Essay Example on Honors Reason Vs Feeling in Hamlet William Shakespeare

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Honors Reason Vs Feeling in Hamlet William Shakespeare the playwright of Hamlet uses the thoughts and actions of the protagonist Hamlet to demonstrate to the reader that this play is displaying the conflict of emotion and reason Through the actions of Hamlet Shakespeare makes use of his belief that actions that are solely based on reason is more logical than rash actions based solely on emotion Shakespeare uses Hamlet as a method to convey his lesson to belief of the negative impacts that acting primarily on emotion and neglecting reason can cause Hamlet often finds himself in tragic circumstances and wild situations that allow his actions to fluctuate between emotion and reason Hamlet is so hyper focused on doing the things that are morally just There are a few major decisions where Hamlet uses pure emotion to decide These decisions play a pivotal role in his demise The first major mistake that Hamlet makes while acting purley on emotion is when he accidentally kills Polonius During the scene where Hamlet and his mother are having a heated conversation 



Hamlet is speaking so brutally to his mother that Polonius who is hiding behind the curtains in the room reveals his hiding so that Hamlet doesn t attempt to murder his mother Hamlet so shocked by this spy screams out How now a rat Dead for a ducat dead and kills Polonius William Shakespeare 3 4 Hamlet s uncertainty of who he has just killed is exposed when Gertrude asks Hamlet who he has just killed and Hamlet in bewilderment asks Nay I know not Is it the King 3 4 Hamlet was overcome with emotions of joy when he thought he had kill the king He believed he was avenging his father s death By killing Polonius this led to the death of Ophelia Laertes and himself Without Hamlet s decision to kill the king in a rash manor Shakespeare is showing the reader that actions have serious consequences if they are not thought out Another major decision where Hamlet let his emotion overrule his reason was when he agreed to fight Laertes and accept the king s challenge Hamlet up until this moment in the story had denied the king s plot to kill him but because of the humiliation Hamlet was overwhelmed with emotion and agreed to this battle In act 5 Hamlet states O I die Horatio

The potent poison quite o erwhelms my spirit 5 2 These were the last words prince Hamlet spoke His decision to fight Laertes cost him his life because it was a decision based on emotion and not reason Is he didnt act solely on emotion in the decision to fight laertes he would still be alive William Shakespeare highlights the events in the life of Hamlet to facilitate his belief that acting on emotions is a destructive entry in one s life and can lead to death Although Hamlet s emotional actions have a greater impact on him throughout the play Hamlet mostly acted based on reason Hamlet had portrayed reason over emotion after he had met with the ghost for the first time After hearing what the ghost said to him Hamlet had every right to act emotionally and instinctively revenge his father right at that moment Instead he decided to use logic and restraint to make sure that the ghost was being truthful about Claudius Hamlet stays calm and comes up with a master plan that he will have the players Play something like the murder of his father Before thine uncle And observe his looks 



2 2 Hamlet let the truth reveal itself as time continued He also discovered the Ghosts story was true In act 2 Hamlet states The spirit that I have seen May be the devil and the devil hath power T assume a pleasing shape yea and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy As he is very potent with such spirits Abuses me to damn me 2 2 This quote shows Hamlet discussing the religious purity of the ghost This gives him a reason to not act rashly and give him a reason to not act on emotion This act of reason made it possible for Hamlet to eventually kill his father's murderer Hamlet also used great emotional restraint and reason when the time had come for him to avenge his father Hamlet used reason to ensure that Claudius doesn't get the easy way out and because Hamlet did not use emotion and waited patiently to kill Claudius one can interpret that Claudius died full of sin Based on the examples from the play Hamlet has a conflict regarding reason vs emotions Hamlet the character has a lot of issues he has overcome SHakespeare is trying to convey to the audience that you should ac with reason instead of emotion His goal is to demonstrate that acting with emotion and neglecting reason is a negative entity towards life as a whole


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