According to the conventional plot formula, the forces of good are clearly opposed to the forces of evil. Fight of good and evil; good ends up triumphing. In Hamlet, William Shakespeare created an excellent cast of unpleasant characters. The world of Elsinore is a world of deceit and death, a cesspool of humanity's most disgusting vices. What's less clear is which main characters constitute the good side. Unfortunately for conventions, Shakespeare takes the traditional "good" roles of the dashing young prince and the virginal maiden, and distorts them by giving them flaws. Even though Hamlet and Ophelia are not one-dimensional, their exposure necessarily reveals lower, more corrupt characters. Readers come to recognize that in a corrupt world, the highest virtue is all too susceptible to a great fall; therefore, at the end of the play, they should feel no admiration for the two tragic lovers, only pity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay At first, readers identify the moral high ground with Hamlet. Although his grief can be interpreted as excessive, we recognize in Hamlet a sense of righteousness and supreme humanity. When Gertrude asks Hamlet why his father's death "seems so special to him", he exclaims: "It seems so, madam? No, it is. I don’t know, “it seems”” (I.ii.9). Hamlet's sincere indignation is amplified because it follows the king's empty and smug speech. Furthermore, the respect and trust that Horatio, a completely honest individual, shows in Hamlet is proof of the prince's integrity. Yet as Hamlet's depression fails to subside, readers begin to see something terribly wrong. Events beyond his control push him towards the abyss of madness and cynicism, and reveal the flaws at the heart of his character. In his first and fourth soliloquies, Hamlet expresses his desire to commit suicide and only abstains because this act would be a sin. His anxiety towards the world, however, is unbridled: “What a work of man...the beauty of the world, the model of animals! And yet, for me, what is this quintessence of dust? (II.ii.42). Hamlet is depressed because he feels that Gertrude and Claudius betrayed his father's memory by marrying so soon after the funeral. Without resorting to suicide, he is driven to desperate measures; the peaceful prince is now ready for murder. Hamlet is not unaware of his own transformation. He willingly turns his incisive gaze towards him. Commenting on the fatal defects in men, he gives some revealing ideas: Their other virtues, let them be as pure as grace... Must, in the general censure, take the corruption of this particular fault. (I.iv.20) Hamlet's fatal flaw – highlighted by the characters around him – is his desire for revenge. This dark intention soon consumes his being and his virtues. But unlike Claudius, Hamlet is not a murderer at heart; he delays the act as long as possible, failing to kill from the start and end his vendetta with minimal bloodshed. He ruminates, walks and gives long philosophical speeches. Like an actor ill-suited to his role, he needs multiple and blatant clues to take action. The ghost of his father is forced to reappear during Hamlet's passionate criticism of Gertrude: “Don't forget. This visit / Is only to sharpen your almost blunt aim” (III.iv.75). Once again, Hamlet wastes time by verbally attacking the queeninstead of continuing with the task assigned to him. It is only after seeing Fortinbras late in the play, ready to sacrifice many men and much wealth for a meager piece of land, that Hamlet truly resolves to act. Even though Hamlet ultimately kills Claudius, it could be said that he provided neither the means nor the opportunity. The poisoned sword was wielded by Laertes and the king himself planned the fencing match. Hamlet's lack of initiative demonstrates that he is not a true killer. He is pushed to action by extraordinary circumstances - Laertestrahison and betrayal of the queen by Claudius. As Nietzsche said: “He who fights monsters must be careful not to become a monster himself, because when you look long into the abyss, the abyss also looks back at you. » Hamlet succumbed. Nowhere is this fact more evident than in Act III, scene iii, where Hamlet has the opportunity to kill the king while he prays - and chooses not to do so because he wishes to send Claudius to hell. Hamlet is not a seeker of justice guided by a high value system – his revenge is ugly and very personal. Hamlet should neither be hated nor admired, for he is neither entirely responsible nor excluded for the final death of the play. Although Hamlet finds comfort in completing his task and selecting Fortinbras to lead his fellow Danes, he dies a broken man, having partly become the monster he worked so hard to kill. The “gentle prince” deserves only pity from the reader. Being a young woman in a corrupt, male-dominated court, it was perhaps inevitable that Ophelia's apparent purity would prove to be a farce - that she would be brutally used as a pawn, ruined, then tossed aside like a dirty rag. The reader's first encounter with Ophelia in Act I, Scene III, suggests none of the above. In fact, Ophelia seems to possess verve and wit, resisting her brother's warnings about her growing relationship with Hamlet: Show me not, as some unsightly pastors do, the steep and thorny path that leads to paradise, while, like a puff, d and reckless libertine, himself treads the primrose path and does not count his own rede. (I.iii.16) Ophélie proves herself to be exceptionally perceptive. Although she addresses Laertes outwardly, she also subtly criticizes Polonius, the courtier who declares with a straight face that "brevity is the soul of wit" in the middle of a long speech. Ophelia is not just a pretty face devoid of mental faculties. She seems mature and reserved. However, this rosy conception of Ophelia is soon destroyed when she agrees to Claudius and Polonius' plans to spy on Hamlet. She allows herself to be manipulated knowingly – but also helplessly –. Regardless, the lovers' conversation is revealing: Ham. Yes, really; for the power of beauty will sooner transform the honesty of what she is into a debauch than the force of honesty can translate beauty into her image. It was sometimes a paradox, but time now proves it. I loved you once.Oph.Indeed, my lord, you made me believe it.(III.i.54)Hamlet means that beauty in women is generally a tool. Tools handled by impure hands do not remain impeccable. Polonius, despite his paternal affections, pushed Ophelia towards Hamlet with ulterior motives. If he had a genuine desire to protect her, he would have sent her back to the countryside. Shakespeare shows Polonius' conversation with Reynaldo in Act II, Scene I for one reason: to establish Polonius' hidden trick. Polonius knows what Ophelia means when she says that Hamlet made her believe that he loved her – that they had had sex.