Hamlet The Inner Struggle
Hamlet: The Inner Struggle
In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the main character is confronted with a cluster of dilemmas and is in emotional distress. The ghost that appears to Hamlet brings about contemplations of murder, the major action that he must deal with one way or another. As a result of this burden, hamlet keeps his struggle with his problems inside, dealing with them internally rather then externally.
Hamlet’s inner course of action is brought to the audience’s attention with his encounter with the ghost of his father, the late king Hamlet. The information that Claudius has murdered his father, is given to Hamlet in a way that would confuse anyone, this immediately provokes animosity in him. Hamlet states, “Haste me to know’t, that I with wings as swift/ as meditation or the thoughts of love, / may sweep to my revenge”(1.5.29-31) This statement shows the rage and fury that Hamlet feels, he wants to seek full revenge on his uncle; He still does not act upon this as quickly as he says, which shows his fear and inability to step into action. Also in this act, after the ghost of the late king prompts Hamlet to avenge his murder, his future actions are repeatedly questioned and his plan of what he will do becomes unclear.
But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee? /Ay, thou poor ghost, whiles memory holds a seat / In this distracted globe. Remember thee? / Yea, from the table of my memory/ I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records, / all saws of books, all forms, all pressures past/ that youth and observation copied there,/ and thy commandment all alone shall live/ within the book and volume of my brain,/ unmixed with baser matter. Yes, by heaven! (1.5.95-104)
In this soliloquy, Hamlet is once again confused, his newfound feelings regarding murder, are not yet justified. The knowledge, which the ghost has given to Hamlet, is so profound that it causes great turmoil in the mind and heart of the young man.
The idea of murder is a topic, which arises a number of times in Hamlet, and is also a concept that produces great conflict within Hamlet and the other characters in the play. By the mid-point of the play, Hamlet is fighting an inner battle of what he should and should not do. In Act III, scene 1,...