Essay Example on Abominable Aspiration in the play Hamlet

Abominable Aspiration Suzanne Collins once wrote For there to be betrayal there would have to have been trust first postiting that it is in the connections closest to us that pain will result when individuals somehow lose their way In the play Hamlet the characters of Hamlet King Claudius and Polonius are all blinded by personal ambition and as a result lose connection to their true path enabling them to hurt the ones they love and who had trust in them In general one s ambitions and lofty aspirations can enable a once moral individual to become untrue to themselves Once disconnected from one's authentic self a person loses their moral compass and is destined to destroy and betray those whom they once held most dear Throughout the play Prince Hamlet is able to erase himself and his humanist education to become possessed by his father s warlike spirit in an attempt to solve and eventually avenge his father's untimely death Yet in the process he disregards the feelings of his lover Ophelia eventually leading to her suicide Following the first meeting of Hamlet and his deceased father the distraught prince is instructed by The Ghost to put an antic disposition on 1 5 193 in an attempt to save Old Hamlet from eternal damnation 

This sudden change in personality stuns the majority of the palace especially Ophelia who saw upon her lovers face a look so piteous in purport as if he had been loosèd out of hell to speak of horrors 2 1 92 94 Although it is obvious to Hamlet that he is causing Ophelia pain it becomes evident that he is unable to present his true self as Hamlet exclaims that in his heart there was a kind of fighting that would not let me sleep 5 2 4 5 This shows how as Hamlet becomes further consumed by the presence of his father's ghost the need to avenge him takes over Hamlet's mind Under his socially adept and charming persona King Claudius is a sneak who would commit the most heinous of acts in order to obtain and keep political power In the process of gaining this power he commits an atrocity and murders his innocent brother Due to his natural charisma Claudius is able is able to convey fake distress over his dear brother's death 1 2 1 convincing the majority of the palace of his innocence in Old Hamlet's death This was first shown in his opening speech believing that Hamlet s constant mourning of his father is sweet and commendable 1 2 90 However in an attempt to get Hamlet to move forward away from his father s death he informs the young prince that he must know your father lost a father That father lost lost his Even though Claudius knows that he took Hamlet's father from him his personal ambition and lack of a moral compass enable him to try and deflect from the murder 

However Claudius is not done with his coercion of Hamlet attempting to convince him that his grief shows a will most incorrect to heaven 1 2 99 Although he is trying to convince Hamlet that he should be happy for his father for he is now in heaven it is later discovered that Old Hamlet isn't in Heaven instead suffering in sulf rous and tormenting flames 1 5 6 However once Hamlet discovers that it was in fact Claudius who murdered his father the King attempts to turn Laertes against the young prince asking Laertes what he planned to undertake to show yourself in deed your father's son more than in words 4 7 141 143 Here the King is attempting to provoking Laertes to do his bidding and kill Hamlet He doesn't care if Laertes dies in the process as he is solely concerned with keeping his power Although Polonius is not as murderous or evil as his contemporary Claudius his desire to fulfill different ambitions of his enable him to hurt and spy on his own kin Initially he uses his daughter Ophelia in order to secure his position in the Danish court Although Ophelia raves constantly about the love that her and Hamlet share the young prince is not in good favor with King Claudius and if Ophelia and Hamlet were to elope it would not reflect well upon Polonius 

As a result Polonius bans Ophelia from having a relationship with Hamlet conveying to his daughter that he would not in plain terms from this time forth have you so slander any moment leisure as to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet 1 4 141 142 Regarding Polonius son Laertes Polonius pays Reynaldo lay slight sullies 2 1 45 on Laertes so that Laertes will confess his true misdoings to Reynaldo who can then report back to Polonius If Laertes were to act immorally and word were to reach the King Polonius seat in the Danish court would be in incredible jeopardy Another representation of Polonius being untrue to himself is shown by his habit of hiding behind curtains to eavesdrop He desires to see behind the masks and lies of others but not at the risk of leaving his self vulnerable In doing this he contradicts the advice he gave to Ophelia that to thine own self be true 1 3 84 Those who become inauthentic under these sway of personal ambition tend to lose their moral anchor and as a result are inclined to hurt and deceive the ones they care about the most In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare none of the major character who blindly follow their ambitions are able to escape losing themselves and the trust of their loved ones in the end The demise of Hamlet King Claudius and Polonius and those who love them all represent this tragic outcome