Love Of Hamlet

As one of the greatest playwrights in the world, William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays in his life, and each of them occupies an important position in the history of world drama, among them Hamlet is considered as the most distinguished one. Also the leading character Hamlet has become an important figure in the western world. Hamlet has inspired more critical thinking than any other western literary works. The critics from different countries in different periods usually take this play as the subject of their discussions; the translators are trying to translate Hamlet into other languages; the actors are anxious to play the role of Hamlet. During the four centuries after its publication, various interpretations, translations and performances of Hamlet appeared all over the world.At the very beginning of the play, the ghost who acclaims to be Hamlet's father gives the information that Hamlet's uncle, Claudius, has murdered him and stolen the throne which should be inherited by Hamlet originally. The information given by the ghost acts as the trigger for the development of the play. To some extent, the whole play can be condensed into one sentence:Claudius kills the old king of Denmark and snatches the throne, which should belong to Hamlet according to law. That is to say, it is Claudius who first breaks the succession order, and Hamlet fights for the right, for his beloved father and also himself. But Hamlet does not act as soon as being told the secret by the ghost, and later he is hesitating until the end.Why does Hamlet hesitate to revenge his murdered father? The most controversial topic—there ever was, and there ever will be. There are so many interpretations about Hamlet's delay, and all of them focused on the dark side in the prince's heart, or we call, his hatred. In my thesis, by using "Reader-Response Criticism", I, according to my own interpretations and limited knowledge, make the analyses of the possible factors that prevent him from taking action to kill his uncle, and all of these factors are originated from "love", which has been never focused on by former critics. So the title is "Love of Hamlet". The enlightenments I get are all based on "love", which is the soul of my research in this thesis.From chapter one to the conclusion:First, I give a brief mention of the content of Hamlet; I reviewed the main ideas on Hamlet's delay by those famous critics; I explained Reader-Response Criticism in a detailed way, and make a comparison with other theories, such as New Criticism, or formalistic approach; I enumerated different kinds of love in Hamlet's heart—the reasons why he hesitates:his filial love towards his mother, his pure love towards Ophelia, love towards his friends, or we say, friendship, love towards himself, love in his heart as a Christian, and love towards life, etc; Then love is talked about before revenge, including the traditional and my own ideas about revenge in order to let my readers feel the power of love; Also, I pointed out the enlightenments I have learned from Hamlet, still with "love" as a centre; And I made a conclusion from which readers can understand the "love factors" of Hamlet and beyond Hamlet.