Hamlet and The Desire-Destiny Paradox - 872 Words

To be, or not to be? The most quoted line of Hamlet, of Shakespeare’s works, possibly of all Elizabethan literature, presents a philosophical Hamlet who questions â€Å"Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer, The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,† Shakespeare does indeed explore the individual’s enduring need to define one’s role or identity within society, but presents the paradox of whether to embrace one’s fortune OR to ‘carve for himself’ a fate and identity. Hamlet spends much of the play reasoning his way out of his role as avenger, whilst Ophelia is captive to her father, brother and the expectations of an ideal Elizabethan woman. Shakespeare’s clever use of literary devices - soliloquies, doubling, accumulation and so forth – amplifies the struggle between desire and destiny, fate and free will and a sense of pathos, as both Hamlet and Ophelia are led to their demise. Our tragic hero Hamlet, has his fate unwillingly imposed upon him when the ghost of his late father, the former king, commands Hamlet to ‘revenge his foul and most unnatural murder’ against Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle who has taken his brother’s crown and queen. The depravity of his fate is met with the intense drama of his reaction, created by the exclamations scattered throughout his soliloquy and the rhyming couplet; ‘O cursed spite / That ever I was born to set it right!’ Hamlet is a moralist and philosopher, and so he sees all too clearly theShow MoreRelatedScarface And Hamlet1435 Words   |  6 PagesScarface and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet are thematically linked in characterisation. The inability to control emotions are both apparent with Tony Montana and Hamlet. They have a tendency to get mad, especially when Tony and Hamlet catch the women they believed to be pure betraying their trust. Often, they will both exhibit the use of deceiving behaviours to fool others around them to try and cover more profound intentions. Although Tony Montana’s and Hamlet’s desires differ in purpose, the protagonist’sRead More Prufrock in the poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock Essay3665 Words   |  15 Pagesrejection. Prufrocks dilemma represents the inability to live a meaningful existence in the modern world. T.S. Eliot perfectly captured the frustration and patheticness of the modern individual through Prufrock. He seemed to represent superficial desires and modern disillusionment, to again tell us of our meaningless values. What is unclear however, is because T.S. Eliot writes using the ?stream of consciousness? technique, like one?s thoughts, the poem to is oftentimes confusing, random, ambiguousRead MoreEssay on Elder Scrolls III:Morrowind3837 Words   |  16 PagesFrankenstein’s belief that â€Å"all things are possible.† As Frankenstein tells Waldman, â€Å"Where would we be if nobody tried to find out what lies beyond? Have you never wanted to look beyond the clouds and the stars†¦.† Frankenstein imbues his creation with a desire to see beyond one’s own worldview, to inhabit other roles, to play out infinite stories, and through this, to ultimately â€Å"discover eternity.† Frankenstein’s creature seems to be born of multiple possibilities and numerous potentials. Frankenstein’sRead MoreThe Evil of Politics and the Ethics of Evil10364 Words   |  42 Pagesinevitable. Brutus actions tend to preserve Roman liberty but bring about its destruction. Lincolns purpose is to make all Americansfree, yet his actions destroy the lives of many and make the freedom of others a legal fiction and an actual mockery. Hamlet, aware of this tragic tension between the ethics of our minds and the ethics of our actions, resolvesto act only when he can act as ethically as his intention demands and thus despairs of acting at all; and, when he finally acts, his actions and fateRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesshould be done, as well as raising questions about the effects of some of these social processes upon people. Therefore, studying organizations is also about trying to grapple with what sort of world we have created and what alte rnatives we might desire. Indeed, these complex social institutions have come to epitomise and constitute many aspects of our lives by influencing how we see ourselves . Defining theory 5 and others. In other words, these institutions influence our sense of identityRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 Pagesbeen practiced. Especially in our current day, what we know and what we demonstrate do not always match. Dr. Bob Moorehead of Seattle’s Overlake Christian Church, who resigned his own position under a cloud of accusations, described it this way: The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways but narrower viewpoints. We spend more but have less; we buy more but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences but lessRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pagesmanagers and executives, however, have found work elsewhere. Why not Callan? The answer depends on which narrative you accept. Callan refuses to discuss the issue with the media. To some, she brought about her own downfall with her outsized ambition and desire for attention. To others, she is the victim of a gender double standard that is alive and well on Wall Street and elsewhere. From one point of view, Callan caused her own demise. She lacked background in accounting, treasury, or operations—unusual