Mental Resilience Shown in William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Essay Sample)

Resilience is prominent in almost every piece of literature; from children’s books to young adult novels. When Shakespearean literary works are portraying resilience, Shakespeare does an excellent job at expressing it through his writing. In one of Shakespeare's most well-known plays, for example; Romeo and Juilet, both Juliet and Romeo’s characters are written as very resilient characters, as they are constantly separated by their families, but they overcome this obstacle and still find ways to make their relationship work. In the Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, demonstrates mental resilience by remaining strong through the adversity thrust upon him; he is spied on constantly but gets revenge, takes his time to find out whether Claudius is indeed guilty, and overcomes the depression that he suffers.

Firstly, Hamlet shows mental resilience by not letting the fact that he is spied on constantly affect him. From his uncle and Polonius setting up Ophelia to have a conversation with Hamlet to witness his odd behaviours, to Hamlet’s best friends spying on him as instructed so by the Queen and the King. An example of this is when the King is speaking to Rosencrantz, he sends Gertrude away and says, “For we have closely sent for Hamlet hither, / That he, as ‘twere by accident, may here Affront Ophelia” (3.1.29-31). The King speaks of the arrangement between him, Ophelia, and Polonius to set up a time for the two to run into each other and start a conversation while both Claudius and Polonius spy and listen in on their conversation to observe Hamlet’s supposedly odd behavior. However, whilst talking to Ophelia, Hamlet catches on to the ploy and exposes Ophelia, he slips into a infurious rage, making it seem as if he is even more mentally furious than both Claudius and Polonius thought he is. Claudius plays a great role when it comes to spying on Hamlet. Claudius, once again, sets up a spying ploy with Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, and says, “To draw him on to pleasures and to gather, So much as from occasion you may glean, / Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus That, open’d, lies with our remedy” (2.2.15-18). The King expresses how he wants both Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to spy on Hamlet in order to find out what is the cause of his odd behavior so that he and his newly-wedded wife can try to fix the problem. However this is not the case, as Hamlet merely knows the truth about what happened to his father and both his mother and his uncle believe that it is external factors that affect his sanity, although both do not know that Hamlet knows the murderous truth. 

Hamlet takes him time and is patient when it comes to avenging his father’s death. Hamlet has the urge to kill his uncle many times, but holds back because he senses that he can wait longer until the time is right. Despite knowing that his uncle has already killed his father from very early on in the play, he wants to rid Claudius with as much guilt as Hamlet had grievance, as a part of his revenge plot. One scene that shows the great amount of resilience and strength Hamlet holds when it comes to his murderous urges, is when Hamlet enters the room in which the King is in, and he sees him in a vulnerable state, a praying position. He pulls out his sword, as he thinks that this is a perfect time to kill his murderous uncle but he stops and utters, “No. Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent: / When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, Or in th’incestuous pleasure of his bed” (3.3.87-90). When Hamlet speaks these words he draws back not only because he is patient but also because he feels as if it is not the right time, and he shall do it while he is doing something more sinful. He also thinks that if killed while praying, Claudius will go directly to heaven, and he wants him to suffer in hell for what he has done to his father.

Lastly, Hamlet is struck with a large amount of harsh events that it takes a toll on him mentally. This spirals Hamlet into a depression, while making people around him think that he has gone crazy, he is simply saddened by the things that have happened in such a short amount of time. This is a test for Hamlet’s mental resilience. However, overtime he overcomes his depression that he suffers with. When his mother married her dead husband’s brother, this threw Hamlet into a fit of disgust and rage. He could not comprehend how his mother could do that to her freshly dead husband. 

“O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn’d longer,—married with mine uncle, My father’s brother; / but no more like my father Than I to Hercules: within a month; Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her galled eyes” (1.2.152-157).

This quote shows how Hamlet is in a depressive state due to the marriage between his mother and uncle. Although he is tested with these obstacles, he still has the strength to make Claudius confess what he has done to his father. Depression and grief can go hand and hand, and for Hamlet it did. Hamlet states, “Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, That can denote me truly. These indeed “seem,” / For they are actions that a man might play. But I have that within which passeth show, These but the trappings and the suits of woe” (1.2.82-87). In the quote provided before, Hamlet explains to Claudius that one could lie about grief, but he isn’t one to lie about such a thing. He states that the grief that he has over his father’s death affects him greatly. Claudius states that Hamlet should get over his father’s death as he feels like he’s making it a big deal, and that he feels like it is interfering with his life. With depression, there often comes thoughts and contemplation of suidice, and Hamlet was not ridenced of that. In a soliloquy, Hamlet speaks to himself saying, “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter. / O God, God, How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world” (1.2.129-134). Given these statements and symbols, readers can clearly sense that Hamlet is contopmplating suicide, with the word choices of “self slaughter”. Hamlet does not commit suicide though, as he pulls himself together as he holds a great amount of mental resilience. He looks into the future, and he seeks to expose Claudius for what he has done. 

Hamlet is filled with many tragic events that build Hamlet’s resilience. With each event making him mentally stronger, he is destined for greatness and will undoubtedly have enough resilience to do whatever in his will power he wants to do. Being constantly spied on, knowing that it was your uncle who killed your father for the throne, and having events that cause severe depression would affect any person a great amount. However, Hamlet handles all these situations greatly and keeps on pushing through. Shakespeare did an excellent job at providing Hamlet with as much resilience that he had, as it builds and makes the character much more interesting. The play was uniquely written, as themes such as guilt, sadness, revenge, and many more alluring themes were used that make this play interesting and different. Overall, the play Hamlet is an excellent example of resilience shown through literature, and many readers could easily point out the specific physical, and mental resilience shown throughout the play.