Because this is my last blog about
a lecture, I would like to make connections between Hamlet and several of the other plays we’ve read. I’m going to outline
some of the themes common to many of his plays as well as the characters that
crop up over and over again in different forms and pretexts. As I organized
these parallels, I realized that the major themes of Shakespeare’s plays tend
to accompany similar types of characters that convey that theme. These
characters from different plays respond in a specific way to challenges in
order to communicate Shakespeare’s interpretation of the theme.
Hamlet,
Richard II, and Macbeth all
depict persons in positions of leadership who behave in similar ways. Within
the theme of the nature of power and monarchy, King Claudius, Richard II, and
Macbeth all exhibit certain characteristics when they are in positions of
power. The parallels amongst these characters reveal the ability of power to
change the person that holds it. All of these men commit murder in order to
ensure their hold on the throne. Claudius kills his brother, King Hamlet, so
that he can claim the throne. King Richard II orders the murder of his uncle,
the Duke of Gloucester, because he perceives him to be a threat to the throne.
Macbeth kills King Duncan in order to claim the throne. Once he becomes the
king, he orders the murders of his former best friend, Banquo, his best
friend’s son, Fleance, Macduff’s wife, Lady Macduff, and even Macduff’s young
son all in order to eliminate threats to his power. The similar behavior of
these kings conveys the idea that power causes its beholder to ignore their
moral compass. The fleeting nature of power as it moves from one ambitious
person to another renders its beholder desperate to maintain it. These kings’
desperation to keep their power changes their better nature. Shakespeare’s
parallel portrayal of the kings warns against the dangers of ambition.
All of
Shakespeare’s play deal with the idea of identity in some form of fashion. In
plays such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and
The Taming of Shrew, Shakespeare
addresses one’s ability to transcend social and cultural boundaries by
manipulating one’s identity, as I discussed in previous blogs. In Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare approaches the factors that
constitute our identities and the source or foundations of our identities. In Hamlet, the fluctuation of identities
reflects the fact that the state (Denmark) is in flux. The death of King Hamlet
and the wedding of the newly instated King Claudius to King’s Hamlet’s widow,
Gertrude, have just taken place within the last few months. The threat of
invasion from Norway also adds to the unrest of the state.
The theme of fluctuating identities
is established within the first act, in which the watchmen edgily question the
identity of one another before they allow each other to come closer. When
Horatio enters the scene, Barnardo asks, “Say – what, is Horatio there?” to
which Horatio responds shrewdly, “A piece of him” (1.116-17). Horatio’s comment
has several implications. He means that only a piece of him is there because he
is so cold. It could reflect the coldness of his body or the metaphorical
coldness of his emotions in response to the disordered state of his home
nation. The division of his identity into pieces reflects the prevailing theme
of fracturing identities in Hamlet. Hamlet’s
conversation with Ophelia in Act III, scene i is another significant moment in
which Shakespeare questions the rigidity of identity. When Ophelia tries to
return the gifts that Hamlet gave her, he tells her, “No, no, I never gave you
aught” (3.1.98). He undoubtedly did give her gifts, which prompts me to
question why he decides to deny this fact. I think his statement reflects that
his identity has shifted. He never gave those gifts to Ophelia because he has
changed so much that he believes that he has acquired a new identity.
The events that alter Hamlet’s
sense of identity show which factors constitute the foundations of identity.
After Hamlet’s father dies, his brother harshly and quickly replaces him with
the consent of Hamlet’s mother. Additionally, Hamlet struggles with his desire
to commit suicide and murder. These events that lead to a broken identity are
paralleled by the destruction of Shylock’s identity in The Merchant of Venice. After Shylock loses his daughter, his
livelihood, and his religion, his unusually quiet and solemn bearing reflects
the damage done to his sense of identity. As with Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, the damage to
Hamlet’s sense of family/home and faith/religion render his identity unstable.
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