Hamlet Laertes, Ophelia, 'Modernity' and Term Paper

That is, Ophelia is limited to seeing herself through the eyes of others, and men in particular, having achieved no core identity of her own. Her brother Laertes could easily today also be a modern-day "organization man," as could have been his father Polonius before him), that is, listening to higher authority and then acting to please that authority, without thinking or reflecting on the wisdom or efficacy, generally or for himself, of what is being requested or why. Hamlet's indecision is perhaps less stereotypically "modern" (although realistically, it is probably very modern, given the ever increasing complexity of today's society, which make it harder and harder, generally, for average people to make decisions).

Where do I fit in? I guess I am "modern" only to the extent that Hamlet as a character is modern; and for those same not very encouraging reasons.Pre-18th century according to Margreta de Grazia in "When did Hamlet Become Modern?" (2003), Hamlet was a laughing stock of a character; and by today's leadership standards in particular, he would indeed be that again [even if by purely psychological ones, Hamlet would perhaps also be better understood than ever before in world history, and finally receive the Prozac he needs]. So... To be or not to be...: existentially speaking [i.e., in a particularly modern sense] Hamlet's best-known inner debate remains perfectly viable (but again, not for good reasons).

Works Cited

Grazia, Margreta de. "When did Hamlet become Modern?" Textual Practice.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. In the Norton Anthology of World Literature, Vol. C (Pkg. 1). (Eds. Sarah Lawall et al.). New York:

Norton, 2002. 2828-2918......