Significant Events Can Change An Individuals Perspective English Literature Essay

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015

What is your opinion of the idea that significant events can change an individual's perspective? My opinion is that significant events can alter a persons perspective but not completely change it.

Hamlet begins with an story that one quickly comes to realize there is an opinion of bitterness and hatred towards the new King of Denmark, his Uncle. Hamlet's opinion is this way because he is grieving over the death of his father, and because his mother married his uncle so soon after his fathers death. I feel that through his writing the Aurthor more than adequately shows that losing a parent at an early and impressionable age, can drastically affect someone through the remainder of their life and can greatly influences not only their personal opinions but also their "forming" values and beliefs.Hamlet is openly sarcastic towards his mother and step father in order to show them his dissapproval of the marriage. This worries the King and Queen because if the prince isn't happy with the marriage then the kingdom won't be happy either.This creates a great divide not only within their own family but the discontent is felt even if its not spoken.

Hamlet's opinion is altered by his learning of his fathers murder at the hands of his uncle. His grief is replaced by anger at his newfound knowledge. Hamlet is asked by his fathers ghost to avenge his death and murder the King, which Hamlet willingly (at the time) agrees to do.He then becomes almost fanatical about this promise. Hamlet, in an effort to revenge his Father's murder then becomes unpredicable and acts implusively in order to fulfill the promise he made. This is evident when he attempts to stab the King but blindly stabsthe King's right hand man instead.While thinking of ways to get rid of his Uncle, Hamlet goes from being sad and spineless to being pocessed with rage and a desire to kill him. I think this is because he isnt really sure which way his feelings are leading him and therefore being unable to understand his emotions goes from one extreme to another.

Another event that I think changes Hamlet is the "deception" he feels from his Mother.

Unable or unwilling to understand her haste to enter the relationship and marriage to his Uncle, Hamlet becomes bitter towards the Queen and also to other woman in general, even the one he has claimed to love, Ophelia.

Ophelia cannot understand how Hamlet's feelings towards her have changed, from those of love and is further confused when he madly sends her away from him.After being turned away from the man she loves and the accidental death of her Father by Hamlet, Ophelia goes off the edge and drowns.Then Hamlet in losing his love, realizes he really did care for her, again feels let down by another woman he loves, like his mother, the Queen, he was decieved by Ophelia's death.Sadly his mother soon also dies accidentally in a poisoning that was meant for Hamlet, again leaving Hamlet betrayed and abdoned by a woman he loves, even though he is greatly angered, his mother's death made him forgive her, but he still realized even in death, that he did love both woman,despite what he believed they did to him.

The final event the I feel affected Hamlet, was his discovery that not only did his Uncle marry his Mother too soon after his father's death but that his Uncle Claudius was actually the person who murdered his father. In a bizarre episode his Father's ghost appears to him at the castle and by talking to the ghost Hamlet discovers the painful truth about his Father's death, he takes this in stride but formulates a plan to avvenge his Father's death and begins to pretend going mad to throw off everyone, that he really wants to murder the King. As his foe and Hamlet battle,Hamlet stabs Laertes with his sword and as he lays dying, Laertes tells him that he was hired by the King to kill Hamlet. This statement confirmed what Hamlet suspected and Hamlet turns his sword on his Uncle and fatally stabs the King, killing him.Hamlet also ends up dying as he was cut by Laertes poisoned blade.

In conclusion I feel these are the events that show the strongest how a perspective can be altered.One event leads to another and all are intertwined to form the story,show how relationships and actions can create an ides and support a person's theory, in this case the feelings and ideas were Hamlet's.