Big Questions in "Hamlet"

How to interpret the character of Hamlet?

There are many ways to interpret Hamlet. You can see through his mention of incest, that he disapproves of his mother marrying his uncle. But you can also see his love for his father, by the way he takes on the challenge of getting revenge. Hamlet is a complex character. After he figures out

What is Shakespeare saying about enacting revenge?

I feel like Shakespeare is saying "What goes around, comes around." This can be seen throughout the whole play. Claudius killed King Hamlet. Hamlet killed Laertes. And all in the same scene: Laertes ultimately killed Hamlet and himself, but before Hamlet died he killed Polonius (and Gertrude killed herself basically, by drinking poisoned wine). Therefore, the deaths seemed to go by who you killed. Because: Laertes killed the man who murdered his father, as did Hamlet.

What is the role of women in relation to power and politics? How do power and politics impact women?
    
The only women in Hamlet are Gertrude (the queen) and Ophelia. Gertrude seems to not have a very big say on any of the power or politics once she marries Claudius. She has no idea that
Claudius had sent a letter to England asking for the murder of her son. She seems just to be walked all over, and Claudius uses her for the crown/power. This shows misognyny as Gertrude seems to be dismissed from any knowledge with power/politics.

I think this is another reason Hamlet blamed his mother. Claudius used incestuous ways to gain the power and take over being head of the country. 

In the face of an absurd and chaotic world, who are we and how are we supposed to act?

In the face of an absurd and chaotic world, we are supposed to act in a calm, mature way, and we are supposed to be the ones who turn it around.This is much like in Hamlet. Hamlet's world has just turned upside down. With the recent death of his father, and remarrying of his mother, Hamlet has no hope left. Then Hamlet finds out it was his uncle that had killed his father, Hamlet goes and seeks revenge. Hamlet tries to act calm in the beginning, but soon after he goes a bit murder-crazy and pumps himself up to kill Claudius (this can be seen in one of his soliloquies). This involves the motifs  of incest (the marriage of Claudius and Gertrude) and philosophical/spiritual afterlife as Hamlet is seeking revenge for his dead father.

Can we be saved from our own weaknesses?  And if so by what?


I think we can be saved from our own weaknesses, but the only way we can be saved is if we change ourselves for the better. This did not happen in Hamlet as Hamlet had the tragic flaw (weakness) of having the inability to act. It was obvious that something was up, and many people such as Polonius and Gertrude & Claudius could see this. This almost resulted in the murder of Hamlet on his way to England.

Why does Hamlet delay?

Hamlet delays Claudius' murder when he is praying because he does not want Claudius to go to heaven. This shows philosophical/spiritual afterlife because Hamlet is taking in what would happen to Claudius, and himself eventually, if he killed Claudius at that point.
 
What happens to Ophelia and how does that relate to her relationships with Hamlet, Polonius and Laertes? 

Ophelia eventually ends up committing suicide by drowning herself. It relates to her relationship with Hamlet, because she loved him a lot, and when he killed Polonius she couldn't handle loosing almost all the men in her life so she went crazy. It relates to her relationship with Laertes, as he was her brother, and he loved her. All he wanted to do was protect her from the men out in the world.