Characterization of Hamlet, Gertrude and Ophelia Essay

sm only town is a character of extraordinary complexity and depth. No simple formula shag serve to solve his mystery. A contrary Hamlet might have killed his uncle Claudius on the strength of the Ghosts accusation, ascended the slew, married Ophelia and lived happily ever after . But such a typical hero was not likely to be of refer to Shakespeare. We can withal say that in Hamlet Shakespeare presents a murderer and revenger who is some(prenominal) remorseless and reluctant and his death is the ultimate result of his being charged by the Ghost to carry out instructions which were offensive to his clean principles.Like other tragic heroes of Shakespeare he is also endowed with portentous qualities like royal birth, graceful and charming someoneality among his own countrymen. He has a high intellectual quality as Ophelia observes O what a noble mind is here overthrown / The courtiers, soldiers, scholars eye, tongue, sword, / Th expectancy and rose of the fair state ,/ The g lass of fashion , and the make of form ,/ Th observed of all observers. Act III, Scene I In malevolence of possessing all these high qualities which rank him above the other characters the flaw in his character leads to his downfall and makes him a tragic hero.The tragic flaw in the character of Hamlet is that he conceptualises similarly much and feels too much. He is often disturbed by his own nature of self analyses. What is call for of Hamlet is prompt action, whereas he broods over the righteous noble-mindedness which leads to his deferral in action. When he gets an opportunity to kill Claudius, he puts aside the theme because he cannot strike an enemy while he is at prayer. several(prenominal) causes account for his inaction . By nature he is prone to think rather than to act.He is a man of morals and his moral idealism receives a shock when his start out remarries Claudius after his fathers death. destiny too p go downs an important part in shaping his character. Ch ance places him in such a position in which he is incapable of doing eitherthing. He becomes inconsistent and is no longer a person who reaches a ending only by reasoning. Like other tragic heroes Hamlet too has to face conflict, both internal and external. The internal conflict is between his moral scruples and the act of revenge which he is called upon to perform.Love of his father, the dishonor of his mother and the villainy of his uncle prompt him to take revenge while his nobility, his moral idealism, his principles and his religious belief revolt against such a brutal act. The result is that, torn inside himself, he suffers mental torture. Hamlets wants to take revenge against Claudius, the murderer of his father, the usurper of his rights to the throne and the seducer of his mother . In Hamlet Shakespeare presents a revenger who is both ruthless and reluctant . As a revenger he must act, on behalf of shady virtue, to restore a violated order, set right what is out of art iculatio.But the act he is impelled to do, involves him in evil of the soft which he would punish. As the ruthless revenger he exemplifies in his own person the evil which is inseparable from the good in human nature as the reluctant revenger he can symbolize the goods annoyance of it. As compared to Fortinbras and Laertes, Hamlet is slow in taking revenge because of his dress of thinking long and deep. Bradley clearly describes this condition and says he suffered from melancholia, a ghoulish state which may well develop into lunacy. (p. 121)There is an another view of Hamlets characterization i.e. his madness. T. S Eliot argues that the madness of Hamlet lay in Shakespeares hand in the earlier play a simple ruse, and to the end, we may presume, understood as a rule by the audience. For Shakespeare it is less than madness and more than feigned. (p. 102) By pretending to be mad, Hamlet kept open the safety valve and could speak order to relieve the stuff on his mind. This is w hat T. S Eliot means when he uses the words more than feigned. Samuel Johnson (1765) also considers his madness as fabricated even in his (Hamlets) treatment of Ophelia.Johnson says in this regard, He plays the madman most, when he treats Ophelia with so much rudeness, which seems to be worthless and wanton cruelty. (Johnson, 1765) Shakespeares characterization of Gertrude and Ophelia in Hamlet is paradoxical as it challenges as well as complements the contemporary social traditions and norms. Gertrude is the best utilization of this paradox that is manifested through her extraordinary supremacy over all the study characters of Hamlet, her influence in the court matters and state affairs and her blind homage to Claudius.Ophelia is also active in her domestic plain but her interest are restricted to amorous and matrimonial maters only and they are that directed by his father Polonius and brother Laertes. She is an epitome of traditional womens liberationist expressions of the age that require chastity, compliance and acceptance of male dominancy from women. Ophelia remains unresisting in the domestic and emotional domain. Ophelia has no identity of her own and all her domestic and amorous matters are directed by her father.Polonius endeavors to fashion the brio and attitude of Ophelia according to his own wishes. He considers his desires as her desires and tries to tailor her attempt by various means. Ophelia is further guarded by his brother against any potential threat to her chastity and virginity. At Ophelias entry into Hamlet, her brother, Laertes escorts Ophelia advising her on her relationship with Hamlet. So right from the very start, Ophelia is under the sway of Laertes and Polonius. So her character is in complete conformity with the traditional values of that time.Polonius constantly responds from a position of authority over Ophelia, emphasizing his power as the decision-maker for her. Both her father and brother have a self depute task of directing Ophelia how to act properly in every domain of her life. Although Shakespeare has characterized Ophelia as inferior to male characters, but characterization of Gertrude has dual characteristic. past it challenges the traditions of the conformist society and sometime it itself become conforms to the values of the society by acting passively.