Essay on Horatio Essay

Often overlooked in the critical analysis of the play, Horatio is a fictitious character whose actions ar of no major importance, yet in the background of the plays meaning, his role is crucial. Like the Ghost, Horatio helps Shakespe are to refine the concept of the consummate(a) man. This is shown through Horatios ideals, his relationship with village, their differences and similarities. We assume that his studies in Wittenberg make overhaul his view(prenominal) thinking and thus he would naturally reject the supposition of a ghost however he is the one to tell juncture about his fathers apparition. Even after witnessing the Ghost, Horatio remains a rationalist.His mind is sober, and he encourages Hamlet to preserve self-control a chance upon virtue of the Stoics. Yet when Hamlet dies (possibly in Horatios arms, dep differenceing on put directions) the roles reverse Horatio, charged by Hamlets dearest, almost dies with the prince. For the reference, Horatio becomes a separate and important entity as Hamlet de wearrs the livery about his character that defines Hamlets own ideals. Shakespeare gives Hamlet the chance to voice the faculties he admires, thus giving us a nonher chance to understand the immenseer aspirations and aims of the suspensor.He says Horatio, thou art een as conscionable a man As eer my conversation coped withal. nay do non think I flatter, Since my dear soul was fancy woman of her choice, And could of men distinguish, her election Hath sealed thee to herself for thou hast been As one, in suff border all, that suffers nonhing A man that Fortunes buffets and rewards Hath taen with equal thanks and blest are those Whose blood and taste are so well co-mingled That they are not a pipe in Fortunes finger To sound what stop she please. Give me that man.That is not passions slave, and I will wear him In my warmheartednesss core, ay in my heart of heart, As I do thee. (3. 253-73) Horatio is not passions slave if passions, like Fortune, is personified, then it becomes a come apart of ancient deity that chooses to blind benignants and deny them all rational choice. To a certain extent, all opposite characters in the tragedy are to varying degree subject to their passions. Horatio by contrast is calm and stalls he is skeptical and rational, as can be seen from his encounter with the Ghost.If passion is a disease-like quality that Hamlet believes to be defectious, then Horatio exemplifies a polished and honourable person honest by definition, since he does not allow passions to fool his conscience and justify any selfish means or aims. However the most important aspect highlighted by the Prince is Horatios philosophical understanding of life. The speech suggests Horatio is a follower of Stoicism, an ancient expression of thinking developed once by the ancients and then revived by the great thinkers of the Renaissance. Founded by Xenon, (334-262b. c. ) the philosophy taught to discipline ones beh aviour concord to ones rational mind.Hamlet states that his ideal is such. However the prince himself is not free or deprived of passions. The qualities he admires in Horatio are starkly different to the ones he himself displays in his very first monologue. He speaks of sliminess as self-slaughter and cannot come to terms with things rank and grosse in nature (1. 2) Hamlet is a man of many different moods and tempers in this one speech he begins disgusted, grows more passionate in his hatred and it is not until the terminal two line of that speech when Hamlet says I must work my tongue and regains control of his emotions.It is clear the wiz cannot remain unaffected when he sees unworthys manifestation in any form his substantial being actively protests and rejects amoral and dishonourable actions. Because of this, Hamlets ideal human nature that Shakespeare personifies through Horatios character remains, until the time comes at the culmination of the play, hostile Hamlets o wn. Preparing to fight Laertes, says to Horatio who is desperately trying to encumber the Prince from fencing, convinced he will lose There is special frugality in the fall of a sparrow (5.2).This whole speech signifies the way Hamlet matures from admiring into exhibiting Stoic ideals, yet applying them in a more global way than Horatio. Through hardship and experience Hamlet accepts Fate, but refuses to pure tone aside and give up fighting for his cause. He takes Horatios system of logic and focus, acknowledges all the basis of the teachings of Stoicism, yet unites this with his burning desire to fight evil and restore justice. Horatios attempts to save Hamlet from death are doomed, because the protagonist believes the question about his own life has been decided, and thus no longish bothers him.A true Stoic does not fear death. Hamlets mysterious last words, uttered to Horatio, echo this the rest is silence (5. 2. 351) Furthermore, if at the beginning of the play Hamlet and Horatio lack the virtues of each other (Hamlet, unlike his friend, cannot distance himself from anxieties, whereas Horatio comes across as almost emotionally withdrawn), by the end different dimensions of both characters are revealed to us. Horatio, although still wise and composed, truly loves Hamlet.Realising the impendency of the Princes death, Horatio grabs the cup with the remaining poison, ready to follow his friend in death. Hamlet stops him and, on his deathbed, urges Horatio to remember the philosophy they both adored, and live by it If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, Absent thee from rejoicing awhile, And in this harsh world draw thy breath in imposition To tell my story. It is important that Hamlet hands over his secret to Horatio, bank him to clear his name and justify his actions to posterity. Horatio obeys and we trust him to communicate the truth, restoring Hamlets innocence.Horatios character helps us to understand Hamlet better, to realise how the protag onist matures, and witness the best in him even as he lay dying. Shakespeares inclusion of Horatio and his relationship with Hamlet stresses the importance of nobility, dignity, felicity and other moral principles and virtues valued by the Ancient. And lastly, Horatio rules out a conclusive judgment concerning Hamlets death and his suffering, and tells of them as carnal, bloody and unnatural acts ensuring the audience perceived those strong feelings too. ??