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Hamlet Character Analysis

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Questions regarding life, death, and the reasoning behind all of our existences are questions philosophers continuously ask themselves, and unfortunately, philosophies have yet to sufficiently answer them. Over many centuries, an abundance of philosophers dedicated their lives in search of answers to these questions. Throughout Shakespeare's classic tragedy Hamlet, the protagonist explores these existential questions, seeking clarity and justice as he attempts to cope with his father's death. In the end, Hamlet proves to be an exceedingly existential character by showing concerns with reason, action, and death.
When Prince Hamlet’s father, king of Denmark, dies, he returns home and grieves the death of his father. In turn, he discovers his father’s death was no accident. The Ghost of Old Hamlet tells his son that his brother, Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius murdered him in order to receive his crown. The rest of the play revolves around Hamlet planning revenge against Claudius to prove he is truly guilty of the crime; however, Hamlet shows signs of ignorance toward manifesting his thoughts into action and relies on scheming instead. Reasoning causes him to delay his revenge against Claudius until Act V of the play, where he finally musters up the courage to kill Claudius. His decision to choose action over reason, after choosing reason for four Acts, proves Hamlet morphed into an existential character. Hamlet appears to be the embodiment of an anti-existentialist in the beginning

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