It was nice to have a happy ending.

Jane and Darcy lose their pride and their prejudice, and are happy because of each other. Truly loving another is the only way anyone overcomes the obstacles of society at that time. Mr. Bennet loves Elizabeth, and he is happy when he is with her and away from his dreadful wife. His wife might not be capable of true love. She is perfectly content with money and a high social status, but she probably will never be happy like Elizabeth and Jane.

Austen continues to mock the flawed characters of the novel. Mr. Bennet advises Collins to "stand by the nephew. He has more to give" (287). Collins' "parading and obsequious civility" after receiving this letter shows he took the advice. After an entire novel of his grovelling at Lady Catherine's feet, he switches in a second to give all his praise to another person of higher rank, as soon as he has the chance. Despite his excessive sucking-up, everyone hates him. Elizabeth, who was honest and defied the social hierarchy, ended up happier than anyone. I think Austen wants to make a point that social class should not matter. Pride, however is necessarily not a bad thing. Look at Lydia and Wickham. They are about as far from living in a situation that anyone would remotely desire as Charlotte Lucas.

Charlotte Lucas's character confuses me. She accepted Mr. Collins solely because of his money and connections, so it is not surprising that she did end up happily. The reason her character is interesting to me though is that while her acceptance of Collins seems stupid, she probably did not have any better options. I think Charlotte represents the most pessimistic side to an otherwise very optimistic novel. No one better than Mr. Collins would probably have ever proposed to Charlotte, so what should she have done? Elizabeth turned down Collins, but she was not as desperate as Charlotte. However, Elizabeth would not have known that there would be a man like Darcy who would look beyond her social class and love her for her personality, so maybe she was in a similar situation to Charlotte's.

I think another interesting aspect of Pride and Prejudice is the importance of family. Mrs. Bennet wants only to marry her daughters off so she might rise in social class. Mr. Bennet loves Elizabeth because she is "has something more of quickness than her sisters," but he does not especially love anyone else in his family (2). Lady Catherine only has a strong relationship with Darcy because he is in a high social class. She wants Darcy to marry her daughter so that her social class can improve. It seems that the only way to have a strong family is to have parents that love each other, but I am not sure of that because no one who actually loved each other in the story had kids.

I liked this book.

Caustic Candor Compounds Confrontation

Lady Catherine's attempt to intimidate Elizabeth gave me a lot to add to a paper based either on humor or love. Lady Catherine is entirely incapable of intimidating Elizabeth to "promise [Lady Catherine] never to enter into...an engagement" with Mr. Darcy" (267). Elizabeth bluntly replies to Catherine's request that " she will make no promise of the kind" (267). Lady Catherine repeatedly tries to make Elizabeth give her the "assurance" she requires "upon having such a report universally contradicted" (265,267). Elizabeth "certainly never shall give it" (267). Lady Catherine is confident her intimidation through social superiority will be successful. Elizabeth's concise, defiant remarks to Catherine's ridiculous requests are hilarious.

Lady Catherine tries to convince Elizabeth that Elizabeth cannot marry Darcy because she lacks "family, connections, [and] fortune," and marrying him would defy "the claims of duty, honour, and gratitude" (267-268). Elizabeth says that none of these "have any claim on" her (268). Elizabeth overturns the concept of social class. The importance of love takes precedent over social class, wealth, and the feelings of any besides the two experiencing the love. I think this is important to Pride and Prejudice, but I think the idea that love transcends pride and prejudice might be too obvious for a paper. As far as humor, I am not sure how I could write a paper on the topic. "The book is funny. The End." Maybe I could write the book on Austen's use sarcasm. The majority of the funny characters use sarcasm, so maybe the use of sarcasm signifies intelligence.

Where is the symbolism?

At the beginning of the novel, Mary describes "pride" as "our opinion of ourselves" (14). Elizabeth, however, is now "proud that in a cause of compassion and honour, [Darcy] had been able to get the better of himself" (243-244). I think "pride" in another is different than the "pride" that Mary describes. Pride in another has a positive connotation, but pride in oneself has a negative connotation. I think the difference is the reason for the pride. One would probably not be proud of someone else for his or her high social class. I think that pride in oneself and prejudice often go hand in hand, while pride in another and prejudice do not. I am trying to decide if Elizabeth is either proud, prejudiced, or both. I could argue that her prejudice against Darcy's higher social class created her dislike of him. On the other hand, her pride prevented her from marrying Darcy and Mr. Collins.

For my paper: Darcy treated the Gardiners with respect, which he might not have done before he fell in love Elizabeth. Love transcends both pride in one's own social class and prejudice against others in lower classes. I have been trying to look for symbols throughout Pride and Prejudice, but I just cannot find any. I cannot think of any recurring objects besides a horse and carriage and the estates. My only idea is that people's estates could reflect the people that own them. Darcy is a great person, and he has a grea house. The Bennet's have a crappy house, but Mr. Bennet is not really a crappy person. Also, Lady Catherine has a magnificent house, but her personality is terrible. Elizabeth did comment that Darcy's furniture was neither "gaudy nor uselessly fine," implying that Lady Catherine's furniture was both. Maybe her personality is "gaudy." Lady Catherine is not as great as she appears.

Austen does a great job creating emotions in the reader, or at least in me. Mrs. Bennet greets Bingley with a "degree of civility which made her daughters ashamed" (250). Elizabeth is "in such misery of shame" that the "first wish of [her] heart...is never more to be in company with" her mother (251-252). I was actually getting annoyed with Mrs. Bennet as I read about her overzealous treatment of Mr. Bingley. Does she think she is helping Jane's relationship by acting so obnoxiously? Probably, but she drives me crazy.

I am getting into a chick-flick

I was thinking about writing my paper on a topic dealing with Austen's satire and humor. I need to think about what she satirizes. Probably society during the early nineteenth century, vanity, and naivety. The characters I would focus on would be Mr. Collins, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, and Elizabeth and Darcy. As I was reading this weekend, there was a line on Page 201 that literally made me laugh out loud. Miss Bingley repeatedly mocks Elizabeth "from a determination of making [Darcy] speak" (201). Ms. Bingley perceives "air altogether" as "intolerable," and says, "'She a beauty!--I should as soon call her mother a wit. But...I believe you thought her rather pretty at one time'" (200-201). Darcy replies, "But that was only when I first knew her, for it is many months since I have considered her as one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance" (201). I actually laughed. My man Darcy totally burned Ms. Bingley. The best part is how sarcastic Austen is towards Ms. Bingley: "Miss Bingley was left to all the satisfaction of having forced him to say what gave no one pain but herself" (201). I feel like the problem with the topic of "satire" is that I am not entirely sure what Austen satirizes, or even what exactly "satire" is. But the book is really funny.

Another concept that I am considering is the idea of love. Darcy's letter talks describes Bingley and Jane's feelings towards each other, and Elizabeth had never "so honestly felt that she could have loved him as now, when all love must be vain" (205). The magnitude of "change in a man of so much pride excited not only astonishment but gratitude--for to love, ardent love, it must be attributed" (197). I think this is a very important quotation because it deals with pride, change, and love. I think these are three critical themes in Pride and Prejudice. Darcy is proud, but he is not, at least anymore, prejudiced against lower-class people due to his love for Elizabeth. Love is the key, and it can change people, it is more important than the pride or prejudice that anyone may have. I am not sure if this is true, because Darcy was right about Wickham, and he was right in assessing Jane's lack of love for Bingley. Despite this, I think he was much more arrogant and prejudiced in the beginning of the story. I think his love for Elizabeth has allowed him to overcome those two previous character traits.

Turning Point

Mr. Darcy's letter completely altered my idea of him and of Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth "had been blind, partial, prejudiced,absurd" (156). This whole time I thought that Mr. Darcy was prejudiced because of his pride, but he was actually able to see that Jane was not truly in love with Mr. Bingley, she did not "invite [his attentions] with any participation of sentiment" (148). Despite Mr. Darcy's pride in his social class, which aprehended him from proposing to Elizabeth, he did propose to her. He stopped Bingley's marriage with Jane solely for the well-being of his friend. Darcy was not selfish or prejudiced. He was undoubtedly proud, but this pride did not stop him from proposing to Elizabeth, it merely gave him a "sense of her inferiority" (142).

Elizabeth was actually prejudiced against Mr. Darcy because of his higher social class. She thought he would be like the majority of people with high-ranking positions in society, but he was not. Both Elizabeth and Darcy are exceptions to the typical person in the story, who respects those above their social rank, and looks down on those below their social rank. I think that by exposing us to this unexpected unveiling of Darcy's true personality, Austen completely changes the themes of Pride and Prejudice. Darcy now seems to me like a very good person, despite the arrogance he still probably possesses. For this reason, I do not understand why Elizabeth "could not approve him; nor could she for a moment repent her refusal" (159). I would think she would be feeling sorry that she rejected a man who had perfectly good explanations for the offences of which she accused him.

The movie Pride and Prejudice does a good job of capturing Darcy and Elizabeth's emotions during their confrontation folloing his proposal. The scene takes place in the rain, which was very fitting to the frustration they both felt. Darcy seems confused at her refusal, and "not master enough of [himself] to know what could or ought to be revealed" (152). Elizabeth is pissed. I think it is very imopressive how well Austen creates a mood for the characters in the book. I was pretty much able to picture the movie's scene in my head before I watched it.

Power and the Lack Thereof

Lady Catherine, Mr. Darcy, and pretty much everyone else all want power. Lady Catherine is used to having power over everyone she meets. She went to Mr. and Mrs. Collins' house, "looked at their work, and advised them to do it differently; found fault with the arrangement of the furniture, or detected the housemaid in negligence" (127). Why the Collins' furniture arrangement would make any difference to Lady Catherine is beyond me. I think she only wanted to criticize them to impose her power. In Charlotte's "opinion it admitted not of a doubt that all [Elizabeth's] dislike would vanish, if she could suppose [Mr. Darcy] within her power" (136). Charlotte thinks Elizabeth would desire Mr. Darcy if she thought herself capable of obtaining his love. I think power concerns Elizabeth less than any character in the book, and that a lack of power over him would not prevent her from liking him. Most people in the story however, would like Mr. Darcy if they thought they had a shot with him. I strongly believe Mrs. Bennet's "dislike would vanish, if she could suppose [Mr. Darcy] to be in her [daughter's] power." Charlotte considers a lack of power to be the reason behind Elizabeth's dislike of Darcy because anyone else would marry Darcy if he were in her "power." Elizabeth does "not know anybody who seems more to enjoy the power of doing what he likes than Mr. Darcy" (137). Darcy does seem to to get what he wants, and he could probably make most women fall in "love" with him (or his money), but not Elizabeth. I think Darcy like Elizabeth because she does not let him have power over her. Elizabeth is independent, and a woman's personality is more important to Darcy than connections or wealth. At least, Elizabeth is making personality more important.

Elizabeth keeps meeting apparently nice men like Mr. Wickham and Colonel Fitzwilliam, but their "habits of expense" prevent them from marrying "without some attention to money" (138). Characters prioritize money above love. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy are the two male characters who do not do this, but they already have all the money they or their wives will need. I think this is a societal flaw Austen points out in Pride and Prejudice.

Boys are the Devil

Jane seems to have ended her relationship whith Bingley, and Elizabeth definitely seems to have ended any chance of a relationship between her and Wickham. Both are much happier. Jane was in a constant state of worry about Bingley, and Elizabeth unfortunately had to consider whether or not Wickham's personality would make up for his lack of money. Every "expectation from [Mr. Bingley is] now absolutely over," and this is upsetting to Jane at first (112). Jane is so upset that her mother "can have no idea of the pain she gives [Jane] by her continual reflections on [Mr. Bingley]" (101). After all "expectation" leaves Jane, she becomes much happier. Elizabeth sees "her sister looking so well as to banish all fear for her health" (116). A similiar situation occurs with Elizabeth. Mr. Wickham is "now the admirer of someone else" whose "sudden acquisition of ten thousand pounds [is her] most remarkable charm" (112). Elizabeth finds she had "no love in" Mr. Wickham at all, and she forgets him immediately when "the prospect of her northern tour [becomes] a constant source of delight" (113,116).

Austen juxtaposes Jane and Elizabeth's happiness after the "loss" of a man with Charlotte's pain in marriage. Actually, Charlotte does not show pain, she manages to retain "composure in bearing with her husband," but she is by no means ecstatic towards or in love with Mr. Collins (118). Charlotte is, however, "extremely well pleased...to have the opportunity of showing [her house] without her husband's help" (118). Elizabeth sees "Charlotte's evident enjoyment" of her house "when Mr. Collins could be forgotten" (118).

Jane's mood quickly improves when she lets go of Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth is fine with Mr. Wickham becoming a gold-digger. Charlotte is much happier whenever Mr. Collins is not around her. The men are bringing everyone down.

What is Happiness?

After Elizabeth refuses Mr. Collins' proposal, Mrs. Bennet reacts very strangely. At least, she reacts strangely compared to my idea of how a "good" mother should have reacted. Mrs. Bennet declares "that Lizzy shall be brought to reason" (84). Mrs. Bennet tries to force Mr. Bennet to "come and make Lizzy marry Mr. Collins" (84). Mrs. Bennet's behavior shows her complete indifference towards her daughter's happiness. Mrs. Bennet is only concerned with her own status in society, and she wants Elizabeth to marry Mr. Collins so that Mrs. Bennet can have better connections (Lady Catherine). I think Mrs. Bennet's behavior as well as Charlotte's immediate acceptance of Collins' proposal "solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment" shows how little "love" means to the majority of society when Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice (93). Charlotte thinks her "chance of happiness...is as fair [with Mr. Collins] as most people can boast on entering the marriage state" because of his "connections" and "situation in life" (95). Maybe Mrs. Bennet and Charlotte think "happiness" is measured in money. Elizabeth thinks of happiness differently. She weighs the love factor more heavily, and that is why she rejected Collins. Also, Elizabeth does not desire Mr. Darcy at this point in the story. Mrs. Bennet also dislikes Darcy, but because she knows that he would not accept her daughters. I think if Mrs. Bennet saw even a small chance that Mr. Darcy would be willing to marry a Bennet, she would be very praising of him, as she was of Mr. Collins before he proposed to Charlotte. Elizabeth, however, is not going to like Mr. Darcy unless his personality improves.

I think Austen's diction regarding the Bennets' feelings towards Collins is hilarious. Mrs. Bennet is in a "most pitiable state" (99). She She finds it "inconvenient and exceedingly troublesome" that Collins is visiting her "while her health [is] so indifferent," although prior to his engagement with Charlotte, his visit was a "matter of pleasure" (98). Austen juxtaposes Mrs. Bennet's pessimistic self-pity with Mr. Bennet's sarcastic attitude towards Collins. He tells Mrs. Bennet to not "give way to such gloomy thoughts" as Collins inheriting the house, and to instead hope that Mr. Bennet "may be the survivor" (99). Mr. Bennet suggests that Collins could die before him, which he considers to be a more optimistic outlook than that of Mrs. Bennet. Austen characterizes Mr. and Mrs. Bennet through their attitudes towards Mr. Collins. Mrs. Bennet is selfish and whiny, while Mr. Bennet is sarcastic and clever. I find it funny how even Austen makes fun of Mrs. Bennet through sarcasm. She "was really in a most pitiable state" (99). Austen is being sarcastic, because nothing has even happened to Mrs. Bennet, she is just upset because Elizabeth refused to marry a retard.

Pride and Prejudice Chapters 17-19

Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth seem to be the only two people in the novel who can carry on a clever, witty conversation, although their conversations are not positive. Most of the characters in the book come off as either stupid or naive, with the exceptions of Mr. Bennet and Miss Lucas. Austen presents so many different personality that it is hard to determine her position on society as a whole. Elizabeth is smart and clever. Jane is kind of a bimbo, pretty but naive because she can only see good in everyone. Mrs. Bennet is an annoying control freak. Her character is interesting because she wants her daughters to get married which does not seem selfish, but she only wants then to get married to a suitable (rich) man, one that hould make her happy, not necessarily her daughters happy. Mr. Bennet is sarcastic and witty, but still succumbs to Mrs. Bennet's desires. Mr. Bingley is polite and modest despite his high social class, as opposed to Mr. Darcy who is conceited and "proud." Austen juxtaposes Wickham with Darcy. Wickham actually seems to be remarkably similar to Bingley, besides the fact that he is enemies with Darcy. Mr. Collins is a stubborn idiot. He chooses "to attribute [Elizabeth's rejection] to [her] wish of increasing [his] love by suspense" after she has repeatedly told him that her rejection is sincere (83). He says that "it is by no means certain that another offer of marriage may ever be made to" (83) Elizabeth when he has seen her talking to Mr. Wickham and dancing with Mr. Darcy. Mr. Collins is actually conceited (or stupid) enough to think that there is no chance that Elizabeth would reject him. The man is dumb.

Mr. Collins description of an "elegant female" (83) shows his perception, and perhaps Austen's, of society. He thinks that no "elegant woman" would reject a proposal of rich man "of consequence" who has important "connections" like Lady Catherine. Also, Mr. Collins is probably even more sure that Elizabeth will accept his offer because her mother approves of the marriage, which may have been all that really mattered in many proposals at that time. Elizabeth defies this perception, and this makes her character stand out. She possesses her own opinions and has her own values, and that is what shocks Collins, that is why she is Mr. Bennet's favorite, and that could be the reason behind Darcy's attraction. She is different.

Pride and Prejudice Chapters 11-16

Austen utilizes the same words with different meanings within Pride and Prejudice. This occurs particularly often with the word "pride." Sometime the word has a positive connotation, sometimes a negative connotation. Mr. Wickham describes Mr. Darcy's pride as a quality that "has often been [Mr. Darcy's] best friend. It has connected him nearer with virtue than any other feeling" (61). Elizabeth questions, "Can such abominable pride pride such as his have ever done him good?" (61). I think this shows a point that Austen is trying to make: there are different types of pride. Mr Darcy's pride "has often led him to be very liberal and generous--to give his money freely, to display hospitality, to assist his tenants, and relieve the poor" (61-62). Darcy's pride has helped him very positively and yet his sister "is too much like her brother--very, very proud" (62). This time, "pride" has a negative connotation. Austen uses repetition of the words "amiable" which is clearly positive and "vain" which is clearly negative. No character is described as both of these, but characters like Mr. Darcy are sometimes described as one of these as well as "proud." I think pride can fall somewhere in between these words, depending on how one handles the quality.

The introduction of the two new male characters, Mr. Collins and Mr Wickham, is making the story much more complex. Mr. Darcy now must not only win Elizabeth's love, he must do so with the competition of Mr. Wickham. On the other hand, Elizabeth of "nothing but Mr. Wickham, and of what he told her" (64). If Elizabeth wants to marry Mr. Wickham, she will have to do so with the competition of just about every girl in Meryton, since so many girls desire him. However, because she is also thinking about "what he told her," which was mainly things about Mr. Darcy, I wonder if Elizabeth is a little intrigued by Mr. Darcy. I do not think Elizabeth has her sights set only on Mr. Wickham yet. Although Darcy was awful to Wickham, I think the peculiar way in which Darcy's pride affects his actions makes him of interest to Elizabeth. I think she will end up having feelings for both men later in the story.

Pride and Prejudice Chapters 7-10

The first page of Chapter 7 shows that Mrs. Bennet cares more about money in her daughters' husbands than any other quality, while the daughter care more about other aspects. Soldiers have entered a town adjacent to Longbourn, and the officers delight the two youngest Bennets. While "Mr. Bingley's fortune...gave animation to their mother, [it] was worthless in [the daughters'] eyes when opposed to the regimentals of an ensign" (20-21). Mrs. Bennet's insensitivity astounds me. I find her really annoying, as Austen probably means for her to be. Mrs. Bennet tells Elizabeth "not [to] run on in the wild manner that [she is] suffered to do at home" (31). I find this comment ridiculous, because Mrs. Bennet is acting much more in a "wild manner" than Elizabeth. "Everybody was surprised" (31) by a comment Mrs. Bennet made, and Elizabeth is so embarrassed that she blushes on her mother's behalf. Another obnoxious action of Mrs. Bennet's was that "she would not listen...to her daughter's proposal of [Jane] being carried home" because that "would...remove her from Netherfield" (30). This was not only insensitive to Jane, but to the Bingley's who had to host Jane and Elizabeth because of Jane's illness.

Elizabeth, who is very smart and intuitive, cannot seem to correctly perceive Mr. Darcy's feelings towards her. Elizabeth can "only imagine...that she drew his notice because there was something about her more wrong and reprehensible , according to his ideas of rights, than in any other person present" (38). Mr. Darcy probably does consider Elizabeth to be more "wrong and reprehensible" than anyone else in the room, but the reason she catches his attention is that no one has probably ever treated him like Elizabeth is now, like a normal person. He is probably so used to people praising him because of his high social status like Miss Bingley that he he finds it refreshing when Elizabeth does not give consideration to his social status. I think this is the reason that Mr. Darcy "had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her" (38). Mr. Darcy's actions towards Elizabeth show that his acceptance of lower social classes seems to be growing already. Elizabeth "is amazed at his gallantry," (38) and although he still thinks about "the inferiority of her connections," (38) he is now "bewitched" (38) by Elizabeth as opposed to considering her "tolerable" (7). Darcy "felt their rudeness" (39) and made a kind gesture to avoid the rudeness when he meets Elizabeth and Mrs. Hurst while he is walking with Miss Bingley. I do not think he would have done this before he interacted with Elizabeth, and I think his level of conceitedness is decreasing. Elizabeth "had not the least inclination to remain with them" (39) however, so I think Darcy will have to entirely change his old personality and get rid of his "pride" before he can gain Elizabeth's affection.

Pride and Prejudice Chapters 1-6

The parents attempt to choose the spouses of their children in Pride and Prejudice. Mrs. Bennet is excited in the beginning of the book when Mr. Bingley moves to Netherfield because she is "thinking of his marrying one of" her daughters (1). Mrs. Bennet feels like it is her decision as to whether Mr. Bingley will marry one of the Bennet girls or not.

Parents seem more concerned with a man's money than any other quality if he is a possible candidate for the husband of one of their daughters. Mr. Bingley earns "four or five thousand a year." Mrs. Bennet considers this to be "a fine thing for [her] girls" (1). It "was in general circulation within five minutes after [Mr. Darcy's] entrance" (6) that he earned ten thousand a year. This made Mr. Darcy a wonderful option to the parents. The daughters are not concerned only with a man's money, at least the Bennet's are not, Elizabeth in particular. I think the daughters and parents view the fact that Mr. Darcy "was discovered...to be proud" (6) differently. Mrs. Bennet becomes resentful towards Mr. Darcy because she thinks he will not consider being with any of her daughters. Elizabeth is resentful towards Mr. Darcy because he appears to have a terrible personality and she does not want to be with someone so "proud."

I do not think Mr. Darcy actually has a terrible personality, because although he seems snotty and conceited, he starts to like Elizabeth for her personality. Darcy finds that "in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness" (16). Darcy's reasons for liking Elizabeth suggest that he is not as shallow as he first appeared at the ball. I wonder if Elizabeth will end up changing Darcy into a nice, down to Earth person. I think she will. He already appears to be infinitely kinder than Miss Bingley at the end of Chapter 6, who had "never [been] more annoyed" by "the nothingness and yet the self-importance of all these people!" (19).
Mr. Darcy replies that her "conjecture is totally wrong," (19) which makes me think that Elizabeth will end up making him less conceited.

The Ending of Hamlet

Horatio is a logical character throughout Hamlet, and I think Shakespeare uses Horatio in Act 5 to show it is better to rely on logic than emotion. Horatio only speaks for more than two lines once in all of Act 5 until Hamlet dies. I think Shakespeare is showing a lack of logic in the situation, and the fact that everyone is dying shows that the lack of logic is a bad thing. Even when Horatio wants to make a logical point, other characters prevent him from doing so. After Osric has informed Hamlet of his upcoming battle with Laertes, Horatio says, "You will lose, my lord" (5.2.223). Hamlet, somewhat logically, points out that he has "been in continual practice" (5.2.225) since Laertes went to France, but because Hamlet's thoughts are still bloody, he does not realize that he is walking into a trap. Horatio can see that the King still wants to kill Hamlet, but Hamlet will not listen when Horatio tries to explain this. At the end of the play, Horatio, the logical character, is one of the few that did not die, and he continues to have logical ideas. He will "speak to th' yet unknowing world" (5.2.421) about the deadly events that recently occurred "lest more mischance on plots and errors happen" (5.2.438-440).

One aspect of the play that confused me is why Hamlet wants Fortinbras to take over Denmark. The reason Hamlet wanted to kill Claudius is because Claudius killed King Hamlet. One of King Hamlet's great accomplishments was defeating Fortinbras, so I would have thought that Hamlet would have wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, and uphold his dad's previous victory. Maybe Hamlet just wants what is best for Denmark, and he thinks Fortinbras will do the best job of leading the country. Maybe Hamlet thinks all of the royalty that would be next in line to take over the throne are corrupt. If he thinks they were loyal to Claudius, he would not want them to become King, so he wants the new king to be someone he knows was not loyal to Claudius, like Fortinbras.

Hamlet points out that "by the image of [his] cause [he sees] the portraiture of [Laertes's]" (5.2.87-88). Hamlet and Laertes were faced with very similar situations. The death of a loved one "in this case should stir [them] most to [their] revenge" (5.2.260-261), but they end up seeking revenge so that they do not lose honor. Claudius has already taken Hamlet's father, married his mother, and taken over the throne that Hamlet was supposed to inherit, so Claudius has completely disgraced Hamlet. Everyone thinks that Hamlet is going crazy, so by now he might feel that he wants to kill Claudius because of the honor Claudius took from him, instead of for the father he took from him. Hamlet and Laertes can forgive eachother when they are about to die because they both know that they are victims of bad situations, not bad people.