Loss of Innocence in Hamlet Essay - 1265 Words

Loss of Innocence in Hamlet Hamlet is a character that we love to read about and analyze. His character is so realistic, and he is so romantic and idealistic that it is hard not to like him. He is the typical young scholar facing the harsh reality of the real world. In this play, Hamlet has come to a time in his life where he has to see things as they really are. Hamlet is an initiation story. Mordecai Marcus states some initiations take their protagonists across a threshold of maturity and understanding but leave them enmeshed in a struggle for certainty(234). And this is what happens to Hamlet. Although Hamlet is a little old to have this experience of coming to be a man, we have to realize that his†¦show more content†¦This event along with everything else that he is dealing with is the threshold for Hamlet that he must cross. To cross this threshold Hamlet has to make a decision. Dealing with the process of making and actually making this decision lead Hamlet into his manhood. Hamlet has idealized his father and what Hamlet has learned about his father in the ghost scene shakes his fragile equilibrium. He learns all at one time that his uncle has killed his father, and that his father is not the person that he thought he was. This is a blow for any young adult. Hamlet is now having to deal with the fact that everything that he has believed to be true, just is not so. Hamlet has also idealized his mother, and it seems like that they have had a close relationship before this incident. Hamlet really loved his mother, and I think he put her on a pedestal. In the play, this delusion that he has about his mothers character is quickly shattered. She, within a month (1,2,145) marries Hamlets uncle who has for some odd reason become king after Hamlets fathers death. Hamlet is sickened and disillusioned by his mothers behavior saying things like O that this too too sullied flesh would melt (1,2,129) and frailty, thy name is woman(1,2,146). But the realization that he has about his mother also ties into the realization that he has about his father and ultimatelyShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Destruction of Love Between Hamlet and Ophelia1643 Words   |  7 PagesThe Destruction of Love Between Hamlet and Ophelia      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ophelia describes Hamlet as the courtiers soldier, scholars eye, tongue and sword, Thexpectancy and rose of fair state, the glass of fashion and the mould of form, Thobserved of all observers (Act 3 Scene 1) He is the ideal man. But, after his madness and the death of her father she sees him as a noble mind oer thrown! (Act 3 Scene 1). Ophelia suffers from Hamlets disillusionment; his attitude to her in Act 3 Scene 1 isRead MoreMinor Characters Of Shakespeare s Hamlet1595 Words   |  7 Pages Through Shakespeare’s use of minor characters in his play, Hamlet, the playwright was able to subtly develop Hamlet’s character. 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