In the story of Hamlet, Shakespeare is clearly sending an underlying message of how jealousy can affect someone’s entire life. Throughout the book there were many signs of jealousy amongst almost all the characters. However, it’s clear that Shakespeare had the intention of using Claudius and young Hamlet to demonstrate how bad jealousy can be; through all the chaos in the book, anyone reading can easily pick out the damage jealousy can create.
In the beginning of the act, the ghost of Old Hamlet appeared to find his son, in order to tell him the news as to what Claudius had done to him. Claudius, Young Hamlet’s uncle, had murdered Old Hamlet, In Jeffrey Wilson’s article, The meaning of Death in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, he explains the exact way the murder commenced. “King Hamlet dies off-stage, poisoned by his ambitious brother” (Wilson). The reasoning behind this murder was out of pure jealousy as to what Old Hamlet had possession of. This said fortune consisted of many valuable things including a loving wife by the name of Gertrude; however, what really drove Claudius’s jealousy out of proportion was having the keys to Denmark. This gave Claudius motivation into making the decision of killing Old Hamlet. Although this was a fictional story, the message of people taking jealousy out of proportion was stated clearly.
For the remainder of the story, it really spoke to the consequences of the cruel acts that came from Claudius. Although one could argue he had accomplished his mission in becoming the king of Denmark, he would have to deal with the repercussions of his actions. For example, after he killed Young Hamlet’s father, he says, “Oh, my offence is rank. It smells to Heaven. It hath the primal eldest curse upon ’t, A brother’s murder.” (Shakespeare, 37). Showing his little remorse after the horrid acts that just took place. Claudius’s mind was stuck on the fortune that was given to him from Hamlet’s death. This demonstrates greatly how power can really affect an individual’s head, being able to murder someone as valuable as a brother, out of pure jealousy shows a troubled person. Proving that Shakespeare uses Claudius in the story to show how far jealousy can really take people away from their morals.
After Claudius was named king, Young Hamlet was stripped out of position to become the leader of Denmark, thus making him jealous and angry. However, Claudius’s fortune just didn’t seem to end. Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude being the former queen, was obviously in love with the attention and respect she got from everyone in Denmark. In order to keep this attention, she decided to marry King Hamlet’s brother, Claudius. Creating an even more tense situation between Hamlet and the new King. This pushed Hamlet to his limits, making him feel alone and empty. He was disgusted by his mother’s actions and couldn’t believe what she had done, “He is disturbed by Gertrude’s remarriage even before he meets the Ghost and learns about Claudius’s betrayal” (Tuhbatullina). Although this didn’t necessarily make Hamlet jealous of the king, it made his anger toward the king rise, creating a fierce tension between them. Hamlet continued making his mother realize the mistake she had made in hopes she would realize what she is doing to their whole family, however after failing to acknowledge the common sense right in front of her, Hamlet simply says, “You are the queen, your husband’s brother’s wife/ And would it were not so, you are my mother” (Shakespeare, 171). Stating that although he has no respect for her actions, she will always be his mother. Hamlet tried to show his mother his empty feeling to try and revive the family, but failed.
Hamlet’s anger began to take over, and the feeling of revenging his father had become stronger than ever. Between the jealousy from taking the throne of Denmark, and his uncle becoming his stepfather, all he could think about is murdering Claudius. So, he sent off to do just that. He spoke to Laertes with aggression saying, “Then Trip him that his heels may kick at heaven/ And that his soul may be as damned and black/ As hell whereto he goes” (Shakespeare, 162). He stormed Claudius with full intentions on murdering him, and eventually brought King Claudius to mercy. However, despite all the anger he held toward Claudius, as he had him just where he wanted him, on the verge of death; he couldn’t kill him. This is due to the fact that Hamlet wanted him to suffer the rest of him life in guilt, and decided it would be more of a punishment to keep Claudius alive then to murder another member of his family.
Although Hamlet’s feelings were completely understandable for wanting to kill Claudius, after his own uncle almost ruined his whole family. Hamlet demonstrated another underlying message that Shakespeare wanted to send out, that message is that living in the dark side of the past can ruin someone’s whole life if they let it. Hamlet went through a lot, therefore making it understandable why revenge became his whole life; however, if he truly wanted to become the future King of Denmark he needed to make some sort of understanding with the king. Allowing his dark past take over his entire life created a monster out of him, and this happens to people every day in real life. A psychiatrist even explained in an article proving that people who are not able to move on from their past can play with one’s emotions, “What haunts most of us are the various mistakes we made in the past—mistakes that at the time left us feeling embarrassed, humiliated, degraded, or ashamed.” (Seltzer). In everyone’s life people go through a lot, however the people that can move on from their past, and continue to grow are the ones that succeed, this is truly another underlying message in the book, Hamlet.
Shakespeare sent out tons of messages in this story that can be related to one’s everyday life, however, to make it entertaining, he blew these emotions way out of proportion. The main underlying topic in this story is to show how bad of an emotion jealousy can be, Claudius being jealous of King Hamlet in the beginning of the book, clearly demonstrates the jealousy that takes place. It also shows how far away from jealousy can take people from their own life, when focusing on others, in this case Claudius ended up killing his own brother. The story Hamlet is a clear demonstration of jealousy no matter what way it’s looked at, and Shakespeare does a great job of making the story entertaining.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, et al. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Cambridge University Press, 2019.
Seltzer, Leon. “Don’t Allow Your Past to Control Your Future.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, http://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolution-the-self/201907/don-t-allow-your-past-control-your-future. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.
Tuhbatullina , Madina .“Gertrude’s Motive and Hamlet’s Resentment.” Aletheia—The Alpha Chi Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship, Vol. 6(2), 2021,(3-10).
Wilson, Jeffrey. “The Meaning of Death in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.” The Meaning of Death in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, wilson.fas.harvard.edu/files/jeffreywilson/files/jeffrey_r._wilson_22the_meaning_of_death_in_shakespeares_hamlet22_2019.pdf. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.
Sprockets and Springes 