FREE ESSAY ON HAMLET

HAMLET

Hamlet identifies with an adolescent of the 1990's more than
he does with the youth of his own time. Hamlet is immature,
sarcastic, and takes action during the heat of passion which
is very much like the behavior of the youth in the 1990's.
Love, control over action, and the ability to overcome
depression are just a few ways to prove maturity. It is
obvious Hamlet loves Ophelia in his own way ". . . the
celestial and my soul's idol, the most beautified Ophelia . . ."
(Hamlet. II, ii, 109- 110), but his way is not mature enough
to include trust toward his lover. The trust that Hamlet
should have given her was the key of his madness. This
madness that Hamlet cannot trust his love with is the same
madness that he loses total control over because of his
immaturity; it then causes him to do things, such as kill
Polonius, that a person that was mature could stop. The
madness that Hamlet assumes is understandable but he can
never get over the actual death of his father by still wearing
black a year later, and the hasty marriage of his mother to
Claudius. Compared to Horatio who is calm and cool
throughout the play, and Fortinbras who collected an army
to fight for his uncle's land and honor, Hamlet's maturity
level for his time is low, especially for being a prince. Today
Hamlet's age group is more immature than during his own
time so he relates to the youth of the 1990's better than he
does with the adolescents of his own time. Sarcasm, and
blunt rudeness is often used by Hamlet in order to offend
people that, during his time, he should not have offended.
Hamlet often used the hasty marriage of his mother to offend
Claudius. The first time that Hamlet offends Claudius in the
company of another person is when Claudius is supposed to
be helping cheer Hamlet up. "A little more than kin, and less
than kind." (Hamlet. I, ii, 65) is just as rude during Hamlet's
time as almost anything that a person could say today, it just
takes a little thinking for the people of today to get what
Hamlet means. The second person that Hamlet is openly
rude to is Polonius. Hamlet, in front of Claudius and
Gertrude, insults Polonius by calling him ". . . a fishmonger."
(Hamlet. II, ii, 174) This is not the only way that Hamlet
offended Polonius. Hamlet offended Polonius by insulting his
daughter. Hamlet is crude in his own day by asking Ophelia
"Lady, shall I lie in your lap?" (Hamlet. III, ii, 115) What is
strange about Hamlet's ability to use his mouth is that the
youth of today is able to use the same kinds of sarcasm and
rudeness effectively, just as Hamlet does, but with Hamlet's
political position he should not have offended the people
such as his stepfather. Being radical and acting on impulse is
something that Hamlet had to use in order to get his work
finished. Hamlet, having a hard time getting revenge, applied
his anger from the judgment of his mother to kill who he
thought was Claudius. Hamlet also needed to be on his own
deathbed in order to finally get angry enough to kill Claudius.
The way that Hamlet uses his anger to take action is very
much like the youth today in the fact that if someone has a
problem with log cutting, for example, they hold protests and
take action against that problem. The second way that
Hamlet is extreme is when he goes with the ghost that looks
like his father even though his friends warn him that the ghost
may be evil and ". . .tempt you toward the flood . . . Or to
the dreadful summit of the cliff . . ." (Hamlet. I, iv, 69-70). If
the prince was thinking right he would not have gone with
the ghost that resembled the old ". . . King, father, royal
Dane . . ." (Hamlet. I, iv, 45) Hamlet's radical actions do
not just prove that he is immature but also proves that he
needs action from outside sources in order to get a reaction
from himself. This is just like the youth of the 1990's in the
respect that if something is wrong, such as the cutting of an
old growth forest, then they usually act against it in dramatic
ways. An immature, mouthy, extremist is what adolescents
of the 1990's are compared to the youth of Hamlet's time.
The inability to love maturely, rudeness towards authority,
and reacting to anger is what the youth of the 1990's and
Hamlet have in common. Hamlet would have a much easier
time living during these times than his own. Hamlet's
immaturity, rudeness, and radical behavior is just like
today's youth and that is the insight that Hamlet has towards
the youth of the 1990's. 
Bibliography
Hamlet