Hamlet and The Stranger Final Topic

Daniel Arcega

Mrs. Emerick

IB English HL II

November 30 2021

Hamlet and The Stranger Final Topics

D.3

1. Hamlet and The Stranger use the main protagonists’ internal dialogue to give the reader insight into their character.

2. Hamlet’s soliloquies are used to show the audience his internal conflict. 

1. Hamlet’s internal conflict originates from a sense of uselessness.

1. His soliloquy in act one scene two describes to the audience how powerless he feels.

1. “But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue”(Shakespeare 1.2.159).

2. The entire soliloquy is about how Hamlet despises the marriage between Claudius and Gertrude, yet at the end of it he relents that he is unable to speak his true feelings.

2. Further on in the story, twice is Hamlet shown his inability to carry out his revenge.

1. After watching the player act: “Yet I, A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause”(Shakespeare 2.2.561-563).

2. Hamlet is angered that he is not enraged at his father’s murder but he player can act enraged for no real reason.

3. After meeting the Norwegian captain: “When honor’s at the stake. How stand I then, That have a father killed, a mother stained, Excitements of my reason and my blood, And let all sleep—while, to my shame, I see The imminent death of twenty thousand men”(Shakespeare 4.4.56-60)

4. Hamlet considers himself shameful that twenty thousand men are willing to risk their lives for practically nothing while he has barely risked his life for his supposed main purpose in life.

3. Meursault’s narration demonstrates his character through comparison with the reader’s own thought processes and reactions.

1. Meursault is often indifferent to events that would evoke strong emotions in a normal person.

1. At his mother’s wake: “He was moving towards the casket when I stopped him. He said, ‘You don’t want to?’ I answered ‘No’”(Camus 6).

1. It is safe to say that an ordinary person would want to see their mother one last time before burial, but Meursault doesn’t want to.

2. Characterizes him as unattached when compared to the reader’s own judgement.

2. While watching Raymond beat a woman: “Marie said it was terrible and I didn’t say anything. She asked me to go find a policeman, but I told her I didn’t like cops”(Camus 36).

1. Marie is used as another contrasting perspective.

2. Meursault is not bothered by the beating like a normal person would and is instead more concerned with his personal dislike of cops.

4. Both characters are described through their own personal thoughts, but Shakespeare and Camus illustrate those thoughts differently

1. Hamlet speaks his mind aloud due to the structure of a play, while Meursault narrates his thoughts in a typical novel fashion.

2. Both styles of inner communication effectively teach the audience about the character.

S5. The effects of social alienation

Meursault’s social alienation in The Stranger is what separates him from his own emotions, the people around him, and, eventually, society itself. Meursault’s social alienation is evident through his physical separation from most other people. Chapter two’s balcony scene and Meursault’s imprisonment are both symbolic of this alienation, with him being separated from the rest of society. This alienation causes Meursault to stop paying attention to his own character, since he is unburdened by society’s usual behavioral pressures. In prison, Meursault admits to his lawyer that, “[he] had pretty much lost the habit of analyzing [himself]”(Camus 65). Meursault’s relative isolation deprives him of the need to define his own feelings, so he stops doing so. 

After becoming disconnected from his own feelings, he loses interest in other people outside of those close to him. The majority of people Meursault interacts with -outside of his friends- are unnamed, even when the character has a significant amount of focus placed on them. For example, Meursault never learns the name of the woman he meets at Celeste’s, even though they sit at the same table together and he finds her actions interesting. In fact, he later on refers to her as “the little robot woman” (Camus 89). Instead of initiating a basic conversation, Meursault only observes her robotic behavior and simplifies her identity to it. After she leaves, Meursault forgets about her in only a few minutes, illustrating how little he was actually interested. 

Meursault’s disconnect from himself and from others eventually leads to him being shunned by society. During his trial, Meursault admits that he did not know how old his mother was when she died. His statement evokes a cruel reaction in the prosecutor. This reaction causes Meursault to have a realization: “for the first time in years I had this stupid urge to cry, because I could feel how much all these people hated me”(Camus 90). At this moment, Meursault realizes that his character has been judged unfit by the rest of society. Meursault’s alienation from other people has now alienated him from society itself. Meursault’s execution at the end of the novel represents him being removed from a society that he does not belong in.

H3. Hamlet’s delay

Hamlet’s delay in his revenge on Claudius reflects the state of Hamlet’s madness and determination as well as leads to dire consequences. Within the events of the first act, Hamlet learns about his father’s murder and swears to avenge him. He declares that, “I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records…  ...And thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain”(Shakespeare 1.5.99-102). Hamlet pledges that his father’s revenge will be the only thing on his mind from then on. However, the audience learns in the following act that Hamlet decides to act mad instead of instantly killing Claudius. Hamlet uses the cover of madness to find a method of proving Claudius’s guilt. Hamlet’s desire to prove Claudius guilty reflects on his mental state and determination; he is rational enough to think that the ghost may not be trustworthy, and is determined to take revenge so far as it is truly just.

Unlike his decision to act mad, Hamlet’s second delay contrasts his goal and brings his logic into question. In the third act, Hamlet’s plan to prove Claudius's guilt through the play succeeds. Hamlet then seemingly resolves himself to kill Claudius at that very moment. He arrives at Claudius’s room, however, and finds him praying alone. Instead of killing Claudius right then and there, Hamlet puts it off once again: “No. Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent”(Shakespeare.3.3.87-88). Hamlet wants to wait for a better moment to kill him. Yet at that moment, Claudius is alone and distracted; there would be no better moment to murder him than then. The excuse Hamlet gives for this decision is that he thinks Claudius will go to Heaven since he is confessing his sins. Hamlet’s decision here is illogical; his task is to simply kill Claudius. It should not matter what happens afterwards. Any other conditions are applied by Hamlet’s own hesitation and madness. After leaving his father, Hamlet sees his mother which leads to the death of Polonius and the maddening of Ophelia. Hamlet’s delay leads to the woman he loves becoming mad and drowning herself. 

Hamlet’s false resolution at the end of act four scene four symbolizes his fatal flaw of hesitation. After learning about the upcoming Norwegian battle, Hamlet once again criticizes himself. He is ashamed that he can not commit to killing Claudius completely no matter the method or consequences. Hamlet finally resolves that, “Oh, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!”(Shakespeare 4.4.65-66). Hamlet swears to only focus on pure revenge now. Unfortunately, Hamlet fails to follow through with his promise. The next time he sees his father, he rather partakes in Claudius’s wager at the risk of his own life. At this event, Hamlet’s  mother drinks the poison meant for him, driving him to finally kill Claudius on the spot. If not for his false determination and hesitation, Hamlet’s mother would not have died.

Works Cited

Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Translated by Matthew Ward, Vintage Books, 1989.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Edited by Susan Emerick, Open Source Shakespeare, 2021.