Preview

Prince Hamlet Flawed Hero Research Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
751 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Prince Hamlet Flawed Hero Research Paper
Prince Hamlet, the Flawed Hero in Hamlet

Hamlet is about Prince Hamlet’s misperceptions that women are morally Corrupt. Hamlet’s misperceptions originate from Gertrude’s inappropriate behavior and ignorance and Ophelia’s malleable behavior, and throughout the play Hamlet is rude and cynical to the two main female characters. Hamlet makes a sweeping generalization based on his Mother Gertrude and Ophelia that all women are morally corrupt, and in doing so he demonstrates a lack of trust in Gertrude that contributes to his madness and leads him to more trouble. The first time Hamlet is seen in the play he is angry at his mother for remarrying his uncle right after the death of her late husband, King Hamlet. Hamlet comments on his mother’s
…show more content…
Hamlet and Ophelia loved each other early on in the play, but Ophelia is told by her father to break all contact with him. Hamlet goes to Ophelia on the brink of a breakdown, partly caused by his mother's infidelities. When he turns to his lover for support, his mother's lesson are reinforced and through her actions, Ophelia confirms in Hamlet's mind that women can not be trusted even though Ophelia was only following her father’s orders. Now distrusting Ophelia, they meet again when Prince Hamlet knows Polonius is spying on their conversation. With Ophelia failing to admit her purpose of the conversation, he now calls Ophelia a liar. At that point, he thought all women were adulterous and could not be trusted, like his mother. He then says “Get thee to a nunnery, 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” (Shakespeare, Act 3.1.124-127). Hamlet is being very cruel, referring to her as a prostitute. But not only is he insulting Ophelia, but women in general because now, all women are the same to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    After Hamlet started to turn against Gertrude because of her actions, he took the anger and used it against Ophelia. Hamlet says to Ophelia “God hath given you one face and you make yourselves another. You jig and amble, and you lisp, you nickname God’s creatures, and make your wantonness your ignorance.” (III.i.142-145). He comments on the way women mask their faces, all being unfaithful and dishonest. Hamlet completely loses trust in Ophelia after she was not honest with him and turned her back on him and listened to her father instead. Ophelia deceived Hamlet and in turn he is rude to her and continues to tell her that his love for her was false and demands that she go to a nunnery, he also makes it clear there will be no marriage for the…

    • 138 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet has the disillusion that women are frail after his mother's rushed remarriage as shown by "Frailty, thy name is woman!" He also believes women do not have the power to reason. ("O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason.") Ophelia has the power to change his view but her unexplained rejection of him only adds to Hamlet's disillusion. The ghost's revelation that Gertrude dishonored Hamlet's father but also their marriage by the adultery with Claudius is contemplated by Hamlet until he goes into Ophelia's room to look upon her. As Hamlet searches Ophelia's face for some sign that might restore his faith in her, he instead believes her face shows guilt and thinks she is another false Gertrude.…

    • 760 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ophelia's Manipulation

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Having been lectured on the dangers of Hamlet by Polonius, Ophelia responds, “I shall obey my Lord” (1.4.145). Considering she is his daughter, her response seems peculiar, and almost servant like. Polonius and Laertes, Ophelia’s father and brother, order her to refrain from relations with Hamlet, because they believe that due to his nobility, he is incapable of loving her properly. Ophelia, Hamlet’s love, is interpreted as more of a puppet than a strong female lead, even though the love, of which Hamlet and Ophelia had prior to the bombardment of interferences, was undeniable.…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ophelia, a fictional character in Hamlet, is the daughter of Polonius and young lover to the main character. Her father, the right hand of the king, originally requests she keep her distance from Hamlet. Quite soon, the company of Hamlet believes he has gone mad. Polonius, of course, asks his obedient daughter to spy on her lover. Mary Salter stated, “She certainly has a great deal of respect for her father and unquestioningly obeys his instructions…” Ophelia and Hamlet spend an extravagant amount of time together. In the time of Shakespeare, this was nearly unacceptable. One could understandably be under the impression they…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlets portrayal of women in this play start with his mother gertrude. In the opening of the play hamlet's father is killed and his mother gertrude almost instantly marries another man. The man that she married turned out to be his uncle and hamlet felt that he was betrayed. Hamlet is then starts to become a misogynist from that, He starts to treat his mother bad and say that she shouldn't have remarried so fast.…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ophelia, the sweet and naieve girl in “Hamlet”, is clueless about the world around her and she thinks Hamlet loves her, when in reality he doesn’t and he rejects Ophelia. Ophelia innocently loved Hamlet even though Hamlet was slightly crazy, she gave her all to hamlet and he took her for granted even after her own brother Laertes told her to watch out for the king because he’s of noble birth and she’s nothing to him. Polonius her dad is over protective and doesn’t want Ophelia to talk to hamlet because he knows what he’s capable of. Ophelia being innocent and Naive doesn’t understand why her family says this, but she takes in what her dad says, but lets her heart get to her and it leads to Ophelia’s downfall. In the play Hamlet her dad says…

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet As A Tragic Hero

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the play Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, the main character Hamlet is often described as a hero. There are 6 criterion for a Shakespeare play to be considered a tragedy; the hero is a man of outstanding quality, the hero has a tragic flaw, the hero’s downfall is a result of his own choice, the audience has a “sad sense of wasted human potential”, the hero has an increase in awareness and a gain in self knowledge, and the audience experiences a cycle of good and bad emotions towards mankind. Hamlet is a great example of a tragic hero, one of his greatest attributes is also his biggest downfall.…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet and his failure to act had many consequences that eventually led to his own death. Hamlet’s cowardly behavor is very similar to the character in the poem “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock”. Hamlet and the character in the poem were both coward and failed to act. While Hamlet’s failure to act is much different to other characters in literature such as in “Mulan”. When Mulan acted quickly, the results were beneficial in contrast to Hamlet who had failed results because he did not act. Hamlet’s failure to act ended his life. Mulan acting on her courageous belief gained pride and honour even though she was a girl and was looked down upon. Hamlet was a coward and that led to many consequences, which as a result led to his…

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ophelia Shakespeare Wife

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Act 3 scene 1 Ophelia is spying on Hamlet at her father's insistence. We are lead to believe that she truly does love Hamlet but cannot refuse her father, so she betrays her love to spy on him. When Hamlet discovers that Ophelia's father is listening he calls Polonius a "fishmonger," which means a pimp. With the same token, Hamlet is calling Ophelia a prostitute that is being used by her father. Hamlet is not very far off on this assertion. However, you must also remember that because of the actions of his mother, he believes all women to be harlots and has lost faith in the female. Again, in act 3 scene 1 Hamlet states:…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    To be a tragic hero or not to be a tragic hero, that is the question. This phrase is a clash between two very important figures of literature. William Shakespeare an English composer who wrote many well-known plays with Hamlet being the most popular and Aristotle who was a Greek philosopher and well known for his academics who created the expression tragic hero. Combining the work of these two individuals we come to question is Shakespeare’s character Hamlet worthy of Aristotle’s term tragic hero.…

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Does Hamlet Love Ophelia

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hamlet is now against women because of his mother’s disloyal behavior, so that includes Ophelia too. He loves Ophelia but doesn’t want to marry her because of the damage it causes to men. In a nunnery, women are not allowed to marry at all, so he tells her this in a way to give her a better chance of being purified and faithful. This validates the argument that Hamlet loved Ophelia because if he didn’t love her he wouldn’t attempt to save her.…

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet's Insanity

    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages

    He has been holding onto the secret about his uncle for a long period of time and is struggling with knowing how to avenge his father’s death. The difficulties in Hamlet’s life continue to add up and cause him to become more on edge. Polonius, the King’s helper and Ophelia’s father, tries to convince the King and Queen that Hamlet is acting crazy simply because he is in love with Ophelia. A plan is then created where Ophelia stands and waits for Hamlet while Polonius, Claudius and Gertrude hide and observe Hamlet’s actions. Once Hamlet approaches Ophelia, he realizes that he has been set up and is furious. Although Hamlet is clearly irate because he is being spied on, it is implied that part of Hamlet’s frustration is due to the betrayal and dishonesty from Ophelia, the one he loves. Hamlet has little trust in anyone at this point, and now he cannot trust the one who holds his heart. Hamlet reproaches Ophelia, “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” (III, 1, 54). This quote is proof that Hamlet is very upset with Ophelia and no longer wants to be associated with her because he does not trust her. It is likely that Hamlet feels alone because he is facing many problems on his own and cannot trust the people who are important to…

    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Now when ever Hamlet and Ophelia were in public he would say rude things to her such as”Go thy ways to a nunnery” although it sounds harsh he only say that because of the circumstances of him being spied on..Hamlet told Ophelia “I did once love you “in Act III Scene I so this proves that he does love because he just confessed it to her. But he also goes on to say “ I love you not “ only because he know for fact that Ophelia dad is spying on them because he even asked Ophelia “where’s your father “then she replies “At home ,my lord” but hamlet doesn't fall for it and he say to her “Let the doers be shut upon him,that he may play fool no where but in’s own house.” What he is trying to tell her is he knews that her dad is watching them right now as they speak.In Act…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Analytical Essay

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The play begins with Hamlet returning home from school, after his father’s death and the remarriage of his mother, the queen, to his uncle. Hamlet after arriving home has a mostly one sided conversation with his new stepfather about how Hamlet should stop mourning his father's death, and stay in Denmark with his family. After this conversation Hamlet shares what…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Act 3, scene 1, Hamlet comes upon Ophelia, who appears to be alone (although her father and the King are on the side lines listening.) There, Hamlet acts so abruptly rude to Ophelia that she is caught off-guard. Hamlet’s behavior could be the cause of his mother betrayal of him, since she remarried less than two months after her husband had passed and to his brother no less. Hamlet might take is anger toward s his mother a apply it towards all women, which would explain his rudeness towards Ophelia. He may be testing her to see is she too is like his mother and will soon betray him as well. Overall, Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia is rude but purposeful; he's trying to elicit reaction and though this shows madness to others who may be unsuspecting…

    • 144 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays