Shakespeare’s presentation of family relationships in Hamlet

In Hamlet there are three key families that are the main focus of the play. The families are the Hamlet family, the Polonius family, and the Fortinbras family. There are many similarities and differences between the three separate families. One similarity all three families have is that at least one member of their family seems to have a hidden agenda. Hamlet wants revenge on Claudius and the reason Claudius did it was to become the new King of Denmark. Laertes wants revenge on his father Polonius, who was killed by Hamlet. Lastly, Fortinbras has a hidden agenda when he initially says that he wants to go through Denmark to invade Poland, but there are suspicions that he has a secret agenda to overthrow Denmark and reclaim the land that was lost when the old King of Denmark defeated his father. and became king.

There is also espionage in Hamlet between families and this shows that there is a lack of trust. An example would be when Polonius sends the spy Reynaldo to spy on Laertes because he suspects his son is up to no good. He says “your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth”, this is a metaphor and means simply to use a subtle lie and catch the truth. Polonius is saying to use the bait of lies to find more information and more specifically the truth. This idea of ​​telling a lie and discovering the truth can also be supported by Polonius saying “with pinwheels and with bias essays”, which again can be interpreted as indirect attempts to tell a lie in order to get the truth out. “Windlasses” metaphorically means decoy, eg tricking an animal by making an indirect approach, and so by Reynaldo it is telling a little lie as a decoy and as an indirect attempt to discover the truth.

This lack of trust can also be seen in Hamlet and Claudius’ familial relationship, as Hamlet knows his uncle killed his brother to become king and Claudius sees Hamlet as a threat to his throne and at one point even tries to send him away. to England and have it. he killed him there. The reason why Claudius sent Hamlet to England is explained when Claudius says “as yet your scar looks red and raw…you cannot harden coldly”. Scar is a scar or wound and it is assumed that England has recently been wounded by the Danish sword and is therefore more likely to carry out the king’s order to kill Hamlet. It could also mean that they are unlikely to put aside and ignore the fact that Hamlet, who is from Denmark, is coming to England and with orders to kill him, they are not willing to put this aside and let him live.

Shakespeare also presents the Hamlet family as incestuous, especially his mother and uncle, who are now married after the previous guy’s death. Hamlet seems disgusted that his mother can move on so fast and warm the bed of old kings with his brother. In Hamlet’s first soliloquy he says that the time between his father’s death and his mother’s remarriage is “two months”. Ophelia, on the other hand, said that “two two months” have passed since the old king’s death, so Hamlet could be said to show his disgust at what his mother and uncle have done by getting married by exaggerating how quickly his father. has been forgotten

In the first soliloquy he also says “such an excellent king, who went to this Hyperion to a satyr”. This first part here shows how Hamlet is unfavorable towards his uncle the new king and his father the old king by saying look at what the king once was and look at him now. He compares the two as family and as the role of the king. In both circumstances, Hamlet seems to dislike his uncle and does not trust him. “Hyperion to satyr”, this again shows how he compares both his uncle, the new king, and his father, the old king, by saying that his father is a “hyperion”, which is the Greek god of the sun, who also uses elemental images of how he sees. his father as the sun that is needed for all life to exist. He then goes on to say that his uncle is a “satyr”, which is a grotesque creature, half human and half goat. They were also associated with drunkenness and lewdness. This again can be linked to Hamlet’s hatred and disgust for what his uncle and mother have done by marrying and sharing the bed that the mother and the old king once shared.

One could argue that this dysfunctional family of Hamlets is one of the reasons, if not the reason, that Hamlet spirals down and eventually becomes obsessed with revenge and becomes a fragile state. This may also be supported by the fact that the main reason Hamlet considers revenge in the first place is that his uncle had killed, which is also a biblical reference to the story of Cain and Abel. In this story one brother killed the other out of jealousy, greed and then marrying the dead brother’s wife. This biblical reference seems to go well with what Hamlet’s uncle has done because he killed his brother due to his own greed for power and the throne of Denmark and then marries his brother’s wife. Hamlet refers to this as the “greatest sin”.

Hamlet’s obsession with revenge on his uncle could also be seen as the Oedipus complex that a man named Freud developed after seeing Hamlet. If his theory were used to describe Hamlet’s actions and his interaction with his mother and uncle, then it would be that Hamlet wishes to get rid of his uncle due to his sexual desire for his mother.

In conclusion, Shakespeare’s presentation of Hamlet’s complex family relationships is very well done and very well intertwined with the overall plot.