sunnyp
Junior Member
Posts: 92 
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Post by sunnyp on Feb 13, 2016 18:21:11 GMT
We read enough of Hamlet to figure out the characters.
So who's the hero? Who is the most heroic character in this story?
This question makes us go back to our first essential question from tenth grade, what makes a hero?
I think almost any character in this story can be a hero.
For example, Ophelia had some heroic characteristics.
She goes through a lot in this story. She also has an internal conflict, father or Hamlet.
She eventually chooses one, telling Hamelt that Polonius is home when he is actually eavesdropping. I thought that was a brave, heroic decision because that tells me Ophelia has denied to follow her heart.
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Post by mayurika98 on Feb 14, 2016 1:35:31 GMT
Since this is not heroic literature but, romantic literature, it is harder to figure out who the true hero is. I agree with you that anyone in the story can be a hero. It just depends on who's view we are choosing to look from. If we look from Hamlet's point of view, he considers his father to be a hero and takes after his father's image. I think over a small period of time of recognizing our hero we start to possess their qualities. In the same way, Hamlet is starting to sound a lot like his father. If we look at Claudius he is so overconfident that he probably is his own hero. Since he accomplished the murder of his rbother and taking over Denmark successfully, why wouldn't he?
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Post by Tharu on Feb 14, 2016 2:04:51 GMT
As Mayurika said, anybody can be a hero, depend on the person's opinion. For me Hamlet is not a hero, because he has a really low self esteem, and he is not straight forward when it comes to showing his opinions to others. And since this is romantic literature, the author's purpose is not really to show who is the hero and who is not. So it is what the reader believes.
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Post by timmy on Feb 14, 2016 3:35:40 GMT
It all depends on perspective. Those that may be hero to some can be villain to others. In the case of Hamlet, I think this is especially true. Hamlet is hero to... well, first of all him, and his mother. But to Caludius, Hamlet definitely is not.
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Post by sangjoon on Feb 14, 2016 4:51:28 GMT
I also agree with mayurika. Hamlet is not an heroic literature it's more like drama and romance literature. It is true that it's hard to find the real hero in this literature but I think hamlet is the hero in author's perspective I think. The reason why I think this way is that hamlet is shown as just normal human being character with shrewd mind but he is chaning into good way since time goes so I think author want to make hamlet as heroic character in this story. But it's still not clear to define hamlet as hero in this kind if literature.
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Post by andrewcho77 on Feb 14, 2016 7:12:00 GMT
Yeah, you guys are right. Hamlet is not a heroic literature and it is a romantic literature. However, there can be a hero in any literature. I believe that it depends on the perspective which you look at the characters. I believe that hamlet is a hero because he is getting revenge for his father. I think that some people will be really angry if their uncle killed their beloved father.
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Post by Jonathan on Feb 14, 2016 7:27:30 GMT
We can't really say there is a hero. There is no true evil or good in my opinion till at least where I read up to. We can't decide who really is the evil. Claudius who may have killed Hamlet's father but is taking care of the country? Or Hamlet wanting revenge for his father's death? This is more like a tragedy then a heroic literature. However as Jae mentioned, it all depends on which perspective you look at the literature at. Good and evil is defined all differently by everyone.
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Post by jin794 on Feb 14, 2016 7:50:15 GMT
I think it is hard to define the true hero. It really depends on people's point of view. From Hamlet's point of view, he considers his father as a hero. Also, in my opinion, Claudius is choosing himself as a hero. Moreover, Claudius will definitely disagree with Hamlet's point of view that Hamlet's father is a heroic figure.
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Post by christopher on Feb 14, 2016 12:08:00 GMT
Well, l agree with Mayurika. Since this literature is not a heroic literature, it is hard to determine who is a hero or not. Heroes will be different for individuals. For example, Hamlet thinks his dad, King Hamlet, as a hero while Claudius thinks he himself is a hero. Depending on the point of view and personality, the hero will change.
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Post by Jessica (Yeeun) Kim on Feb 14, 2016 12:46:19 GMT
There is no hero in this story because Hamlet is not a heroic literature. Any character can make a heroic decision but that does not mean he or she is a hero. In my personal opinion, it is true that Ophelia has many internal conflicts, including Hamlet, Polonius, and Laertes, but as a result, Ophelia chooses to be same as before and obeys to Polonius and Laertes. If she were one of the closest heroic characters in this story, she would make a better decision.
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riyadh
Junior Member
Posts: 59 
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Post by riyadh on Feb 14, 2016 13:12:58 GMT
the point of the story is having a hero in the end .. the stories that do not have heroes on it . it is not that really good . the hero is the good man who is been in the story for long or he did something that can be good for long , in hamlet I do not really see an hero , maybe my angle that I look from not same as anyone ales ......
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Post by graceyichen on Feb 14, 2016 17:31:31 GMT
In my opinion, Hamlet is a hero in this play. He stood for what he believed was justice and carried it out. He was brave for acting his plan out on his own, dealing with the mess that was his family, fighting his demons and maintaining his sanity.
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Post by melody on Feb 14, 2016 18:13:56 GMT
I would always prefer to say a "leader" for a king instead of a "hero". Heroes mostly sacrifice themselves (mostly lives) in order to save someone else. However, leaders rather stay alive and do their best in order to help the others as much as they can. I thought that's why heroes mostly had superpowers on movies because unless they have superpowers, they'll mostly die by saving people. Agreeing with Grace, I would say that Hamlet is more of a hero because he wanted to do the right thing for someone and he did it. He took his own action in order to make someone stop suffering from the wound. For the people who disagree, well, he would at least be a hero for his own father!
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Post by Emily on Feb 27, 2016 8:37:34 GMT
I don't think that there is a true hero in Hamlet. However, there is one character in Hamlet who does stand out from the rest in being truly honorable and faithful, and that is Horatio. He sticks by Hamlet's side through the entire story, only doubting him once and then believing every word for the rest of the story. He is not only incredibly loyal be also extremely smart, exhibiting his astute mind in many different situations within this story.
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Post by Jooyoung on Feb 28, 2016 1:36:33 GMT
In my opinion, Fortinbras is the hero! He was determined to avenge his father despite the disagreements (unlike Hamlet). I think it took a lot of courage for him to trick his nation and to attack a rather strong country. But most definitely, he is not a great leader  . |
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