Hamlet Conflicts - Term Paper Example

Hamlet Conflicts Introduction The essence of any drama is conflict. A drama presents a series of conflicts which make it attract the audience. Lajos (39) says that basically, audience would always be gathered together not to watch characters lead a smooth and unadventurous lives, but a life full of conflicts, how the conflicts unfold, how the protagonist faces the antagonist and eventually, how the conflict is brought to conclusion. In a broader term, conflict can be categorized as inward or outward. However, Harding (46) defines four categories of conflict. The first type of conflict is the inner conflict where the character has a conflict with within his or her mind. This scholar defines the second type of conflict as relational, where a character has conflict with other characters within the play. The third conflict is societal, where a character has a conflict with members of the society (Mortimer & Cregan, 34). The last type of conflict, according to this scholar, is a situational conflict, where a character has a conflict with given occurrences. This study focuses on the two broad types of conflict: inner and outer ones. The play ‘Hamlet’ is one of the most interesting pieces of literature that was done by William Shakespeare. It is one of those timeless literatures that have continued to defy time and has remained relevant for over the last four hundred years. Although the language than has evolved, and most of the words in this play may be considered archaic, the play still elicits emotions and is still very relevant even in the current modern world. The play presents various conflicts. The aim of this study is to critically analyze both the outward and inward conflicts as they are presented in the play ‘Hamlet’. Conflicts The play ‘Hamlet’ presents series of conflicts from the onset. From the very beginning of this play, it is evidenced that there are series of conflicts that come out from various characters. It would be possible to identify all the four types of conflicts that are presented in this play. However, given the theme of this essay, the conflicts would broadly be categorized as either inward or outward (Muir 34). The inner conflict would retain its definition as given above, and relational conflict, societal conflict and situational conflict would all be considered as outward conflicts. Outward Conflicts The play presents a series of outward conflicts from its onset. In Act I Scene II, Horatio reports to Hamlet that he saw the late King, who was the father to Hamlet. At first, Hamlet thinks that Horatio is making fun of him and a minor conflict ensues. However, upon a careful explanation, this conflict is resolved and Hamlet promises to stay vigil that night to watch this shadow of his father. In Act I Scene II, a serious conflict ensues between Ophelia and her father, Lord Polonius and her brother Leartes. Ophelia is apparently in love with Hamlet. She is charmed by his affections towards her and confesses to her father that she has developed equal feelings towards him. The father, being a close associate of the current King Claudius, has a strained relationship with Hamlet and strongly believes that Hamlet is hysterical, especially following the death of his father, the late king. When he suspected that his only daughter, Ophelia, was in love with Hamlet, he decided to confirm his fears by directly confronting her. She admits the truth, and the father makes it very clear to her that he would not withstand such a relationship. Lord Polonius also succeeds to poison the minds of his sons against the idea of their daughter getting married to Hamlet. Upon the realization that everyone is against her relationship with Hamlet, Ophelia promises them that she would rethink the issue over once again, taking into consideration their advice to her. Another conflict is seen in Act II Scene IV where Hamlet was making Horatio and Marcellus swear that they would tell what happened (the ghost of the late king). As Hamlet was telling the two gentlemen to swear, the ghost would come and repeat the word ‘swear’. This irritates Hamlet who is determined to make his friends swear that they would never speak of what they saw that particular night. He shows this irritation when he said, “Rest, rest, perturbed spirit.” (Shakespeare Act II Scene IV). In Act III Scene I, a serious conflict is developing between Hamlet and his uncle, the current King Claudia. There are a series of conspiracies, plotted by King Claudia to bring down Hamlet. The conspiracies are hidden from Queen Gertrude, the wife to the late king and mother to Hamlet. For some strange reasons, the king is getting more and more uncomfortable with the presence of Hamlet. With the advice of his counsel, Lord Polonius, they are looking for a possibility of eliminating Hamlet. On his part, Hamlet is not yet convinced of what the ghost told him about his uncle, the current king. However, he is already suspicious of the uncle and the suspicion is further enhanced by the fact that the uncle has developed strange characters of late, especially towards him. Taking advantage of the fact that some actors have come to stage a show; he instructs them to play given script where a king was murdered by the brother who then took over power afterwards. He wanted to read any element of guilt in the face of his uncle for the script was specifically meant to demonstrate what he did (if indeed what the ghost told him was true). The reaction of the king leaves no doubt in the mind of Hamlet. It is very clear that the king felt so guilty that he could not watch the play any further. He left the scene, and went away; something that most of the people did not realize was strange. For Hamlet however, it was clear to him that the uncle did leave the scene because the play was an exact replica of what he did, with the help of the queen. The difference between the two is characters deepen when the king realizes that Hamlet is convinced that he murdered the former king. In Act III Scene III, it is evident that the king has already made up his mind. He is convinced that the only way to settle this conflict between him and his nephew is to set him on a deadly voyage. The voyage is to leave for England, but is expected to encounter a fatal sea storm. Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are to ensure that this is done in the most natural way that would not raise any question afterwards. Also at the helm of this assassination plot is Lord Polonius. The conflict between him and Hamlet has gotten dipper. Although he is not sure if Hamlet is hysterical or it is a gimmick, he has gotten more restless with Hamlet. Restless because he has the feeling that Hamlet has realized his intent to eliminate him. In this scene, another conflict ensures between Hamlet and his mother, Queen Gertrude. The queen is not able to comprehend the sudden change of behavior of her son. Although she loves and cares for her son, she cannot withstand the negative attitude the son has developed towards her. She says, “O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain” (Shakespeare Act III Scene III). Hamlet on his part, knows that she participated in the death of his father. He knows that the mother is the person who delivered the poison that killed the former king. He hates her for this though he does not tell her this. The conflict between Hamlet and Lord Polonius is resolved when kills him. In Act III Scene IV, Polonius found Hamlet intending to harm the Queen, his mother. Upon this realization, Lord Polonius started shouting for help, prompting Hamlet to draw his sword and struck him. Lord Polonius realized that the blow was fatal and said in his last breath, “O, I am slain!” (Shakespeare Act III Scene IV). Upon the realization that he has killed Lord Polonius, he is not remorseful feeling very much at ease. However, this raises a series of other conflicts between him and other characters. To the king, this signified that the battle line was clearly drawn and that it was a matter of time before he could face the same fate as Lord Polonius. He has to kill or risk being killed. Ophelia, the daughter on Lord Polonius, could not withstand the fact that her father died. He was killed by her lover. Although she does not confront Hamlet over the issue, her decision to commit suicide was basically meant to punish him. She knew that he loved her and nothing would break his heart than the realization that she was dead. She decided to resolve this conflict in a painful way both to Hamlet and her. Gertrude reports of her death in Act IV Scene VII. Leartes, enraged by her father’s murder, and the frustration that lead her sister to commit suicide, swears to kill Hamlet. This conflict is fanned by King Claudius who promises this brave warrior a lot of gifts if he would succeed in eliminating Hamlet. The conflicts are brought to rest in Act V Scene II. Through his malicious plans, the king has decided to eliminate Hamlet by creating a fight between Hamlet and Leartes. Knowing the prowess of Leartes with sword, the king saw this as the best opportunity to eliminate Hamlet. He made both swear to fight, knowing that Hamlet would be fallen by the sword. In order to ensure that nothing goes as per his plans, he poisoned the sword of Leartes so that any slight blow from him would be fatal. In order to make this process appear to be an accident in a game, he invited the society to watch the fight. He wanted to make the society believe that Hamlet’s death was as a result of an accident. The blame would definitely be out of his hands because everyone would confirm that the death of Hamlet was not through his hands, but the hands of Leartes through a duel. Things did not turn out as perfectly and smoothly as he had expected. Although Leartes proved his prowess with the sword, it became apparent that Hamlet was a man to match him. After successfully stabbing Hamlet with the poisoned sword, Hamlet managed to overpower him and use his sword against him. When he realized that Hamlet had used his sword on him, Leartes knew that his fate was tied to that of Hamlet. To the king, it was a pleasure because he thought that using one stone; he had managed to kill several birds (Hamlet, the Queen and Leartes). However, things did not work well for him. When the Queen took the poisoned drink as she watched the duel, she immediately realized that she had taken a poison and screamed aloud to the crowd. At this point, the conflict between her and the king comes to fore. She immediately dies. Upon this realization, Leartes comes to her senses and realizes that Hamlet has used the weapon on him. She realizes that the king is manipulative and that Hamlet is the man of the people and that the king is the enemy (Shakespeare 85). He confesses to Hamlet and the multitude that the king had poisoned the sword and that both would die. This raises another conflict between Leartes between and the king. The society also gets into conflict with the king. They society came to the realization that the king was the one that murdered their former king. This conflict is settled when the king is stabbed by the poisoned sword. He had gotten the power using the poison, and through poison he died. Inward Conflicts The play also presents inward conflicts in various characters. King Claudius has a troubled mind following the play that was staged by actors about a king who ascended to thrown having murdered a former king. This brought a flood of reflections into his act of killing his older brother to ascend to power. The mind is in conflict. There is the spirit that comforts him that all is well as long as he was the king. However, part of her mind is seriously perturbed by this fact, causing him a lot of guilt. There is another conflict, coming in between this major conflict that is confirmed in this scene. Queen Gertrude, mother of Hamlet, is seen to be at peace with the king. In fact all signs show that the new king inherited her following the death of the other king. To her, the new king is a good person and for that matter, she has no conflict with him. However, in the mind of the king, she is just as dangerous as the son. She is the only other person who is aware of his wicked manner in which he came to power. There is, therefore, a serious conflict in the mind of the king concerning the queen. At first he thought that she could join him in anything, following her courageous act of helping him eliminate the former king. He, therefore, though that she would see the sense of eliminating Hamlet too, now that he was the only threat they had to take care of. However, it became apparent that her love for her son Hamlet was too great. When the son became hysterical, she became so concerned, a fact that made the king worry so much. She was her best accomplice when he ascended to power. However, she was now standing in the way to his retaining power by being protective over Hamlet, the only person who was a threat to his seat. In Act V Scene II, King Claudius decides to resolve the conflict that for a long time has troubled her. She had seen Queen Gertrude as a threat to his throne. She was well aware that the King was sitting on the throne illegally. Having found means of eliminating Hamlet, the biggest conflict in his mind was how to contain the mother. He was certain that the mother would definitely suspect that he participated in his death. He knew that the queen was intelligent and would not be fooled into thinking that the son would die even from a simple scratch. As such, he had to plot a way of eliminating her. This was her resolution to the conflict. The poison, which he had used to eliminate the husband, the late king, was the best way he could eliminate the queen. Works Cited Harding, David. Living the Drama: Community, Conflict, and Culture among Inner-City Boys. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976. Print. Lajos, Egri. The Art of Dramatic Writing. New York: Wildside Press LLC, 2009. Print. Mortimer, John and David Cregan. Pinter Harold Conflict in Drama: Plays for Education. The personal conflict. New York: Methuen, 1972. Print. Muir, Lynette. Love and Conflict in Medieval Drama: The Plays and Their Legacy. Cambridge University Press. 2007. Print. Shakespeare,William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Web. June 22, 2012. http: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/full.html   Read More