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Hamlet Why Shakespeare's Title Character Term Paper

Pages:5 (1682 words)

Sources:4

Subject:Literature

Topic:Hamlet

Document Type:Term Paper

Document:#32181910


Hamlet's enigmatic behavior so upsets Ophelia that she drowns herself, making Laertes even more set on revenge. Eventually these two deaths lead to a duel (provoked by Claudius) between Hamlet and Laertes, No one wins.

Laertes kills Hamlet with a poison-tipped sword; Hamlet kills Laertes. Gertrude drinks poison intended by Claudius for Hamlet. Hamlet, dying and seeing his mother already dead, forces the remaining poison down Claudius's throat. Conrad suggests that even with all of his flaws, including extreme procrastination, Hamlet is "essentially courageous" (680). Ultimately then, due either directly or indirectly to Hamlet's failure to act sooner and more decisively in avenging his father's death, everyone, yet no one, is avenged.

The catalyst for the tragic events that take place within Shakespeare's Hamlet is the title character's indecisiveness, leading to an unfortunate series of ill-timed; poorly executed events ultimately resulting in many deaths, most importantly that of Hamlet himself.

But at least Hamlet dies able to finally discern the truth behind his father's mysterious unnatural death. I concur with Utter that Hamlet.".. is put to a supreme test of character and in the end triumphed... (138)." After all, had Hamlet not hesitated to kill Claudius, the accuracy of his revenge and therefore his very worthiness as his father's son would never have been absolutely known to him or others.

Works Cited

Conrad, Bernard R. "Hamlet's Delay -- a Restatement of the Problem." PMLA, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Sep., 1926) 680-687.

Eliot, T.S. "Hamlet and his Problems." The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism.

London: Methuen, 1922. 74-88.

Lawall, Sarah, et al. "William Shakespeare 1564-1616." The Norton Anthology of World

Literature, Vol. C (Pkg. 1). New York: Norton, 2002. 2821-2825.

Levy, Eric P. "The Mind of Man in Hamlet." Renascence. July 1, 2002. 219-223.

McCloskey, John C. "Hamlet's Quest of Certainty." College English, Vol. 2, No. 5 (Feb. 1941)

McCullen, Joseph T. Jr. "Hamlet the Avenger." The News Bulletin of the Rocky Mountain

Modern Language Association, Vol. 9, No. 3. (May 1956) 5-6.

Reed, Robert R., Jr. "Hamlet, the Pseudo-Procrastinator." Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 2. (Spring 1958) 177-186.

Russell, John. Hamlet and Narcissus. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1995. 72.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. In the Norton Anthology of World…


Sample Source(s) Used

Works Cited

Conrad, Bernard R. "Hamlet's Delay -- a Restatement of the Problem." PMLA, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Sep., 1926) 680-687.

Eliot, T.S. "Hamlet and his Problems." The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism.

London: Methuen, 1922. 74-88.

Lawall, Sarah, et al. "William Shakespeare 1564-1616." The Norton Anthology of World

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