Hamlet’s change in personality

Subject: Literature
Type: Synthesis Essay
Pages: 2
Word count: 575
Topics: Hamlet, Personality, William Shakespeare
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Hamlet is a captivating tragedy by Shakespeare that highlights the struggle of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, to avenge the death of his father. Hamlet’s personality evolves throughout the play. He grows from a sad character with a weak will to a person who is set on his ways and is willing to do what it takes to get justice for his late father. From this change in character, readers learn that it is possible to try and strive to be a better individual despite the odds in life. Hamlet grows from a weak willed individual to a character who is strong and determined.

Hamlet in Scene III, Act 4 is a very depressed individual. In the first soliloquy, Hamlet is simply depressed and saddened by the fact that his father’s death has not been mourned for a long enough period. In addition, he is saddened by the fact that his mother married Claudius barely a month after his father died. In this act, Hamlet is still depressed about the events that are taking place around him. However, he is further saddened by the fact that he has contemplated suicide. What makes him even more miserable is the fact that he is terrified of committing suicide since he is not sure of what will happen to him after he dies.

“But that the dread of something after death, the undiscover’d country from whose bourn, no traveler returns, puzzles the will” (Shakespeare).

The quote above is indicative of the fact that Hamlet was not even sure about his decision to take his own life. Therefore, from this soliloquy, readers notice that the character is deeply sad and has no will power to make a definite decision about what he will do with his life.

In Scene IV, Act 4, Hamlet is a completely different man. This is the seventh soliloquy that Hamlet delivers. Readers notice that Hamlet has a stronger will power and a changed mindset about what he plans to do with his life. He has constantly been conflicted about what avenging the death of the former King of Denmark, his father. However, when news gets to him about an army invading Poland, readers read of how Hamlet’s will also strengthens. He is sure that about the act of vengeance he has been planning on committing. Hamlet recounts the events that have been the source of great sorrow:

“How stand I then, that have a father kill’d, a mother stain’d, Excitements of my reason and my blood” (Shakespeare).

He resolves that he will take action and do what he believes is right. Thus, the character is a stronger individual who is set on achieving the goals that were set earlier.

In conclusion, Hamlet evolves from a weak willed person to a character who is strong and determined. At the opening of the play, he is shocked by the events that surround the death of his father. The court mourns his death for a short period and his mother quickly remarries Claudius who killed the king. However, as the play draws to a close, Hamlet evolves to become a person who is keen on achieving his goal, which is to avenge his father, the former King of Denmark. Hamlet takes a look at the invasion of Poland and draws inspiration from the willingness of thousands of men willing to die for a piece of land. Hamlet emerges stronger as he overcomes his grief.

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  1. Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Hamlet. London, UK: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1870. Web.
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