Analysis Of Shakespeare s Hamlet - 1060 Words

McKenna Georgi Mrs. Wenning English Literature 7 December 2014 Relationships in Hamlet â€Å"True love is an act of the will-a conscious decision to do what is best for the other person instead of ourselves.† The quote by Billy Graham relates to the tragic play, Hamlet, by stating how true love is and should be rather than love being thought out to be doing what is best for yourself. One family in the story involves Hamlet, Gertrude, King Hamlet, and Claudius and the other family includes Ophelia, Polonius, and Laertes. Hamlet’s family serves as a foil for Ophelia’s family. Among these two families, the relationships between the parents and their children are represented in different ways. The relationship that Hamlet has with his father’s†¦show more content†¦She commands Hamlet to â€Å"cast thy knighted color off† (1.2.70) and that â€Å"thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die† (1.2.74). Obviously, Gertrude is not in grief over her husband’s death so much so that she remarries to King Hamlet’s brother in less than four months. Hamlet feels his father is being betrayed from Gertrude’s lack of mourning due to his death. In result, when the Ghost of King Hamlet appears to reveal the truth about his passing, Hamlet will do anything for revenge, which then causes more of a drift between Gertrude and her son. The ghost and Hamlet both strongly condemn the incestuous or guilty relationship between Claudius and Gertrude. To the Elizabethans â€Å"if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing; he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless† (Old Testament), in meaning that relations between the wife and the brother of the husband were to be prohibited. In regard, people of this time viewed this occurrence to be as if the husband’s brother then became the brother of the wife as well. By believing this theory, Gertrude and Claudius’ marriage was sickening to most, es pecially Hamlet. All in all, the decision by Gertrude to deceive grief and move onto the next man in line, insulted Hamlet in such a way that he wanted nothing to do with the Queen. Shakespeare’s message about unhealthy relationships resulting in a tragedy includes the association of Hamlet and the Ghost. The interaction