1.6 Murder in the Dark.
While it may appear as though Hamlet is controlled by revenge, and that it is the motive behind his transformation, one must first consider the motives behind revenge. The purpose behind revenge is generally not that of justice, but is instead to put the victim through the same pain as they gave to others. Revenge can never just happen on it’s own and must be enticed by other actions. One could argue that Hamlet wished for revenge on the grounds that his father was murdered, and perhaps that his anger towards the murderer was amplified by the fact that his mother had married him. However, why would the marriage amplify it? It has nothing to do with murder itself. Thus, there must be an underlying cause for why he is angry to the extent that he is.
Hamlet is so angry that his father was murdered because more was taken away from him then simply ‘his father’. Hamlet lost his biological connection to god, his perception of how a family should be structured and the love of 2 out of the 3 people that he loved. Thus, you could say that Hamlet’s motive, while it did lead to revenge, was a need to feel loved.
When his father was a step below god, he was biologically closer to god, then when his uncle was in that position. Given that place, he would feel a stronger connection to god, and perhaps feel as though god loved him more. Clearly, he lost the love of his father, as his father died, but he also felt as though he lost the love of his mother, for his mother did not consider his feelings or situation and continued to side with the King throughout the play. Besides Ophelia’s love, which he later loses, Hamlet lost all of the love he felt in his life.
Without a feeling of love and belonging, Hamlet deteriorated emotionally, and it was visible through his internal and external characteristics. Hamlet no longer felt love so he no longer spoke of love. This is evident through many of his soliloquies. He speaks of death, madness, etc. All that opposes love, for that is what he now feels inside. The majority of Hamlet’s mental ability remained for he was still cunning, intelligent and creative, but his ability to act appropriately in social situations was greatly affected for it was what he lost that made social situations positive for him. All that was left were the negative aspects of being sociable.
His transformations are clearly convincing as his mother and other individuals point towards grieving and love as the cause of them. What they are not aware of is the extent to which it affects him (which they learn of later when he exacts his revenge) or how exactly or to whom exactly he is feeling these feelings. His mother assumes Hamlet is crazy with love for Ophelia, and that he is grieving for his father. While these things may be true he is also grieving over the loss of love from his father, mother and god. Ophelia relates very little to this situation and Gertrude is more involved than she thinks she is.
Horatio seems to be the only individual within the whole play who somewhat understand Hamlet’s emotions. Gertrude, Claudius and Ophelia all assume the same thing (that Hamlet is crazy in love for Ophelia), and if they had spoken to Horatio, and received the information about the ghost and Hamlet’s thoughts on the ghost, perhaps they could have formulated the true response. Each character accepts a small segment of Hamlet’s motivations, but no one understands it in its entirety. Even after Hamlet’s death, not one other character completely understands the reasons behind both his transformation and actions.
