Search for Identity in William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”

Identity is the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. Throughout the play Hamlet suffers from an Identity Crisis and attempts to fix this problem throughout the play. Hamlet experiences being betrayed by someone who he thought he could trust which has sparked Hamlet to want revenge. Hamlet loses his identity because of his father’s death and is mothers secretive marriage. Hamlet finds himself puzzled about his identity because he is forced to play different roles by other characters in the play.

Hamlet attempts to resolve his identity problem by turning down roles other characters force him to play and instead makes his own identities.

Hamlet loses his identity because of his father’s death and his mother’s secretive marriage. Hamlet is damaged by his father’s death and his mothers incestuous marriage. Hamlet’s dad was his idol and now that he is dead Hamlet loses his sense of identity. He shows his stress and grief through his actions.

Hamlet explains that his sorrow exceeds the mere display of grief “‘Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, nor customary suits of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of force’d breath, no, nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected haviour of the visage, “(1.2.87-81). Besides Hamlet’s grief for his father’s death he also feels angry about his mother’s impulsive remarriage. Hamlet feels betrayed by his own mother who marries his uncle 2 months after his father’s death. Hamlet starts to believe the marriage between his mother and uncle is incestioius.

Seeing what Hamlet thinks about this situation and how hurt he is by it we can conclude that the loss of both his parents has undone Hamlet. Hamlet loses his identity in this case due to these traumatic events.

Hamlet finds himself very confused about his identity because he finds himself being forced to play different roles by other characters throughout the play. Before the conflicts in the play began Hamlet is known to be a young prince and also a scholar who attends college in Whittenberg. Hamlet finds himself in distress because of his father’s death and his mothers sudden remarriage. Claudius wants Hamlet to stop mourning because of the kings death and be happy and consider him as his new father. The new king, Claudius says to Hamlet “but now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son- “(1.2.64). Claudius then says to Hamlet that he is the most immediate heir to the throne. This would be considered the first role Hamlet is forced to play after losing his identity. Hamlet is uncomfortable with this new identity. He starts to refuse to cooperate with Claudius. Hamlet says he is “A little more than kin, and less than kind”(1.2.65) and he also says “Not so my lord, I am too much in the sun”(1.2.67). Hamlet does not find himself Prince material. Hamlet finds his heart is broken and wants to speak out about his uncle and mother’s marriage, but he knows he can not. Many characters throughout the play expect Hamlet to act a certain way. King Claudius wants Hamlet to treat him as his new father. Characters such as Polonius and Larates asume Hamlet to be someone he is not. As a result, Hamlet finds his identity lost throughout the other roles and identities given to him by other characters.

Hamlet attempts to resolve his identity problem by turning down roles other characters force him to play and instead makes his own identities. The first role we see Hamlet play is the role of mad Hamlet. He creates this role for himself at the end of Act 1 when he encounters the ghost. Hamlet proceeds to tell Horatio to ignore him if he starts to act crazy “That you know aught of me- this do swear, so grace and mercy at your most need help you”(1.5.187-188). This is Hamlet’s first attempt to resolve his identity crisis. Hamlet succeeds at keeping his new identity because other characters change their opinions of him as a result of Hamlet’s madness. Even though Hamlet is successful at making people think he is mad he still does not feel satisfied with his identity. At one point Hamlet does not want to be remembered as the “Mad Hamlet”. Hamlet officially parts with his “Mad Hamlet” identity as he explains to Larities in the final act that it was not him but it was just his madness at work. Before Hamlet dies, he asks Horatio to explain the truth to those who do not know what happened because he does not wanna die and leave a bad reputation on his name when he is gone. Hamlet clearly suffers from an identity crisis and tries to cure himself by creating his own identities. He pretends to be mad instead of cooperating with Claudius. None of Hamlet’s roles he created turned out to be hs final identity at the end of the play.

During the play Hamlet goes from losing his identity, confused about his identity, attempting to create his identity, to finally giving up on his search for his identity. Hamlet remains in a state of distress throughout most of the play. He struggles to search for his identity and his purpose of life. It is shown from beginning to end that Hamlet loses his identity because of his father’s sudden death and his mother’s new marriage. Hamlet finds himself very confused about his identity because he finds himself being forced to play different roles by other characters throughout the play. Hamlet attempts to resolve his identity problem by turning down roles other characters force him to play and instead makes his own identities.