Shakespeare's 'hamlet'

Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' is a timeless text that modestly exposes the nature of human condition. The play's concepts are explored through the characters' nature which delves into the fundamental contextual values that can be seen in both the present and four centuries ago. The play forms a basis and plot through its underlying notions of political dominance and obsession of power, as well as psychological conflicts prevalent in Hamlet's mind that relate to his cultural and moral values. A look into the depths of Hamlet shows a character so psychologically complex, yet any one of us could relate to his feelings and predicaments.

William Shakespeare's play Hamlet explores the psyche through the intimate soliloquys that the character articulates. The first soliloquy in A1S3 is an invitation into the suicidal thoughts in Hamlet's mind. He sees straight through Claudius, a Machiavelli and dominant king who is suspected to have murdered Hamlet's father. Hamlet uses juxtaposition to highlight the stark contrast between Claudius and his father as a "Hyperion to a satyr". Hamlet's initial philosophical condition is exposed in A2S2 where he, as an existentialistic man in a state of turmoil, believes there 'is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so' and that human existence is no more than a 'quintessence of dust'. Hamlet's constant pondering about death and humanity is physicalized in the infamous graveyard scene A5S1, where Hamlet holds up the unearthed skull of Yorick. The symbolic skull itself is a physical reminder of the inevitability of death. Hamlet's philosophical contemplation of mortality is overcome when he literally looks death directly in the face.

When contemplating the revenge on Claudius, Hamlet implements the psychological technique of antic disposition to appear insane. This deliberate façade is a very different madness to the madness associated with revenge, but a madness which Hamlet uses to disguise his contorted plan. Though many critics believe that his already fragile sanity was completely shattered at the sight of his father's ghost, there are however, certain moments in the play where the responder is lead to believe that he is indeed putting on this 'antic disposition'. Hamlet states "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw" which implies his state of mind is carefully controlled.

As the play developments, responders can see the psychological transformation that Hamlet undergoes. His state of inaction is derived from his uncertainty of the ghost's statements in A1S3. His desire to avenge his father's death is controlled by his conscience which requires proof before acting upon his murderous thoughts. Shakespeare incorporates the use of metafiction in the form of a play within a play to expose Claudius and provoke the idea