Explore the Construction of Identiy in Hamlet and Beowulf Essay

Identity has been increasingly used to touch to the social and historical make-up of a person, personality as a construct. Some measure such(prenominal) identities argon conceived narrowly psychological, individualist terms, as the cumulative result of personal experience and family history This is seen ploughshareicularly in Beowulf where either men ar referred to as their fathers sons. Family history was massively important in those times and men well ofttimes well respected because of the exalted things their ancestors had done. Warriors alike felt the need to reach the same level of nonoriety. This is shown when we are first introduced to Beowulf. We are told about his father before even well-read his name In his day, my father was a famous man a noble warrior-lord named Ecgtheow Similarly in Shakespeares critical point, purely by and through schooling of critical points lineage we discover he is the son of the cause and this plays an important part of his indistin guishability and the events throughout the play.In most novels, plays and poems, the identicalness of the protagonist changes the more(prenominal) we get to know the fount the more that happens the more we think we know what they are like. This is the same for real life, when we first play off mint we are a gigantic deal uncertain about their individualism and personality, we expressionly learn more about them through their flirtions and associations. This is professedly for Beowulf because it is set in the third person we learn about him through what he does and what he says. A textbookbook cosmos in third person buttocks also be utilitarian the narrator tail offer certain(prenominal) and universal truths about the credit which can be especially useful as it is to the highest degree impossible for a writer to take a grapheme that give be interpreted the same air by either person that reads it.Characters are read in different shipway throughout the generati ons and from culture to culture. It could therefore be argued that individuation is non created through the author but by the readers. hamlet, being a play, has many farsighted soliloquies where he reveals his inner thoughts to the audience in first person. In soliloquies the character usually asks a rhetorical question and then answers it this allows the audience to guess the characters emotions and motives, nearthing especially important in Hamlet where some of his actions would be considered very unconventional or deranged. This helps us to empathise with Hamlet and engage ourselves in the plot. O that this tootoo solid conformation would melt,Thaw, and resolve itself into a dewOr that the Everlasting had not fixdHis canon gainst self-slaughter O God O GodHow weary, stale, flat, and unprofitableThis is the first base of Hamlets first soliloquy when he learns of his fathers final stage and his mothers betrayal by marrying Claudius less than twain months afterward his fa thers death. He contemplates suicide to escape what he describes as a weary stale, flat and unprofitable instauration and wishes it was not a sin against God. non only does this soliloquy reveal his true feelings about his mother and Claudius, it shows us that he is religious which accounts for his delay in murdering the new King even under his dead fathers orders.The thoughts of other characters, not only the protagonist are important as they help to keep the play timeless. In Hamlet, murder is nothing abnormal, almost expected whereas now it is a very serious offence for anyone, including the monarchy. Not only that, but seeing a nuance is not normal behaviour for a 21st century reader, without the other characters seeing the ghost we would be unable to distinguish between reality and Hamlets madness. Horatio talks to the ghost like it is a real thing Horatio Stay, speak, speak, I charge thee speak.It can be concluded that identity is how the characters act at bottom the times in which they live in. Identity is therefore impossible to create without the concept of time and the context that the text was written in. Texts are sometimes altered to appeal more to certain audiences from different times and locations such as Hormone Imbalances Ophelia (1979), in which Ophelia is a homosexual and runs off with a woman servant to join a insurgent commune Curtiss obscenely funny The skinhead Hamlet (1982) and Jean Betts Ophelia thinks harder (1993), in which the wedgeine acts assertively while the hero dithers. This goes against the thesis that states identity is created by experience and implies that identity is subject to time, location and the audience it is written for. It could also be argued that each of these different variations of Hamlet bedevil created a exclusively different identity in each text.Someones identity is not fixed it changes over time as the character develops and often through self discovery or even (In the case of Hamlet) an identity crisis due to conflicted values and internal and external pressures. The shift in opinions and ideas of the character constructs a more complicated identity that is more difficult to label. throughout the whole text, Beowulf has the same ambitions and desires to be a legendary warrior. Hamlet on the other hand discovers his morality and desires as he goes a long.This makes Hamlets identity some(prenominal) less solid and more complex. He is not a normal character in the sense that he goes against social norms his unorthodox approach to life and the truth means he is isolated and becomes a threat to those around him, specifically the new King. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet seems to fork up doomed his identity he has lost his father (like Beowulf lineage was of great importance, especially being part of the monarchy), his military position as heir to the throne is in jeopardy as Fortinbras plans to fervour and his uncle is now his step father.Beowulf establishes his identi ty as a warrior and a hero by recounting his successful endeavoursThey had seen me bolstered in the blood of enemieswhen I battled and shrink five beasts,raided a troll-nest and in the night seaslaughtered sea-brutes. I boast consumeed extremesand avenged the Geats (their enemies brought it upon themselves, I devastated them). Beowulf is a warrior more by reputation than what he actually does throughout the duration of the text. Although he defeats Grendel fairly quickly after being introduced to us, and after that Grendels mother, fifty years pass without much detail of Beowulfs triumphs.The form of both texts has an impact on the identity of both Beowulf and Hamlet as individuals but also monastic order as a whole in the two texts. Beowulf is an epic poem which are traditionally used to recount heroic acts and important events in history. This gives the text an authentic feel as well as reflecting the culture of the times in which Beowulf lived in most stories were shared by w ord of mouth, often by song or poetry and not often documented. custody craved the notoriety and were willing to die in battle doachieve it.The unusualness of an epic poem also reflects complete difference of the world we live in where we not only have no warrior culture, people generally dont die for fame and monsters dont exist. Hamlet being a play is much more than just the text and was written to be performed instead of just read. Hamlets and every other characters identity is created not only through his choices and the things he says but how he says them and facial expressions/movement.For font Hamlets madness can be seen much easier through exaggerated actions than it can be through stage directions or obvious comments from other actors. nature traits such as thoughtfulness, arrogance, insecurity and Claudius guilt can also be seen more clearly when performed on stage. Another complication of Hamlet being on stage is that every actor will play the part differently. Not o nly will age and clothing affect perceptions of identity, the way in which scenes are acted out will also change the character. one way of creating a complex identity is through giving the character a dim flaw. This is most prominent in Hamlet his fatal flaw is his indecisiveness to act on his fathers orders. each event in the play leading to Hamlets death and including every other death except that of his fathers was set down to his inability to make a decision to kill Claudius and act on it. Not only does his hesitation to kill Claudius in prayer discontinue his fatal flaw but if he had gone ahead with the act then he could have been seen as evil and his identity would have changed dramatically, this adds to the argument that it is the plot and events in the text that construct the characters identity.Language also has an effect on emphasising certain aspects of a characters identity. For example the clown clown is not necessarily the same as a clown in the 21st century, in S hakespearean times a clown was not a very important member of society in Hamlet creates a contrast and almost acts to remind us of Hamlets social status and power. The clown also adds an broker of humour to the scene which breaks up the tension and acts to emphasise Hamlets melancholic nature. HAMLET Heres another. Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now, his quillets, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks?Why does he suffer thismad knave now to knock him about the sconce with a miry shovel, and will not tell him of his action of battery? Hum This cranny might be ins time a great buyer of land, with his statutes, his recognizances, his fines, his double vouchers, his recoveries. Is this the fine of his fines, and the recovery of his recoveries, to have his fine jacket full of fine whoreson? Will his vouchers vouch him no more of his purchases, and double ones too, than the length and breadth of a pair of indentures?The very conveyances of his la nds will scarcely lie in this box, and must thinheritor himself have no more, ha? Contrasting language by using speech communication together in this soliloquy such as shovel and dirt with recognizances and conveyances demonstate his conflicting identity. The Ha? at the end also acts as a rhetorical question which marks a change on his views of wealth, power and death.In conclusion, although identity of a character has many contributing factors, the protagonists in both texts would have no identity at all without experiences that cause their personality and traits throughout the text. Although language and form have an effect on identity, it is the plot that has the most impact on the character.