Shakespeares Hamlet and His Self-Destructive Temper

Table of Contents

Introduction
Anger
Hamlet
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Hamlet is one of Shakespeares most outstanding works. Feigned and real madness, incest, revenge, treachery, and moral corruption are some of the societal vices that the play depicts (Shakespeare, 19). Driven by a singular goal to avenge his fathers death, Hamlet lets his emotions cloud his judgments. This led to his untimely and early death. Rage can be quite destructive if not handled properly. More so, when a person is driven by negative energy, most times self-destruction looms around such a person. This essay will discuss Hamlets temperament as his problem and show how such a temper is not only self-destructive but how it affects society at large.

Anger

From time immemorial, one of the greatest problems humanity has ever known is anger. More difficult is anger management or control. Even though Hamlet was written based on a 13^th-century legend, we still can borrow a leaf from it. The entire play is cumulated with anger which eventually led to many deaths, hatred, and pain and, eventually, hurting supposedly loved ones.

Claudius, for example, envied his brother king and felt the throne had to be his. Thus, he poisoned his brother. However, there were many other ways that he could get power (Shakespeare, 18). And that is the danger of anger. It clouds the persons mind and shuts out sound reasoning that would have prevailed. Probably, if Claudius hadnt murdered King Hamlet, perhaps the story would have ended differently.

Cold-blooded murder is a psychoanalytic issue that played a major role in Hamlet. There are always ethical and philosophical problems that push to cold-blooded murder. This explains why Hamlet ended more like his uncle Claudius. His quest for blood revenge misled him and even his love for Ophelia wasnt enough to make him change his mind. (Shakespeare, 16)

Hamlet

Hamlet was a young man with a bright future. He had quite a several things that other young men lacked. You could say he was indeed privileged but it didnt dawn on him. More ironic is the fact that Hamlet was bent on cold-blooded murder on the instruction of a ghost. It is one thing for a young man with a bright future to abandon it in the name of revenge but it is entirely another thing when he does that on the instruction of a ghost. (Shakespeare, 26)

It is important to note that Hamlet had good intentions. Almost any sensible person would want to avenge a man who murdered their father and married their mother. What is questionable is his approach to the matter. Some people might want to argue that the cost of avenging the death of a parent can never be too high, but I beg to differ. Life is better when things are done according to ethical and moral norms. Also, it is glaring that Hamlet didnt keep his mother aware of his intentions or activities that led to his decision. That was what resulted in the argument between Hamlet and Gertrude, his mother; and the eventual murder of Polonius. (Shakespeare, 18)

Conclusion

Hamlet is a tragic play that is educative particularly to people of this contemporary age. Some of the traits exhibited in this play are prevalent amongst youths of today. Apart from being blinded by childish and inconsequential rage, lots of youths today are confused about what they want. This can be deadly and it subsequently affects our loved ones, as it is clearly shown in the play.