Hamlet Midterm Essay

Klara Sulce

                William Shakespeare’s characters tend to display forth behaviors that one might find evil. In “Hamlet”, Hamlet is seeking revenge and will stop at nothing to avenge his father’s murder.  Some people find his behavior to be sane and merely attempting to cope with the death of his father, whereas others find his actions to be that of an evil man. While some of Hamlet's deeds were cruel, it was not evil that led him to commit such harsh deeds, he was led by duty.

                Upon reflection, Hamlet conducted himself horribly in some scenes of the play. In Act 3, Scene 4 when Hamlet kills Polonius, his words indicate that he thought it was the king hiding behind the arras and so killing him would have fulfilled his father's ghost's request for vengeance. If he had known it was Polonius, he would not have murdered him in such a gruesome way. For he loved his daughter Ophelia and he would not want someone he loves grieving over the death of her father like he once had. He knows how painful the loss of one’s father is.

 Also, in this particular scene, Hamlet is highly incensed because of Claudius' reaction to the play that Hamlet had the actors perform. After all, he's just been shown definitive proof, in his mind, that Claudius killed the king, Hamlet's father. Imagine the hurt, fury, and feelings of betrayal that must be surging through Hamlet at this time. Certainly it was not evil that led Hamlet to act the way he did, it was simply emotion.  Love makes individuals do some crazy things, things that one is not always proud of. 

It is evident that Hamlet is the kind of person who wears his emotions openly and is guided by them from the very beginning of the play, when Claudius and Gertrude both tell him essentially that he needs to get over his father's death and move on.  His love letters to Ophelia are also proof of how highly emotional Hamlet is. There are constant examples of how Hamlet is led by his emotions.  The most "evil" act he engages in is when he changes the letter that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern take to England so that they will be put to death. That is a high price to pay for being pawns in Claudius' game.