John William Smith Junior
Ms. Ross
British Literature 11A
7 June 2011
Human Nature: The Universe’s Biggest Paradox
	Hamlet is a play that historians often debate. By nature it is ambiguous, and this leads to an overabundance of questions and statements that are difficult to either answer or verify, but hints lie stagnant within the text. Although the theme of Hamlet is never explicitly stated in the reading, inference tells us that the theme concerns human nature and the paradox that lies within it (Boyce, " "Hamlet." Critical Companion to William Shakespeare: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work"). Prompted by his fathers death, Hamlet suddenly becomes “disillusioned by the realization of mortality and the baseness of human nature” (Burt, " "Hamlet." The Drama 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Plays of All Time"). Other events within the play question the morals of human nature and signify the ongoing battle between wrong and right.
	One such issue used to suggest the paradoxical personality of human nature is the behavior of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern compared to the behavior of Horatio. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two friends of Hamlet, find themselves betraying Hamlet in order to help King Claudius gain valuable information regarding Hamlet’s state of sanity. At the request of Claudius, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz pledge their allegiance, with Guildenstern telling the king “we both obey, and here give up ourselves, in the full bent to lay our services freely at your feet, to be commanded” (Shakespeare, 2.2. 31-34). The behavior of Guildenstern and Rosencrantz in this situation is treacherous and malignant; they are doing wrong to Hamlet despite his actions causing them no harm directly or indirectly. On the opposite spectrum is Horatio, the friend of Hamlet that remained faithful to him throughout the novel. Horatio helps Hamlet to ensure Claudius’s presence at the play within the play and is Hamlet’s main companion in his master schemes, being given knowledge of all of Hamlet’s secret plans and ideas. The actions of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern compared to the actions of Horatio are opposite in nature, their views are conflicting and once again bring the paradox of human nature to light.
	Perhaps the biggest example of paradox in human nature is found in Hamlet.  Musician Holly Near once asked "Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?" This is precisely what Hamlet is doing; he is killing his uncle to avenge the murder of his father. This is also where the paradox lies; to kill someone for good is paradoxical, even in our current era. The great philosopher Voltaire once said “All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets” (Voltaire, BrainyQuote). Although soldiers are killing for the good of their own country, they are still irrefutably harming others both directly and indirectly, and something that causes harm to another race can never be considered good. Hamlet falls into a similar situation while seeking revenge in the name of his father, killing for what he thinks is right, and not what is morally right.
	The final example of paradox in Hamlet is the comparison of Ophelia and Gertrude’s attitude regarding promiscuity and their conflicting views on incest. As a woman, Ophelia’s sexual behavior is acceptable to society, and can be described as chaste (Boyce). On the other hand, Gertrude can be described as both incestuous and promiscuous. To be promiscuous is to have more than one sexual partner, and in the case of Gertrude, she has had two. Being incestuous is the act of engaging in sexual intercourse with two close relatives of each other. Although both were criticized in the novel for their sexual tendencies, it seems that Ophelia received more criticism despite her chaste nature compared to the deplorable actions of Gertrude. It is precisely this irony that undermines another paradox that humans often find themselves exhibiting; the criticism of those less deserving opposed to those who deserve harsher criticism. Although Gertrude does not go through the novel without being condemned for her actions, Hamlet takes personal shots at Gertrude for premarital sex several times in Act III, Scene I and again in Act III, Scene II before the start of the play within a play.
	Is Hamlet a satire on human nature or behavior, or is Shakespeare's ridicule coincidental? The amount of evidence that supports human nature as the theme is indisputable, there is simply too much to be merely accidental. The behavior of human nature and the paradoxes that lie within it is the indisputable theme. The few other feasible possibilities are outshined significantly by the theme of human nature.