Hamlet identifies with an adolescent of the 1990’s 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 1990’s.

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 “. . . the

celestial and my soul’s idol, the most beautified Ophelia . . .”

(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 uncle’s land and honor, Hamlet’s maturity

level for his time is low, especially for being a prince. Today

Hamlet’s age group is more immature than during his own

time so he relates to the youth of the 1990’s 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. “A little more than kin, and less

than kind.” (Hamlet. I, ii, 65) is just as rude during Hamlet’s

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 “. . . a fishmonger.”

(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

“Lady, shall I lie in your lap?” (Hamlet. III, ii, 115) What is

strange about Hamlet’s 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 Hamlet’s

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 “. . .tempt you toward the flood . . . Or to

the dreadful summit of the cliff . . .” (Hamlet. I, iv, 69-70). If

the prince was thinking right he would not have gone with

the ghost that resembled the old “. . . King, father, royal

Dane . . .” (Hamlet. I, iv, 45) Hamlet’s 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 1990’s 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 1990’s are compared to the youth of Hamlet’s time.

The inability to love maturely, rudeness towards authority,

and reacting to anger is what the youth of the 1990’s and

Hamlet have in common. Hamlet would have a much easier

time living during these times than his own. Hamlet’s

immaturity, rudeness, and radical behavior is just like

today’s youth and that is the insight that Hamlet has towards

the youth of the 1990’s.

Bibliography

Hamlet

Word Count: 825