Examples Of Denial In Hamlet

The death of a loved one can be one of the hardest things someone will have to overcome in their lives. It seems unbelievable that someone can suddenly cease to exist, that there is an end in store for all of us and no one knows what it is. It’s the greatest unknown and has haunted humans as long as humans have existed in any meaningful sense. In Doran and Olivier’s adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the madness that infects this play is an inherent part of grief, more specifically the stage of denial, seen through the complex character dynamics in act 3, scene 4; the Queen and Hamlet’s relationships with Claudius, the breakdown of the Queen and Hamlet’s relationship, and the Ghost’s appearance in this scene.

To begin, Hamlet

Shown throughout the play, but most glaringly in act 3, scene 4, is Hamlet’s perception of Claudius being entirely colored by his father’s life, which clouds his judgment. To Hamlet, his father is “like the herald Mercury” (Hamlet 3.4.60) whereas Clauduis more resembles a “mildew’d ear”(Hamlet 3.4.66). In this scene, and throughout the play, Hamlet struggles with the role his father left behind. He idolizes his father to the point of self depreciation. Without his father around however, his mother and the world seem quick to move on, shattering his world view. His use of the phrase “counterfeit presentment”can be interpreted as a statement against Claudius. Despite the fact in all material ways he has replaced the King, he will always be a cheap imitation to Hamlet. All this negative emotion finds a home in anger towards the man who gained it all from his loss, and so Hamlet loses the impartiality he needs for his revenge; This is what ruins him. While Hamlet’s loss provokes an irrational clinging to his father, his mother lets go with startling ease. In essence she supplements her loss with a replacement, in Claudius.

To begin, the Queen’s remarriage is a driving force in Hamlet’s rage and stems from his grief. Hamlet’s frantic and nonsensical exclamation such as she “makes marriage vows as false as dicers oath” (Hamlet 3.4.46-47) and she lives “in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stew’d in corruption” (3.4. 94-95). Hamlet harps on the immorality of his mother and it is probably the strongest reason he has to despise Claudius as he is unsure he really killed his father until the scene before this. He hates Claudius for replacing his father. This fractures his and his mother’s relationship. There is evidence of Hamlet’s affection and love for his mother based on his betrayal . Along with that, Hamlet holds power over the Queen despite her being his mother and married to the King, which is caused by the power vacuum left from the king. Doran’s choice to have Hamlet in a higher position than the Queen throughout their argument shows the power dynamic that has now formed between the two; Hamlet holding all of it and the Queen in a position of submission. This power he holds over her is novel, no other character in the story has this kind of control over her, not even Claudius. This is because both of them are allowing Hamlet to take on the King’s position, despite the fact that she is his mother and the