Hamlet's Refashioning of Himself

Abstract

Up to Act 4, Hamlet remembers the ghost. His actions, plots, and thinking have been the result of his compulsion to know which is related with the death drive. The death drive is characterized by self-destruction and aggressivity toward others. Hamlet indulged in this state of passivity, non-action, in many soliloquies, and in grappling with the impossible. At the same time he is so openly aggressive towards others that he torments Ophelia and Gertrude, distrusts women in general, and kills Polonius. He is not fashioning himself in an affirmative manner. However, in the 5th act, Hamlet begins to take care of himself and to refashion himself. Self-fashioning is a concept different from the pursuit of knowing that is contributive to self-indulgence. It is represented in the attitude of cherishing one's own self, one's own emotions, the spiritual aspect of life, and laboring to cherish them in reality. In Act 5, Hamlet decides to kill Claudius not only because Claudius killed Hamlet's father but also because Claudius tries to kill Hamlet himself. Hamlet also reveals his love for Ophelia, which he had denied before. He shows his inner feeling. His inner emotion, not the Ghost, becomes the most meaningful thing to Hamlet. Furthermore, he decides to engage in a losing game with Laertes, who was stronger in his fencing ability. It is Hamlet’s first time to be engaged in a losing game. He had often outwitted others and had never seriously failed. The fact that he is engaged in this losing game signifies that he does not care about winning over others and accepts that dying is something not to be afraid of and that death is so close to life. His changed attitude implies that he does not remember the ghost any more, which means that he has no guilty conscience towards the death of his father. Therefore Hamlet does not dwell on retaliating. The matter of living and dying does not torment him any more because he comes to accept the concept that dying is not the end of his life and dying is the action of Providence. Now Hamlet influenced by the ideas of the Reformation is refashioning himself. His attitude becomes serene and different from the soliloquy scene in which he was agonizing over the matter of living and dying and he has stronger inner power. And he engages in a losing game and expresses his love toward Ophelia. Hamlet comes to refashion in a new and positive manner.