hamlet
In William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the concept of cultural identity is explored through Hamlet's isolation, which is created by the conflict between his duty to his father and his duties to the monarchy and society. Hamlet is isolated from his society due to his troubled emotions stemming from his uncertainty of how to react to his father's murder. Hamlet's duty as a son is to avenge his father's death. Hamlet's duty as a citizen and a Prince is to protect the King and to ensure stability in the monarchy. For Hamlet to avenge his father, would be for him to kill the King, creating a conflict between his duties. As a result, Hamlet has difficulties decided which of his duties is more important and instead decides to gather evidence proving Claudius's guilt so the his revenge would be justifiable to society and himself. The "wrongness" of murdering a king who is also a relative makes the conflict and indecision of Hamlet more understandable. Hamlet's duty as a son, based on his social status and circumstances, encourages him to seek revenge for his murdered father. For Hamlet to be looked upon as a noble and worthy son, would require him to kill his father's murderer. His actions would only be approved by society as l
ong as the murderer was thought to be guilty. In Hamlet's first soliloquy after the encounter with the ghost in the beginning, when the ghost tells him he must seek revenge, Hamlet quickly accepts his duty as a son. Hamlet seems to decide that he will "wipe away" all of his memories of his "youth" and all "past pressures" so that the ghost's "commandment" to seek revenge would be his only focuse, without the distraction of "baser matter". At this point, Hamlet's duty as a son is clearly shown as he accepts the ghost's words, due to perhaps fear or loyalty, and he appears to decide that he must kill Claudius. Hamlet knows that the values he believes in which are the values of the society in which raised him, would not allow him to live as a noble and worthy son and citizen. Hamlet's duty to the monarchy and his role in society are in direct conflict with his duty as a son. Hamlet's duty to the monarchy is to protect the King and Hamlet's role in society as a Prince is to show leadership, live an honorable life and ensure stability in the kingdom. It is socially expected of Hamlet to protect the King and his position as Prince determines his need to obey society's moral values to remain a noble and worthy person. A direct conflict would occur if Hamlet killed Claudius because that would fulfill his duties as a son because society would view his actions as betrayal towards the society and monarchy. It would mean acting against his own socially enforced values and committing the highest act of treachery in society and maybe his mind. This is very important due to Hamlet's indecision and resulting isolation since his duty to the monarchy and society is in direct conflict with his duty to his dead father. In William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, cultural identity is explored through Hamlet's isolation that results from th
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Approximate Word count = 1242
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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