Theme Of Lust In Hamlet

In the play A Midsummer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare, many of the characters relentlessly pursue their goals in the face of illogical decisions, and, while fictional items such as the “love-in-idleness” flower are used to explain the character’s sudden love for each other, the play does illustrate how love and ambition can lead to unforeseen consequences. For example, when Puck accidently anointed Lysander’s eyes with the “love-in-idleness” juice, he started a chain of events leading to Lysander and Demetrius fighting over Helena while Hermia is treated as though she is worthless. Moreover, at one point, Lysander and Demetrius even threatened to duel each other when Lysander awoke after being anointed with the flower 's juice and said, "Where is Demetrius? O, how fit a word is that vile name to perish on my sword" (61). This shows how the character’s love for certain other characters, and their ambition to pursue said love, can lead to the destruction of previous relationships and lead them to make dangerous decisions.

In William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream the circumstances surrounding love have been put into question, this occurs when a magical nectar is put in the eyes of three major characters, and changes their feelings towards the people in their lives. Titania, Lysander and Demetrius all have had the nectar put into their eyes, though Demetrius avoids having this done to him in act 2 scene 2 which is the scene that the focus of this paper will be looking at. Throughout the play, we focus largely on the love life of Helena, which unfortunately does not seem to exist. She is in love with Demetrius, whom does not care for her in the same way, he does not cherish her at all before he is under the influence of magic. Once Lysander declares

Claudius is then compared to the internal organs of slaves and a man without morals, remorse or kindness (Ham.2.2.607-608). The powerful metaphors and adjectives used to describe Claudius not only express Hamlet’s intense contempt and disdain towards him, but also serve to convince Hamlet to commit murder. However, Hamlet depicts himself as a whore, a prostitute, and a swearing kitchen maid (Ham.2.2.614-616), reiterating the notion that he is worthless, as well as weak for expressing his emotions through words rather than actions. The shift from metaphors to similes indicate Hamlet’s failure to move past his cowardice and proceed with an act of revenge that would inflict

Shakespeare explores love and desperation using

Also, Hamlet displays his anguish at the Queen for dishonouring his dead father since “Almost as bad, good mother, as killing a king and marrying his brother” (Shakespeare, pg. 121). In this statement, Hamlet expresses how, through the marriage to her husband’s murderer, Gertrude is a symbol of dishonor and damaging her relationship with the prince. Hamlet is disgusted by Gertrude’s actions and recognizes her not as his mother but the queen and wife of Claudius, the murderer. The respect revered by children to their mother is not evident between Hamlet and Gertrude. In Gertrude’s death scene, Hamlet screams to his mother “Wretched Queen, adieu!”

Feminism has gained a new definition a new understanding of female roles since the Elizabethan Era. Hamlet, a play written by William Shakespeare, is about a young prince, Hamlet, being visited by his father’s apparition urging him to avenge his death by murdering Prince Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. All the while, Hamlet is enraged by his mother’s hasty marriage to Claudius and is showering his supposed love, Ophelia, with gifts and words of affection. Queen Gertrude and Ophelia are blindly obedient to male authority due to the influence of the social standards that require women to be submissive to men. Queen Gertrude and Ophelia’s actions and outcomes as characters are affected by male influence, the social norms of this time, and the females’ consequences of following these norms.

William Shakespeare’s “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun” shows that ulterior motives for love can also refer to personality and non physical features of a person. Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” and William Shakespeare’s “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun”, show that love can be influenced by an ulterior motive, through the use of specific word choice and storyline

In the Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological events that make the audience feel and have an emotional connection with the characters. These significant events can be awakenings, discoveries, and changes in consciousness that set off a mental or psychological effect to the readers. The author, Shakespeare, gives these internal events to characters such as Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet throughout the play to give the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes who both tell her to stop seeing Hamlet. To Polonius, Ophelia is an eternal virgin who is going to be a dutiful

Shakespearean Misogyny In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the two women in the play, Gertrude and Ophelia, are repeatedly manipulated and exploited by the men in their lives. They submit to male authority and oppressive societal customs because they have no other options. Gertrude and Ophelia are placed in this situation because of a male-dominated society that blames women for sexual immorality and corruption. Hamlet’s views about women are consistent with the commonly-held views of his peers.

Gertrude is Hamlet’s mother and the Queen of Denmark. When King Hamlet is murdered by Claudius, she didn 't seem to daunt her and shortly thereafter got married to Hamlet 's Uncle Claudius. This gives a suspense in this point of the play because it makes the audience think about if Gertrude had anything to do with the murder of her husband or if she helped plan the murder with Claudius. When Gertrude married the person that killed her husband, Hamlet takes it personal and she basically loses her son because he 's so upset with her.

Hamlet’s views on women is adulterous which pertains to the misogynistic tendencies in the play; thus, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, sparks up his misogynistic approaches. Hamlet is repulsed with Gertrude since she was quick to re-wed immediately following Old Hamlet’s death and cries: “She married. O, most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” (1.2.156-157). Hamlet is shocked that his mother remarries to Claudius, Old Hamlet’s brother, before letting the tears on her cheek to dry.

Throughout the conversation and various parts of the play, Hamlet expresses his disgust for his mother 's actions. He insults her by comparing his father to Hyperion and Claudius to a satyr. He tells Gertrude not to sin by sleeping with him and tells her she is nothing but lustful for marrying a man like Claudius when he says, “That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,/ Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose/ From the fair forehead of an innocent love/ And sets a blister there, makes marriage vows/

And all the readers in all these centuries have been interpreting a dramatic idea of love not based on reality but on impulsive feelings as “The ideal Love” . Romeo’s longing for ideal love is the primary driving force behind most of his actions, that reveal themselves as impulsive and stupid. In the tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, mutual love and devotion are the main characteristics of Shakespeare’s ideal love. He also portrays the idea of lovers making sacrifices in order to be together, even if it means forsaking things that are valuable to their existence, including their lives.

Despite popular opinion, love at first sight does not exist. The idea of “love” is widely misinterpreted as a mere attraction between two individuals. However, many do not understand that love goes much further than this, and what follows is a common misconception between love and lust. Shakespeare in his 17th century play Twelfth Night delves deeper into this idea of love. He presents the character Duke Orsino who appear to be infatuated and love-sick for the Countess Olivia, a woman with which he knows little about.

He did not innately hate all women, but slowly as he reserved rejection after rejection he snapped. Hamlet’s relationships differed between Gertrude and Ophelia, but both had the same goal of Hamlet having someone to love and care about him. With the goal of compassion being accomplished, he spiralled in a growing hatred of the female population. Hamlet’s misogyny is not the result sexual repression , but rather his environment and the interactions with women. Ernest Jones argues that Hamlet’s misogyny stems from the sexual repression of Gertrude and Ophelia.