The first is spoken by the ghost of King Hamlet; the ghost tells Hamlet to revenge his murder by Claudius, lamenting how Claudius condemned him to Purgatory by murdering him before he had a chance to repent his sins. Within this monologue, love and revenge are the main themes, specifically revenge for the murder of a loved one.
The second monologue is spoken by Hamlet in the scene after Claudius stops the play and leaves. On his way to his mother’s chambers, Hamlet comes across Claudius praying. As he contemplates killing Claudius to revenge his father, Hamlet fears that killing Claudius while the king prays will result in a direct passage to Heaven for Claudius. Considering …show more content…
Both Hamlet and MacDuff wish to avenge the death of a loved one: Hamlet lost his father, and MacDuff lost his family. Hamlet vows to revenge his father when his ghost appears and tells Hamlet of his murder by the hands his brother Claudius. MacDuff learns from a messenger that MacBeth has murdered his family. However, the two characters differ when analyzed under the lenses of “manhood”. In Shakespearean plays, manhood is often portrayed as the courage to fight for those you love, and revenge - as in the context of these two monologues - is a way to prove one’s manhood. While MacDuff wastes no time wiping away tears and heading off to Scotland to proceed to kill Macbeth, Hamlet continually puts off his revenge with bizarre plans such as acting crazy or putting on plays that parallel King Hamlet’s death in hopes of bringing forth Claudius’s conscience. In his monologue from Act 3, Hamlet stumbles upon a perfect opportunity to kill Claudius. Although there’s situational irony when Claudius reveals his prayer was unsuccessful and Hamlet had nothing to worry about in terms of Claudius going to Heaven, Hamlet’s decision to go yell at his mother instead show that perhaps Hamlet lacks the courage to revenge his father and does not possess the traits of
The second monologue is spoken by Hamlet in the scene after Claudius stops the play and leaves. On his way to his mother’s chambers, Hamlet comes across Claudius praying. As he contemplates killing Claudius to revenge his father, Hamlet fears that killing Claudius while the king prays will result in a direct passage to Heaven for Claudius. Considering …show more content…
Both Hamlet and MacDuff wish to avenge the death of a loved one: Hamlet lost his father, and MacDuff lost his family. Hamlet vows to revenge his father when his ghost appears and tells Hamlet of his murder by the hands his brother Claudius. MacDuff learns from a messenger that MacBeth has murdered his family. However, the two characters differ when analyzed under the lenses of “manhood”. In Shakespearean plays, manhood is often portrayed as the courage to fight for those you love, and revenge - as in the context of these two monologues - is a way to prove one’s manhood. While MacDuff wastes no time wiping away tears and heading off to Scotland to proceed to kill Macbeth, Hamlet continually puts off his revenge with bizarre plans such as acting crazy or putting on plays that parallel King Hamlet’s death in hopes of bringing forth Claudius’s conscience. In his monologue from Act 3, Hamlet stumbles upon a perfect opportunity to kill Claudius. Although there’s situational irony when Claudius reveals his prayer was unsuccessful and Hamlet had nothing to worry about in terms of Claudius going to Heaven, Hamlet’s decision to go yell at his mother instead show that perhaps Hamlet lacks the courage to revenge his father and does not possess the traits of