Personal Views of Hamlet

[bleucanary256]

Hi, I'm just curious. How do you personally feel about the character of Hamlet? Do you see him as some sort of hero, a "good guy," as it were, or a force or instrument of harm? Whichever your view, how do you feel that's affected your interpretation of the play?

Any feedback would be appreciated. Just curious as to how others feel. Thanks.

[motherhubbard]

I am secretly in love with Hamlet. I can’t explain it. He is so dutiful and passionate. I guess that must explain it. I like to imagine that these two qualities made for a good lover. I’m sad every time he dies.

[bleucanary256]

Ha, wow, i'm glad I'm not crazy for liking Hamlet, at least. I've read a lot of critical analyses lately, and he seems pretty unpopular these days. I think it's a shame. I like to see him as the hero, i guess, because he tries so hard, and it feels better to think that he's done all this in order to accomplish something good, you know? Besides, I love his eloquence. Well-spoken=Good in my book. :)

[mtpspur]

I'm a heretic. Hamlet, to me, was as wishy washy as they come. His self doubts woukd give an analyst a generous annual income with no end in sight. Me for Macbeth--he may have been a villain but he actually DID something instead of whine all the play about it. With respect of course.

[Redzeppelin]

Disagree. When one's eternal fate hangs in the balance, a bit of hesitation and speculation is in order. Everything hangs in the balance. Hamlet's problem isn't so much "wishy-washy-ness" as it is the impossible desire to think out a problem to its end, its last detail. What he comes to terms with in Act 5 with the "let be" speech is that such a desire is impossible: one must choose without having all the information in hand.

As such, I like Hamlet's thorough command of both language and irony; no other Shakespeare character could stand toe-to-toe with him for more than a few minutes without being totally unmasked.

[GVS]

I feel sorry for Hamlet. His father, in the shape of a ghost, has put a heavy burden on the young prince. He has to kill the king. How can he not end up killing his uncle? He would have lost all his self respect if he didn't fullfill what his father's ghost ordered him to. But at same time, his uncle wants him dead. He's actually fighting for his life. I can understand why he doesn't kill Claudius right away, he's after all just a man, but as both Claudius and Laertes want to kill him, he has no choice but to act out his father's will.

I think he is a hero, and that he's also a victim of the circumstances.

[schadenfreude]

Well, I think that essentially, Hamlet is a quite conscientious and intelligent character, though he does eventually give in to all the corruption that he so vehemently detests, so that may shed some doubts. However, you can probably view him all different ways: as an instrument of justice, a procrasinating fool, or as a malicious misogynist...etc. But what I love most about Hamlet is his quirkiness; and the solemn, disconcerted layer underneath that outward appearance. Don't you all find him hilariously funny at times, or is it just me and my foolish sense of humour?

[learntodiscover]

Ha, wow, i'm glad I'm not crazy for liking Hamlet, at least. I've read a lot of critical analyses lately, and he seems pretty unpopular these days. :)

I get what you say about people not liking him, I don't know why? I liked him when I watched the film, only being 13 OR 14 not sure. Anyway there is a debate whether Hamlet is a tragic hero or not? and when people don't sympathise with the character they tend to not see him as one. I certainly do, even though I haven't finished reading the play....I'm still in act 2.

[blazeofglory]

Hi, I'm just curious. How do you personally feel about the character of Hamlet? Do you see him as some sort of hero, a "good guy," as it were, or a force or instrument of harm? Whichever your view, how do you feel that's affected your interpretation of the play?

Any feedback would be appreciated. Just curious as to how others feel. Thanks.

Hamlet personifies everyone, all of us indeed. Everyone of us possesses something of him, a kind of indecision, a kind of dilemma. We all are partly kind of believers and unbelievers in supernatural phenomena. I feel Shakespeare was just not a dramatist, but also a great philosopher. Indeed all of us live with the same question-To be or not to be, that is the question.

All of us are in the same whirlpool of the confusion in this world.

[learntodiscover]

Hamlet personifies everyone, all of us indeed. Everyone of us possesses something of him, a kind of indecision, a kind of dilemma. We all are partly kind of believers and unbelievers in supernatural phenomena. I feel Shakespeare was just not a dramatist, but also a great philosopher. Indeed all of us live with the same question-To be or not to be, that is the question.

All of us are in the same whirlpool of the confusion in this world.

I agree with everything you say, at first I was like, wait a minute, if you have a faith then you don't have the existential dilemma because you know what comes after death right? but then everybody has to ask themselves regardless of having faith or not, the question arises. Are you going to take the risk? what actualy lies ahead of us when we are or more? And this causes people to live their lives a certain way............we all die in the end, so why are we living???

[oracle13]

I think its very difficult not to respect Hamlet's intelligence and sense of humour. I'm a college student, so I'm nearing a similar age to that of Hamlet, and the older I get, the more I find I can relate to his problems. Its so, so difficult, and kind of demeaning, for me to try and pigeon-hole what I like about him, though. Definitely his 'to be or not to be' soliloquy is one of my favourite passages of verse in English literature. One thing I never could rationalise is his total lack of respect for women, caused by Gertrude's 'o'erhasty' marriage. I never really could fathom why he's almost more pissed off at his mother than Claudius. Either way, probably my favourite character in all of literature.