Hamlet: To Read or Not To Read

 Hello everyone! I'm going to be reviewing Hamlet today, as the first Shakespeare writing I've ever read. 

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

 William Shakespeare's Hamlet is one of the most known works in writing history, and yet I'd never read it before. This piece was written to be a play in 1609; It gained quite massive success and was performed a lot. As much of Shakspeare's writing, this one represents Elizabethian England. Briefly, it is about Hamlet, a young prince who lost his father and is torn by grief. He is also all alone as he feels betrayed by his mother who has married his uncle not even two months after his father's death, which in turn also deprived him of the throne as it was given to the uncle. He finds purpose once he finds out that his father was murdered by his uncle and sets his mind on revenge. He says "Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge"(Act I, Scene 5, Lines 29-31) at the end of the first act and sets the reader on a journey, where we root for him, doubt him, and most importantly, feel for him and his pain. 

Something I appreciated about this book was that the main character wasn't the typical protagonist, he was rarely sure of himself and had many doubts and made mistakes, which makes him an anti-hero. To me, however, that was not even it. It was the fact that he's not inherently always a good person, his personality was more realistic, he was rude sometimes, or unfair. For example, throughout the book, there are a lot of instances of betrayal, and all the tension gets to Hamlet's head, but one that stood out most to me is when he realizes Ophelia, his lover, is not on his side. Hamlet spins out of control as he feels her betrayal, and he becomes a very hurtful person. He tells her "Get thee to a nunnery, go; farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go; and quickly too. Farewell. (Act III, Scene 1, Lines 138-142). He accuses her of infidelity, and calls her names, and makes her feel like every other woman, then tells her that he never loved her. He is not a knight in shining armor! Most protagonists make mistakes, it is part of being human, but in writing, I've rarely ever seen this display of bad behavior coming from a protagonist. This just made the story more compelling to read, and Shakespear keeps surprising us with the ways he breaks the norms. 

This video has a few moments that show the realization of betrayal in the 1996 Hamlet movie.

Hamlet 3.1 Hamlet tells Ophelia to a nunnery

Hamlet is not the only one getting betrayed, but he is the one that we root for, and thus it hits the audience differently when we see characters being dishonest to him or hurting him. One that made me the angriest came from the betrayal of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern because they were meant to be his good friends. Hamlet entrusted them with a lot of his plans, but when they betrayed him and helped Claudius, it felt like everyone is capable of betrayal, even Hamlet. That is shortly proven correct in the final act, the one that Hamlet is taking action the most in. He chooses to betray Rosencrantz and Guildenstern back, as he leaves them to die when the ship is attacked by pirates. He goes "They are not near my conscience; their defeat  Does by their own insinuation grow." (Act V, Scene 2. Lines 58-58). As he admits that he does not even feel bad for leaving them to die, it is yet another show of Hamlet's anti-hero character. The way this book writes characters is good, but when it comes to Hamlet it is simply fascinating, it had me disagreeing with a character and loving it at the same time.

WORK CITED

Hamlet 3.1 Hamlet tells Ophelia to a nunnery, video by Jack on Youtube. July 24th, 2019.

hamlet 3.1 Hamlet tells Ophelia to a nunnery - YouTube

William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1609, Cliff's Complete Hamlet, Cliffsnotes. Commentary by Terri Mategrano.