Hamlet Essay

Hamlet is, in Deboer's words, a play " about a man that cannot make real what is found in his mind." In other words there is a difference between knowing and doing.It's similar to sports in a way. Lebron knows he needs to make his free throws, but it's a different thing to actually do it. Clayton Kershaw knows he needs to throw strikes, but sometimes he doesn't. So in a lot of ways this simple difference of knowing and doing is very relevant to Athletes. Coaches call it execution, which is kinda ironic because that's what Hamlet has to do to Claudius: he needs to execute him. But just as you wouldn't call lebron crazy for missing free throws you can't call Hamlet crazy for not killing Claudius, " like it was nothin." But just as Lebron and Kershaw prepare, Hamlet does too, so that in that moment of execution Hamlet knows that wihout a doubt Claudius killed his Father and that he's sending him to hell. But we know Hamlet isn't crazy because of his plan to kill Claudius, and the performative utterance, or self talk that we hear especially in the To Be or not To Be soliloquy.

The defintion of Crazy is, "mentally deranged, especially as manifested in a wild or aggressive way." Key words "wild or aggresive." If Hamlet truly was Crazy then why didn't he go and kill Claudius right after the ghost told him too. That would have been wild and aggressive. And it's not like Hamlet doesn't care, that's evident from his first soliloquy, and his passive aggressive tone in which he speaks to Claudius and Gertrude, almost like he's brimming with pure hatred. No, Hamlet has to be Careful because he has to kill a man in a house with a lot of enemies. But not only will killing Claudius be hard logistically it will be hard emotionally and psychologically for Hamlet. It's like in the Movie "Saving Private Ryan" in the Final battle scene where Upum is standing on a stairway with a gun in his hand, listening to his friend get killed. He Knows what to do, he's smart, but the overwhelming sadness of what he has seen keeps him from making real what his mind tells him. and I think this is true for Hamlet in some ways too. He is somewhat emotionally paralyzed by the circumstances of his Father's death, but he can't project these felling's outward, he can't talk to anyone about them. no he projects them inward and internalizes them, and it's almost like his sadness is a reminder that he hasn't killed Claudius yet. Like Performative Utterance. But for Hamlet it's almost like it's a battle between the grief over his Father's death and The utter hatred of Claudius and Gertrude. " The re are two dogs inside me, one is good and one is evil. When asked which one wins, whichever I feed most." And as the pain of his father's death slowly subsides and the more he sees Claudius and Gertrude blissful and happy, one dog gets fed more than the other.  

" To be or Not to Be,'' that is the question, but you could almost rewrite it as to kill or not to kill. Regardless of how much reason Hamlet has to kill Claudius, it's still not easy to kill another human Being. And as Dr. Preston said, " Maybe that's proof that he's the most sane in the whole play." He's right. People say, " but he sees a ghost, how does that make him sane?'' The Ghost is just a metaphor. He personifies the " and above all, be true to thine self," outlook. That's why Hamlet can see him but Gertrude can't. Dr. Preston on Friday pointed out that the definition of stupidity is ignoring new information. Hamlet isn't ignoring new information, but he is staying true to what he believes in. If someone in the play came up with forensic evidence that Claudius did't kill Hamlet Sr and Hamlet didn't even take that into consideration, then we could call him stupid or irrational. But since that doesn't happen we know he's not. In fact the complete opposite happens. Hamlet puts together an elaborate scheme to gather more information on the situation and everything he finds point's toward Claudius being an unremoresful killer. So Hamlet isn't Crazy and he's not stupid.