When one thinks of a prince certain images are conjured to mind. Usually those pictures consist of a pampered, playboy who has been given privileges his entire life. When I looks at the Prince of Denmark in the form of Hamlet all of these perceptions can be seen in his character. He had been educated at an elite school, he had the erotic love of a woman, he had the promise of power, but then his world was flipped upside down.
I think that the reason Hamlet so easily pursued a path of destruction was because he had lived such a pampered life up to that point. It makes sense that at the first sign of real tragedy in Hamlet’s life that he would go crazy (figuratively and literally) with revenge and anger. All he needed was a spark to turn his depression into vengeful wrath, and when that spark came in the form of his father’s ghost Hamlet’s downward spiral began.
In many ways his Hamlet’s mollycoddled character was the prime target for Shakesperare to mold his tragedy around. Hamlet had the promise of greatness but when his world was destroyed (by the breaking of his family, by the possible loss of kingship, by school friends that were working for the man he hated, and a girlfriend who was used by everyone) his personage exploded killing all around him.
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