Prompt: One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an
essay in which you discuss how a character in a novel or a drama struggles to free himself or
herself from the power of others or seeks to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in
your essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work.
The title character of Hamlet by William Shakespeare constantly pleads with himself to find his purpose and acts irrationally in his attempts to control the direction of his life. The main conflict in Hamlet's life is deciding if he is his father's son, the heir to the throne, or if he is his own man with freewill. Although Hamlet may not be conscious of it, his character symbolizes a young man who is caught in a rift of power with his father's ghost on one side and his uncle and princely duties on the other. Shakespeare's Hamlet believes he is fighting for justice, which will in turn help him identify himself as a man, but the message behind his struggle is his inability to set himself free and lack of control.
Hamlet believes that by killing Claudius he will avenge his father's wrongful death and defeat his nemesis, but he is unaware that by taking the ghosts orders he is losing his own identity. Hamlet was on his way to carving his own destiny by attending university until his father's untimely death brought him back to Elsinore. Old Hamlet's ghost orders his son to avenge his death and Hamlet naturally feels obligated to abide. In Hamlet's eyes, killing Claudius seems like a good dead, but he fails to weigh the consequences of how executing the deed would impact him. First of all, Hamlet did not want to be king, so making such a bold power move would not put him in a favorable position. Secondly, Old Hamlet was hardly a father figure to him and taking such a risk to avenge his death really would not supply Hamlet with much pride. It is too late when Hamlet realizes that killing Claudius will not benefit him and the young man gives up control of his life over to providence. The once headstrong and ambitious young scholar loses the battle to free himself of other people's control because he was too trusting in others to have his best interest.
The lack of control Hamlet has of his life is illustrated in the limited choices he feels he has. To Hamlet he feels he has only three options: Listen to the ghost, accept his position as heir to the throne, or kill himself. He spends little time contemplating the idea of returning to university, or escaping to be independent. An important motif in Hamlet is isolation and can be seen in Hamlet's sense of being trapped in Elsinore. Even if he were to escape from the castle and go back to university, he would still be under the surveillance of Claudius' spies. The dominant power Claudius has on Hamlet's activities is overbearing and in turn has made the prince believe that his only chance at control in is life is suicide. Hamlet could very well leave Elsinore, but not matter where he escapes to he will be a prisoner in his own head. Therefore, Hamlet's ability to free himself from his royal duties and Claudius' overpowering grip is almost nonexistent because he does not believe he could ever truly escape.
Shakespeare's Hamlet suggests that fulfilling the needs of others as a way to find one's own independence will lead to their own loss of identity and control in their life. In the eyes of Hamlet, deciding on whether to kill Claudius determines his morality and if he is a faithful son. However, to the audience it is more of a question if Hamlet will embark on his own destiny, or follow the orders of his superiors. His failure to think for himself and be free from the control others have on his life results in the loss of his individuality.
No comments:
Post a Comment