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- Hamlet identifies with an adolescent of the 1990Æs more than
- he does with the youth of his own time. Hamlet is immature,
- sarcastic, and takes action during the heat of passion which is very
- much like the behavior of the youth in the 1990Æs.
- Love, control over action, and the ability to overcome
- depression are just a few ways to prove maturity. It is obvious
- Hamlet loves Ophelia in his own way ô. . . the celestial and my
- soulÆs idol, the most beautified Ophelia . . .ö (Hamlet. II, ii, 109-
- 110), but his way is not mature enough to include trust toward his
- lover. The trust that Hamlet should have given her was the key of
- his madness. This madness that Hamlet cannot trust his love with
- is the same madness that he loses total control over because of his
- immaturity; it then causes him to do things, such as kill Polonius,
- that a person that was mature could stop. The madness that Hamlet
- assumes is understandable but he can never get over the actual
- death of his father by still wearing black a year later, and the hasty
- marriage of his mother to Claudius. Compared to Horatio who is
- calm and cool throughout the play, and Fortinbras who collected
- an army to fight for his uncleÆs land and honor, HamletÆs maturity
- level for his time is low, especially for being a prince. Today
- HamletÆs age group is more immature than during his own time so
- he relates to the youth of the 1990Æs better than he does with the
- adolescents of his own time.
- Sarcasm, and blunt rudeness is often used by Hamlet in order
- to offend people that, during his time, he should not have
- offended. Hamlet often used the hasty marriage of his mother to
- offend Claudius. The first time that Hamlet offends Claudius in
- the company of another person is when Claudius is supposed to be
- helping cheer Hamlet up. ôA little more than kin, and less than
- kind.ö (Hamlet. I, ii, 65) is just as rude during HamletÆs time as
- almost anything that a person could say today, it just takes a little
- thinking for the people of today to get what Hamlet means.
- The second person that Hamlet is openly rude to is Polonius.
- Hamlet, in front of Claudius and Gertrude, insults Polonius by
- calling him ô. . . a fishmonger.ö (Hamlet. II, ii, 174) This is not the
- only way that Hamlet offended Polonius. Hamlet offended
- Polonius by insulting his daughter. Hamlet is crude in his own day
- by asking Ophelia ôLady, shall I lie in your lap?ö (Hamlet. III, ii,
- 115) What is strange about HamletÆs ability to use his mouth is
- that the youth of today is able to use the same kinds of sarcasm
- and rudeness effectively, just as Hamlet does, but with HamletÆs
- political position he should not have offended the people such as
- his stepfather.
- Being radical and acting on impulse is something that
- Hamlet had to use in order to get his work finished. Hamlet,
- having a hard time getting revenge, applied his anger from the
- judgment of his mother to kill who he thought was Claudius.
- Hamlet also needed to be on his own deathbed in order to finally
- get angry enough to kill Claudius. The way that Hamlet uses his
- anger to take action is very much like the youth today in the fact
- that if someone has a problem with log cutting, for example, they
- hold protests and take action against that problem.
- The second way that Hamlet is extreme is when he goes with
- the ghost that looks like his father even though his friends warn
- him that the ghost may be evil and ô. . .tempt you toward the
- flood . . . Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff . . .ö (Hamlet. I, iv,
- 69-70). If the prince was thinking right he would not have gone
- with the ghost that resembled the old ô. . . King, father, royal
- Dane . . .ö (Hamlet. I, iv, 45) HamletÆs radical actions do not just
- prove that he is immature but also proves that he needs action
- from outside sources in order to get a reaction from himself. This
- is just like the youth of the 1990Æs in the respect that if something
- is wrong, such as the cutting of an old growth forest, then they
- usually act against it in dramatic ways.
- An immature, mouthy, extremist is what adolescents of the
- 1990Æs are compared to the youth of HamletÆs time. The inability
- to love maturely, rudeness towards authority, and reacting to anger
- is what the youth of the 1990Æs and Hamlet have in common.
- Hamlet would have a much easier time living during these times
- than his own. HamletÆs immaturity, rudeness, and radical behavior
- is just like todayÆs youth and that is the insight that Hamlet has
- towards the youth of the 1990Æs.
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