Meditative and Passionate Responses in Hamlet - Essay Example

MEDITATIVE AND PASSIONATE RESPONSES IN HAMLET The story Hamlet by William Shakespeare is one of many twists and turns. It is also known as The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. It is dosed with instances of both passionate and meditative responses. Hamlet, being the protagonist in this narrative, voices his opinion concerning the responses that are either passionate or meditative. This paper examines the meditative and passionate responses that are exhibited by characters in this narrative. It then goes ahead to discuss what hamlet says about the responses in issue. Meditative Responses Hamlet, on returning home from school in Wittenberg, buries his father, and witnesses his mother getting remarried. When time to return to school is due, the new king asks him not to. This is a meditative response by the newly crowned King Claudius concerning Hamlet resuming his studies. He responds with simple consent since it is his mother’s wish for him to remain. In my view, hamlet does this so as to avoid conflict with his mother. Judging from his disposition concerning the marriage of his mote rot Claudius who is now King of Denmark, Hamlet is not pleased. The king and his mother both want him to stay on for their personal reasons, but he gives in so as to avoid instances of conflict (Shakespeare). Queen Gertrude considers the remorse that her son feels for his father’s passing on. She asks him if he knows not that “all lives must die.” In his soliloquy, Hamlet asks himself, “Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him.”(Act 1, Scene II) When his mother queries him about his sadness that is still evident, he takes the time to think about her response. According to him, his father dearly loved his mother, and she ought to have felt this sadness more than he did. I believe that Hamlet would not have been so distraught if his mother had waited a little longer before getting married. Horatio, after seeing the ghost of the late King one night as he is on guard, is not quick in telling the prince. He, however, later on tells him of what he saw. Horatio had taken time to meditate on the issue before telling his friend Hamlet about it. Hamlet in response to this revelation, illustrates his admiration for the virtue of silence concerning the matter. He tells Horatio, “If you have hitherto conceal’d this sight/ Let it be tenable n your silence still;” He implores Horatio and his colleagues that whatever else they observe, they should only give it understanding, but utter no words concerning it (Shakespeare). This response by Hamlet is motivated by doubt. In considering this matter, Hamlet suspects foul play. In order to lay his doubts to rest, he decides that he will follow the issue up to prove whether the report he has received is true or not. It is necessary to note that when Horatio is present, Hamlet does not shut him down immediately. He gives him time to voice his opinion. He is in a way, saying that silence is an important virtue when dealing with sensitive matters. Hamlet is not happy with the fact that his mother got married to Claudius so soon after his demise. This is made evident when he says that “A little month, or ere those shoes were old/With which she follow’d my poor father’s body.” Hamlet is clearly not against the remarrying of his mother, but rather at how soon she did get remarried. In his view, his father had been a good man, the best king, and the least that Queen Gertrude could have done was take some more time before thinking about marriage again. This, in my view, is well thought-out. Re-marrying in less than two months after the passing on of one’s spouse is not a noble move. It paints the picture of insensitivity, and lack in moral judgment. Such a person seems to have been eager to be rid of the deceased partner. Hamlet’s meditative response to the remarriage of his mother is justified in this case. He loves his mother, but he also acknowledges that she is frail in her character. In the second soliloquy by Hamlet in the Second scene, he meditates on issues surrounding death and revenge. He takes time to think about how he will determine whether or not King Claudius is guilty of murder or not. He is certain that “murder, though it have no tongue, will speak/With most miraculous organ.” The meditative nature of the prince is revealed in this section. In my opinion, this shows the calculative nature of Hamlet, in the execution of his plans. Passionate Responses In the first soliloquy by Hamlet, Hamlet shows an opinion towards death, different from his mother’s. While his mother regards death as something that all mortals should, and will go through, Hamlet has a different view of it. Hamlet’s mother does not understand why her son cannot come to terms with the fact that all persons will at one point die (Shakespeare). This is a response that she does not think much about; it is a passionate response. Hamlet, however, when left alone, reflects on the utterances of his mother. According to Hamlet, death is a route of escaping the harsh realities of life. He is weary and finds life “stale, flat and unprofitable.” He would have taken his own life were it not that God has imposed a canon against self-slaughter. In the fourth scene, Hamlet comes face to face with the ghost for the first time. He shows more courage that his mates. When the ghost appears, Hamlet summons it to speak and let him (Hamlet) know what to call it(the ghost). Instead of the ghost speaking up, the ghost motions Hamlet to a more secluded place in a manner likely to suggest the need for privacy. Instinctively, his mates warn him against going with the ghost. This is a passionate response from those he is with since it is an opinion that has not been carefully thought out. Hamlet, however, responds in the opposite manner. He decides to follow the direction for the ghost since he desires for it to speak, and reveal its identity. He says to his friends, that should the ghost motion to him again he will follow it. He reasons that “being a thing as immortal as itself,” the ghost can cause his soul no harm. After planning how the play will run so as to determine the guilt or innocence of King Claudius, Hamlet is left all alone. Though he wants to follow the instructions received by the ghost on carrying out the revenge, he takes a keen look at who he really is, and admits the truth to himself. He knows that he does not have the courage to carry out such a heinous act by himself. He says of himself, “I am pigeon-liver’d and lack gall.” This is an admittance of his soft nature, that the idea of committing murder is appalling to him. This is so, even though the act is to avenge the murder of his father. As the narrative is coming to an end, a series of unexpected events occur. Gertrude the Queen drinks the poisoned wine and dies. The King, and Laertes also die. As hamlet is on the verge of death, he notices his friend Horatio reaching for the sword with the poisoned blade, in order to kill himself. He asks Horatio not to kill himself, for him to tell the story to the entire world that is unknowing of what transpired in Denmark on the day of his death. He implores Horatio that if he ever held him dearly in his heart, to draw his breath in pain in this harsh world. All this is for Horatio to tell the story of Hamlet (Shakespeare). From the utterances of Hamlet in this situation, death is not an option for his friend Horatio. The truth needs to be known, and he believes that Horatio is the best man to relate the events as they happened. This response is one that is driven by the desire for the truth to be acknowledged, and revealed. This is a trait of Hamlet that is consistent throughout the play. Even with his dying breath, his hunger for the truth to be laid bare burns. His asks of Horatio, “report me and my cause aright/To the unsatisfied.” Work Cited Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 30 November 2011 . Read More