Personality Formation of Hamlet

Abstract: Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare， written between 1599 and 1601. The play describes how the Prince Hamlet take revenge on his uncle Claudius. In the process of his revenge， Prince Hamlet has eventually formed a unique personality under that circumstance.

摘 要：莎士比亞的《哈姆雷特》創作于1599至1601年，描述了哈姆雷特王子如何對其叔叔復仇的悲劇故事。在其復仇的過程中，哈姆雷特王子獨特的性格漸漸形成。

Keywords: personality；Prince Hamlet；William Shakespeare

關鍵詞：性格；哈姆雷特；莎士比亞

作者簡介：何春燕，女，出生于1991年2月；籍貫：云南；學歷：本科；研究方向：英語。

[中圖分類號]：I106 [文獻標識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139(2012)-16-00-01

Introduction

Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. This paly is set in the Kingdom of Denmark， describes how Prince Hamlet takes revenge on his uncle Claudius for two main reasons. The first reason is Claudius’s murdering of Prince Hamlet’s father—the old King Hamlet， and the second reason is Claudius’s usurping the throne and remarrying Prince Hamlet’s mother—Queen Gertrude. This essay will firstly discuss Claudius’s influence on the formation of Hamlet’s personality. Following， it will discuss the impacts of Gertrude. Finally， it will discuss Hamlet’s personal reasons.

Claudius’s influence on the formation of Hamlet’s personality

During the process of Prince Hamlet’s personality formation， his uncle Claudius has played an very important role. Since Prince Hamlet was told that his father was killed by Claudius， the combat between Prince Hamlet and Claudius was launched. Prince Hamlet was suffering after he realized the truth of his father’s death. Yet he could not take revenge on Claudius because the throne was usurped by Claudius. All that he could do is to restrain himself and not to make his uncle be conscious of his actions. The silent endurance of his personality was formed. Also， the repressed personality was formed.

Queen Gertrude’s influence on the formation of Hamlet’s personality

Seeing from the whole play， we can concluded that the most tremendous factor that has influenced the formation of Prince Hamlet’s personality is his mother’s remarrying to Claudius. Prince Hamlet treated his mother’s remarrying as losing virginity. His view on Queen Gertrude seems repugnant. He could not bear his Queen Gertrude’s remarrying and tried to persuaded her not to be tempted by Claudius. The ambivalence of Prince Hamlet’s personality was formed. He loved his mother， yet he hated her betrayal to his father. In his opinion， Claudius was an infringer. Claudius’s murdering his father and remarrying his mother reactivated Prince Hamlet’s desire to take revenge on Claudius.

Hamlet’s personal characters on the formation of his personality

Prince Hamlet realized the truth of his father’s death after talking to the ghost of his father. As a prince， Prince Hamlet did not enjoy the superiority of his statue. As a son， he had to take revenge for his father. As the heir to the throne， he had to recapture his kingship. “To be， or not to be” is not a matter of survival， but also a matter of his value. To do， or not to do. He showed us a personality of constitutionally unable to decide(Orbell， 1993). Then he came to the thinking of death. Once again， he hesitated concerning the uncertainty of death. This is the way of Hamlet thinking， always hesitating and desperate(Shakespeare Hapgood， 1999).

Conclusion

The personality formation of Prince Hamlet is connected with three elements: Claudius’s murdering his father， Queen Gertrude’s remarrying Claudius， and his own characters. All these three elements have made up a hesitated， silently endured and ambivalent Prince Hamlet. His revenge on Claudius is fluctuating and end up with a tragedy.

References：

[1]、Shakespeare， W. Hapgood， R.， 1999， ‘Hamlet， Prince of Denmark’， Cambridge University Press， UK， pp. 87.

[2]、Orbell， J， 1993， ‘Hamlet and the Psychology of Rational Choice under Uncertainty’， Rationality and Society， January 1993 vol. 5， no. 1， pp. 127-140