William Shakespeare's Hamlet is the tragic story of a young man tormented by his indecisive nature. Having been introduced to his father's ghost who was murdered some time before, he learns of the planned murder of his father by his uncle who is now the current king and the husband of Hamlet's mother. Hamlet is called upon to avenge his father's death which directly contributes to Hamlet's madness. Though Hamlet is full of purpose, he lacks ability to carry out his intentions, and allows his character flaw of procrastination to eventually destroy him. Another characteristic that acts against Hamlet is his excessive depression. Hamlet experiences rejection from his true love, anger from the murder of his father, betrayal from family and friends, and fear for what lies ahead. These feelings of pain and sorrow are deeply embedded in Hamlet and eat at him like a terrible disease. Certain characteristics of Hamlet helped to advance the plot and bring about his ultimate downfall. Hamlet proves to be high-strung, cerebral, magnanimous, and sometimes obscene, causing him to struggle as a character and fail in his quest for revenge.
Hamlet was high-strung in that he was uptight and stressed in difficult situations. When he became agitated, he reacted the wrong ways which usually resulted in disasters. He became so concentrated on his tragic flaw, in that he was a procrastinator, that when he finally got up enough courage to take action, it does not work out as he plans. " this counselor / Is now most still, most secret and most grave, / Who was in life a foolish prating knave." (III, iv, __) Hamlet speaks of Polonius in this quote after he commits the act of murder. Hamlet, thinking that it was the King who was listening in on his conversation with his mother, becomes edgy and acts out of character, stabbing Polonius, the King's assistant and Ophelia's father, through the curtain. Hamlet also acts out of character when he meets with his precious Ophelia whom he loves very much, but cannot express his concerns to.
In literature, African American writers have been telling the story of their multifaceted experience and history. ... The Bottom community's also deal with the absence of male characters and describes the underlying issues of male/female relationships which are presented. ...