Is Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Self-preservation is a strong
factor. Things such as jealousy, pain, fear, death, etc. are main points in the
play. The characters act on selfishness, and they corrupt everyone and
everything. Examples being, Claudius killing his brother in the jealousy of his
life, and fear that his would never be as good. He also fears Hamlet
overthrowing him. Another example would be Hamlet. He wants to kill his Uncle
in revenge of his father's death, and there is controversy of him becoming
crazy. There is also Laertes, who wants revenge over his father's death. As
well as Fortinbras who wants to over throw the kingdom of Denmark for the
murder of his father. The last example would be Ophelia going crazy over the
death of her father, and winds up killing herself. All of these examples, you
can tell that self-preservation has a strong presence in Hamlet. Along with competing demands such as, Claudius competes for
King with Hamlet, and Fortinbras competes for the Kingdom against everyone as
well.
In one's eye it would seem that
Claudius has the most need for self-preservation. Reasoning for that would his
jealousy controlling his life. Example being, the murder of his brother to take
over his life. He wants to make sure that he can have the best life, which is
what the king gets. After he gets it he shows fear of Hamlet overthrowing him,
so he tries to keep a watchful eye on him just in case. "It is most
retrograde to our desire: And, we beseech you, bend you to remain Here, in the
cheer and comfort of our eye," (Act i, Scene i, Line 114) The moment the
king knew that he couldn't stop Hamlet from trying to kill him, he sends him to
England where he would get murdered upon arrival. "The death of Hamlet. Do
it, England; For like the hectic in my blood rages, And thou must cure me: till
I 'tis done, Howe'er my haps, my joys ne'ver begun." (Act v, Scene iii,
Line 65) He also competes for the kingdom, and to have all his demands filled.
To which he has to fight Hamlet.
When Laertes figures out that
Hamlet has killed his father, he wants revenge. He wants to murder Hamlet for
all the pain he has caused him and his sister.
He decides to kill him by challenging him to a duel, and he poisons the
end of his sword. He takes all the pain of his father's death and turns it to
hate towards Hamlet. If he would have won his battle, he would have won over
the King and became a more important member of the Kingdom; thus making his
life style a lot better.
When Fortinbras forms an army,
he does it in hopes to overthrow the Denmark kingdom. He does it as an act of
revenge and pain. Fortinbras father was killed by former King Hamlet Sr. and now he wants his revenge. The army he
gathers in Norway marches towards Denmark on a mission; to take over the land.
When seceding, he would also gain more power. Also an act of self-preservation
by making sure that his way of like is stronger by eliminating any possible
threat. In any case, no one would build an army of two thousand people if you
weren't planning on overthrowing Denmark and taking revenge for what the former
King has done. "Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats will not debate
the question of this straw:" (Act iv, Scene iv, Line 24) The
self-preservation clearly shows here because Hamlet- who wants revenge for his
father's death does it discreetly, whereas Fortinbras makes an army to take
over Denmark. When Fortinbras goes to take over Denmark he would have been
competing against the king and Hamlet for it, instead they have been killed.
For
Ophelia, self-preservation doesn't seem so important to her. She acts as a lady
and does as her father says as she loves him more than anyone, but in any case
she also loves Hamlet and wishes that her father and brother had not
disapproved. " Perhaps he
loves you now, And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch The virtue of his will,
but you must fear. His greatness weighed, his will is not his own, For he
himself is subject to his birth. He may not, as unvalued persons do, Carve for
himself, for on his choice depends The safety and health of this whole
state." (Act i, Scene i, Line 14) When Ophelia's father gets murdered, she
goes insane. She talks of her father a lot. "She speaks of her father,
says she hears there's tricks i' the worlds, and hems and beats her
heart." (Act iv, Scene v, Line 3) She also sings as such a crazy person,
and speaks about Hamlet and the things he said to her. "To-morrow is Saint
Valentine's day, All in the morning bedtime, and I a maid at your window, To be
your valentine. Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes, and dupp'd the
chamber-door; Let in the maid, that out a maid never departed more." Act
iv, Scene v, Line 47) She ended up killing herself by drowning. A total
opposite act of self-preservation, she had not cared for it at all. In the
beginning maybe, when her father was still alive, and there was hope for her
and Hamlet. But after all she loved was taken from her, she started to
doubt that living was worth it. In the end he decided it wasn't .
When
it comes to self-preservation some people may care for it more than others.
It's a part of life and in any cases humanity will have to deal with it. If you
want to make sure you survive in this world, you have to do what you need to-
or what you think you need to. Claudius believed he needed to take over his
brother's life, Fortinbras believed he needed to take drastic measures for
revenge and Ophelia believed she needed to kill herself because all her loved
ones we taken from her. Every action was due to the emotions people felt. An
act of simple emotions we can't control. But we can control how we act on them.
The characters in Hamlet acted poorly
and selfishly. They didn't handle their lives in the right way and they took
bad actions. Also their response to the competing demands was very hard, and
they hurt others by their bad actions.
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