reaction in milton’s paradise lost and shakespeare’s hamlet and macbeth

7/30/2019 Reaction in Miltons Paradise Lost and Shakespeares Hamlet and Macbeth

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Reaction in Miltons Paradise Lost and Shakespeares Hamlet andMacbeth

It goes without saying that we all react to the experiences that we have.

What differs from person to person is how those experiences affect ourbeing and what each of us takes from those experiences and how weapply it to our lives from that point on. We see this happening not only inour own lives, but also in literature. The characters fromShakespearesHamletand Macbeth and those fromMiltonsParadise Lostshow, throughtheir conflicts, that the experiences that they are exposed to affect theirlives in a negative way. In all three of these pieces of literature, thereactions the characters have to their experiences are what bring abouttheir ultimate demise. Unfortunately, these characters dont realize theerror of their actions until its too late, but we, as the audience, can learn

from the mistakes we see the characters make in Hamlet, Macbeth andParadise Lost.

Hamlet was forced to endure many painful experiences, and the ways inwhich he chose to react to those experiences are what largely contributedto the tragedy. In his essay dealing with Hamlet and the loss of innocence,Godshalk claims that the prince...begins the play dreaming of innocenceand personal integrity, and in the course of action, this innocence andintegrity are severely compromised. (221) This is indeed true, as theexperiences that Hamlet is forced to endure whittle away at his innocence,

and as he reacts to these experiences, he is driven by his reactions to actin a way where he must abandon his integrity. The death of King Hamlettook a toll on Young Hamlet, inducing grief and sorrow to the mourningson. In fact, it seemed that just two months after the Kings death, Hamletwas the only one left feeling any kind of sorrow. The experience of losing aloved one, especially his father, was too much for Hamlet and he was toogrief stricken in the eyes of some, Claudius especially. Claudius inquired ofHamlet, How is it that the clouds still hang on you? (1.2.66) Claudiusseems to think that Hamlet has little reason to still be grieving over thedeath of his father. Claudius continues:

Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet,

To give these mourning duties to your father:

But, you must know, your father lost a father;
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That father lost, lost his; and the survivor bound

In filial obligation for some term

To do obsequious sorrow; but to persever

In obstinate condolement is a course

Of impious stubbornness; tis unmanly grief (1.2.88-95)

Here, Claudius tells Hamlet that his reaction to his fathers death is overthe top. Hamlet is putting too much effort into grieving his father andClaudius is basically telling him that he is weak and unmanly for being sosorrowful. In fact, Godshalk claims that Hamlets reaction to his fathers

death is immature if not childish. Maturity allows us to accept death with acertain degree of equanimity, or at least to dissemble the depth of ourfeelings so as not to embarrass others. (223) Godshalk seems to agreethat Hamlets reaction to his fathers death was inappropriate. Had hehandled it a bit differently, or with a little more maturity, as Godshalksuggests, perhaps, the situation would not have turned out so badly in theend.

Perhaps Claudius is, in a way, correct about Hamlets reaction to hisfathers death being inappropriate given the way we know Hamlet behaves

later in the play. Hamlet had such a close relationship with his father thathe wanted to do right by him and get revenge on his fathers murderer.Hamlets overwhelming grief for his father is understandable and certainly

justified, but Claudius does have a point when he states that death isnatural, and to be this upset about something natural, something thatssupposed to happen, is somewhat unnatural in itself. Nevertheless, theway Hamlet reacted to his fathers death was destructive and damaging tohimself in the end because he was filled with anger and harbored evenmore anger toward those, Claudius in particular, who tried to tell him thathis grief wasnt warranted. Honigmann argues that we, as the audience,have no room to say whether or not Hamlet acted with excessive emotionor whether his feelings surrounding the death of his father and the hastymarriage of his mother were appropriate or not. He claims:

His situation is unusual (a father murdered by an uncle, a mother themurderers doting wife, a ghost calling for revenge), so what would be theappropriate emotion? Unless we can cite a norm we have no right toaccuse Hamlet of excessive emotion or of a failure of sensibility. (64)


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Since the majority of us have never had to experience the painful eventsthat seem to plague Hamlets life, we really cant judge the type of reactionthat he shouldve had.

Soon after his fathers death, Hamlet was visited by his fathers ghost,another experience that Hamlet had a damaging reaction to. Faced withthe information that King Hamlets ghost provided, Hamlet had choices tomake. He could either accept the news of his fathers murder, knowing thathe could never trust Claudius, completely removing him from his life, or hecouldve done what he chose to do attempt revenge. Knowing theoutcome of Hamlets decision, its easy to say that he shouldve chosen theformer, but Hamlets reaction to the ghosts news was his true reaction,whether it was wrong or right. Hamlets words are sincere, full of pain andanger:

Yea, from the table of my memory

Ill wipe away all trivial fond records,

All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,

That youth and observation copied there;

And thy commandment all alone shall live

Within the book and volume of my brain,

Unmixed with baser matter: yes, by heaven! (1.5.98-104)

Hamlet is vowing that he will let nothing stand in the way of his revenge; hewill forget everything else that he has ever learned, and will focus all of hisattention on revenge. This reaction can be seen as very sinister andobsessive, and as experience has shown, this type of behavior can onlymean trouble. Nothing good ever comes from monomaniacs such asHamlet, thinking so obsessively about one thing that it consumes himcompletely. The way he chose to react to this information from the ghostmay not have been pure free will; surely passion and anger led him to feelthis way, but it certainly was free will that made him decide to feign


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madness in order to trick Claudius and trap him into showing signs of guilt.

Another experience that shook Hamlets world was the hasty marriage ofhis mother to Claudius, his fathers brother. Hamlet suspected foul playfrom the beginning, but the fact that his mother could lose the man that

loved her so much that she loved too, then turn around and marry hisbrother not two months later, was too much for Hamlet to swallow. Hisreaction to his mothers poor judgment was, again, one of anger andresentment, yet another reason for him to dislike his new stepfather/uncle.Hamlets words prove to us that he is harboring these feelings ofresentment and hurt that can be nothing but damaging to a persons well-being when bottled up inside as Hamlet is forced to do:

But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two:

So excellent a king; that was, to this,

Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother

That he might not beteem the winds of heaven

Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!

Must I remember? why, she would hang on him,

As if increase of appetite had grown

By what it fed on; and yet, within a month,

Let me not think on t: Frailty, thy name is woman!

A little month; or ere those shoes were old

With which she followd my poor fathers body,

Like Niobe, all tears; why she, even she, --

O God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,

Would have mournd longer, -- married with mine uncle,


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My fathers brother, but no more like my father

Than I to Hercules; within a month,

Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears

Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,

She married. O! most wicked speed, to post

With such dexterity to incestuous sheets.

It is not nor it cannot come to good;

But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue! (1.2.138-159)

Hamlet is absolutely beside himself with pure and utter disgust that hismother could commit such a horrible deed. He is very angry with her and inhis essay regarding Hamlet and the causes and magnitude of his grief,Kirsch states, there is every reason, in reality to for a some to be troubledand decomposed by the appetite of a mother who betrays his fathersmemory by her incestuous marriage. (126) Hamlet remembers howmuch his parents loved each other, and cant understand how she couldturn around and marry someone else so soon. Hamlets language is verypowerful and he outright states how displeased he is with the current

situation in Elsinore, and we, as the audience, arent left wondering howHamlet feels about his mothers decision to remarry. This reaction is verystrong, but Hamlet doesnt make it completely known to the othercharacters that he is unhappy with the marriage. This is what makes it sodestructive. Hamlet lets this anger stew and boil within him, making it thatmuch more explosive when his true feelings finally come out. Keeping allof this anger bottled up inside of him is part of his reaction to thisincestuous marriage, which proves to be a destructive reaction because ofthe actions it leads him to take part in later in the play. When Hamletstates, But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue! (1.2.159)according to Bradley, he realizes that he can do nothing. He must lock inhis heart, not any suspicion of his uncle that moves obscurely there, butthat horror and loathing. (73) Hamlet must keep it inside because if he letsit out, it will be an explosion because all he can think about is his utterhatred for his uncle.

Hamlet makes his biggest mistake in letting these traumatic experiencescontrol him and completely take over his entire life, monopolizing his


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thoughts and capturing his conscience. Mackenzie suggests:

Grief for his fathers death, and displeasure at his mothers marriage, preyon his mind; and he seems, with the weakness natural to such adisposition, to yield to their control.

He

does not attempt to resist or combat these impressions, but is willing to flyfrom the

contest, though it were into the grave. (152)

Much like Hamlet, Macbeth was also visited by supernatural forces(witches in this case) and given information about something unknown. InMacbeths case, however, the witches were prophesizing what wouldhappen in the future, not revealing the mysteries of what had alreadyhappened. Macbeths experience of hearing about how his life could bedrives him to a dangerous desire to make the prophecies come true.Unlike Hamlet, Macbeth showed no signs of healthy skepticism, makinghis reaction almost gullible for so easily believing the witches words. Hisreaction to the witches prophesies was dangerous and destructivebecause he chose not to let the experiences happen on their own. He so

desperately wanted the witches prophecies to come true that he didwhatever it took to make them happen.

Upon hearing about his promotion to Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth gainedthe experience of learning that there was truth in what the witches told himand gave him the proof that the other events they said would happenwould, indeed, occur, including the prophecy that Macbeth would becomeKing. This is where Macbeths reaction to this experience begins to causehim suffering and starts to shape the tragedy. At this point, Macbethcouldve chosen to let things be and happen on their own. He evenconsidered doing this:

If chance will have me king, why, chance

may crown me,

without my stir. (1.3.42-44)


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Macbeth seemed that he really wanted to just let what was meant to behappen on its own, but his reaction to the first prophecy coming true wastoo strong; he wanted that life of royalty that he felt belonged to him. Thecrown was so close to being his that he could taste it, and he couldnt riskletting it slip through his fingers, especially since the witches also claimed

that Banquos sons would be king someday.

Macbeth realized the consequences that his becoming king would bring,and, if not for Lady Macbeth, the thought of those consequences wouldhave been enough to sway him against going through with the murder ofDuncan. However, the interaction Macbeth experienced with his wifethroughout this entire ordeal and the reactions he had to the words shespoke to him were enough to drive him over the edge and go through withthe horrendous murder. She doubted him from the beginning, questioninghis masculinity, suggesting that he was too soft to seize this opportunity

and take action to gain what fate claims is his. She knew exactly what tosay to him to almost force him to take immediate action:

Art thou afeard

To be the same in thine own act and valour

As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that

Which thou esteemst the ornament of life,

And live a coward in thine own esteem,

Letting I dare not wait upon I would,

Like the poor cat i the adage? (1.7.39-43)

After this stab at Macbeths pride, he still tries to argue with her, but to noavail. Lady Macbeths words are too strong and they affect Macbeth toodeeply for him to ignore them now. He will now base his actions on thereaction he had to Lady Macbeths prodding.

At this point in time, Macbeth is doing whatever it takes to assure that hewill become king and keep it that way. He will let nothing stand in his way.Beginning with his murdering Duncan, Macbeth is now creating his ownexperiences, which is very different from what we saw with Hamlet. Hamletreacted to events and situations thrown at him, whereas Macbeth is nowtaking action and making things happen to be sure that he gets what he


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wants. At first, Macbeth seems very regretful of his murder of Duncan. Heis absolutely terrified, evidenced in the words he speaks right after hecommits the murder:

Ill go no more:

I am afraid to think what I have done;

Look on t again I dare not. (2.2.50-52)

Macbeth refuses to return to the scene of the murder because he ishorrified at what he did. Once he begins to feel as if he is free from theblame of everyone, he becomes more at ease. When everyone states thatthe princes are suspect, and no one lets on that they believe Macbethmight be to blame, he becomes more confident in his decision to create his

own fate. Honigmann suggests that it is really difficult for the audience toblame Macbeth, and for some reason, we just cant help but identify withhim and feel sorry for him. Honigmann claims,

I see Macbeth, when he appears after the murder, not as a devil, a fiend,but as a man who has done himself a terrible injury - so terrible that hecannot even locate his pain. He is in a state of shock, like someone whohas escaped from a badly smashed car. Not a fiend, but a mutilatedhuman being. (128)

This is a pretty powerful perception of Macbeth, and I would be willing toagree until Macbeth goes through this transformation. Somehow, he stopscaring and stops fearing he fact that he is a murderer.

Now, Macbeth is running the show. It no longer takes his wife nagging himto be manlier for him to take action. Macbeth has no qualms committingmurder, even including the murder of his friend, Banquo. Banquo is theonly person that Macbeth feels is a threat to hid throne, and makes thequick decision to kill him and his son, Fleance. Once the first murder wascommitted, all of the anxiety and reservations Macbeth had about murderare gone. He has a one track mind and sees anything and anyonestanding in the way of his ultimate goal as dispensable. Macbethsexperiences are now building upon each other, creating an even strongerand more drastic reaction to each new experience. With the murder ofDuncan behind him, murder is almost effortless to Macbeth. This in mind,Macbeth thinks about the witches words to Banquo about how his sonswill be king someday, not Macbeths. Macbeth speaks with theseexperiences in mind:


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Upon my head they placd a fruitless crown,

And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,

Thence to be wrenchd with an unlineal hand,

No son of mine succeeding. If t be so,

For Banquos issue have I fild my mind;

For them the gracious Duncan have I murderd;

Put rancours in the vessels of my peace

Only for them; and mine eternal jewel

Given to the common enemy of man,

To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!

Rather than so, come fate into the list,

And champion me to the utterance! (3.1.61-72)

Here, Macbeth has the mind set that he did not go through all of theseexperiences just so someone elses sons will become king. Macbeth isnow tempting fate by trying to change what the witches foresaw. Again,this differs greatly from Hamlet because Macbeth doesnt even care nowwhat was meant to happen. It was only important when it was good newsfor him. Now that it looks as though Macbeth may be out of luck becausethe prophecies are not in his favor, he wants to completely disregard themand try and create his own fate.

What Macbeth may not realize is that he is trying to take complete controlover his own fate. He so desperately wants to hold on to what he thinks isrightfully his, and that he will stop at nothing, not even murder. His reactionto the positive experiences that have happened to him (promotion toThane of Cawdor, being crowned king) have blinded him to the fact that hemanipulated and plotted to get to the position that he is now, and that itdoes not rightfully belong to him. Unfortunately, he is too driven by what ismuch more than ambition and nothing short of insanity. His reactions to allof the recent experiences in his life bring his own demise because while he


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is plotting and murdering, everyone starts to catch on to his game and heends up revealing himself. Now, no one trusts him, no one wants him to beking anymore, and they all want to kill him, and thats exactly whathappens. His reactions to his early experiences with the witches and theexperiences to follow that he forces to happen by his own free will result in

his own murder.

Miltons Adam and Eve from Paradise Lost are like no other charactersthat we have examined. They have many experiences in Eden, however,they are experiences that no one has ever had before them, and so theydont have the luxury of knowing what to do in a situation they have neverbeen faced with. In addition, they dont have anyone who lives before themto teach them right from wrong. So every single experience they gothrough is a learning experience and by experience, and by experienceonly, they are taught. For example, Raphael warned Adam and Eve to be

wary of evil and that evil would be near to try and harm them. Because shehad never experienced evil before, Eve didnt know what she was lookingfor when evil was staring her right in the face while she was being temptedby the serpent. Adam and Eve had absolutely no idea what to expect whenawaiting evil to tempt them, and Eve especially must have had acompletely different idea of what to expect because it didnt seem to occurto her that evil was what encountered her when tempting her to eat thefruit. Eve even tries to defend herself to Adam, telling him that theres noway that either of them wouldve known better, even if he was with her.Neither of them had any prior experience and had no idea what to look for:

Hadst thou been there,

Or here th attempt, thou couldst not have discerned

Fraud in the serpent, speaking as he spake; 1150

No ground of enmity between us known,

Why should he mean me ill, or seek to harm. (10.1148-52)

Its easy for us to look back and say that she shouldve known, but thatsbecause we have the experience and have learned from their mistakes.Why should Eve think that the serpent was evil? She didnt have theexperience to know that evil would disguise itself and then approach her.

Its apparent that the main experience that Adam and Eve were exposed towas the temptation by Satan. Their reactions to this temptation were


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ultimately what led to their fall, each in a little different way. Eve didbasically what Satan wanted her to do. She did waver a little more than heexpected her to, but in the end, he got her to eat the fruit. She had theexperience of being tempted and her reaction was to give into thattemptation. Eves fall, in that case, was a pretty simple one because she

made her choice, and it can be argued that she was tricked, but she didmake her choice and that was the end of it for her.

Adam, on the other hand, had a more complex fall. His involved more freewill than Eves. When Adam ate the fruit, he knew that he was falling andthat his life in paradise would soon be over. He didnt really have theexperience of being tempted by Satan, but his experience dealt withhaving a choice to make. He could either follow Eve and be with her, or hecouldve let Eve go down by herself. Adam reasoned that fallen andtogether was better than remaining in paradise without Eve. Adam had a

much more complex reaction to his fall than Eve did as well. Adam showedevidence of his fall with his satanic thinking as Milton would have put it.He began to question God, wondering why he was even created if the fallwas what was in store for him:

O fleeting joys

Of Paradise, dear bought with lasting woes!

Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay

To mold me man, did I solicit thee

From darkness to promote me, or here place 745

In this delicious garden? (10.743-46)

Adams reaction was definitely not one he wouldve had if he had notfallen, and in fact, it resembles a similar speech by Satan after he was castdown into hell. Satans poor me speech is the same type of speech as

Adams speech, lamenting, wishing he had never been created. This is notexactly the type of attitude Adam should want to take on, especially sincehe would need all of the mercy from God that he could get at this point intime. It doesnt seem that God wouldve been very appreciative of Adamquestioning him.

Both Adam and Eves reaction to the main experience both had was,indeed, the direct cause of their fall, unlike the other characters examined.


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With Hamlet and Macbeth, their reactions to experiences led them toaction, which was damaging to them in the end. Its very interesting to notethat although these characters are all very different, they are also alike inmany ways as well. All were faced with choices. Their reactions and theactions they took because of those reactions were free will. Hamlet chose

to listen to the ghost of his father and seek revenge, Macbeth chose totempt fate by trying to create his own. Adam and Eve chose to eat theforbidden fruit. The reasons for these choices could have very well beendetermined by passion or by listening to logic, but the point is that theywere not forced upon any of the characters.

By analyzing Hamlet, Macbeth, and Adam and Eve, characters created byShakespeare and Milton, we can draw a parallel between the lives andexperiences of characters and our own lives and experiences. How do we,as the audience, react to the pieces of literature that we are exposed to?

Fish claims that the true center of Paradise Lost is the readersconsciousness of the poems personal relevance, in other words, how thereader responds to it and takes away from it (526). This responsegenerated from the reader, according to Fish, is very important because itis the entire point of reading the poem. Without a personal reaction to thepoem, the poem is simply a story, and this is the case in most works. Theauthors intent is usually to spark some sort of response, depending on thegenre of the work. Without that crucial response, the work really had noeffect, and then what is the point? Although Fish is referring to ParadiseLost in his essay, I would agree that this concept of reader response can

be applied to Hamlet and Macbeth as well. Literature is always moreinteresting when it leaves some kind of feeling or emotion at the end. Iwould argue that the piece of literature that should warrant the strongestresponse from its audience is Paradise Lost, because of its spiritual andreligious content. It seems that people usually feel more passionate aboutissues regarding spirituality and religion. It all depends on the audience,though. In our contemporary times, Paradise Lost wouldnt be as influentialas it was during the time that Milton wrote it. If nothing else, its verydifficult for an average person to sit down and read the text of the epicpoem. It really is not very accessible in these days, so even if someonewere to sit down and attempt to take it in, it may be lost in the interpretationand understanding. On the other hand, a play such as Hamlet or Macbethwould generate more of a reaction during the modern times because theseplays can be seen as being a bit more accessible, even thoughShakespeare can be very intimidating.

Its evident in the plays and in our own lives that our experiences and ourreactions to those experiences play a large role in the events and


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outcomes that surround our lives. Its interesting to note that very drastic ordramatic reactions are often the most risky and the ones that carry themost weight, likely because those type of reactions call the most attention.Hamlet and Macbeth both had very drastic reactions to the experiencesthat they endured, and both unfortunately were brought to the end of their

lives very tragically. Its very difficult to say what we wouldve done if put inthe situations of the characters discussed. I know that wed like to say thatwe wouldnt make the same mistakes or have the same reactions, but itshard to say unless its something that weve already been taught byexperience. It comes down to the concept of empathy versus sympathy.Many of us can only feel sympathy for these characters because most ofus have not had to endure the painful experiences of these characters.The ultimate response to one of these pieces of literature would involveempathy, because that would mean real identification with the character,and having a real sense of what the character is going through and the

development of a new level of understanding of the literature. This is whatthe ultimate goal of all literature should be, not just limited to those worksdiscussed previously. If an author can generate such a strong response intheir readers, they have achieved success.

reaction in milton’s paradise lost and shakespeare’s hamlet and macbeth

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