Thesis statement for HamletDiscuss the idea(s) developed by Shakespeare about circumstances that compel us to respond for the sake of...

This is an excellent topic for a paper on Shakespeare's
Hamlet.

Hamlet is often seen as a
tragic hero, whose tragic flaw is "indecision," or his inability to make up his mind
about when to kill his uncle to avenge his father's murder—which took place at his
uncle's hands. Personally, I struggle with this perception for exactly the topic you
have listed: Hamlet's desire for self-preservation.

Hamlet
does not kill his uncle (the new King) Claudius right away because he has received word
of his father's murder from a ghost. Elizabethans believed in ghosts, witches, fairies,
demons, etc. And while they believed that ghosts could not do things for themselves or
make humans DO things, they could encourage humans to do things for
them.

With this in mind, Hamlet is not sure if the ghost
who presents himself as Old Hamlet (Hamlet's dad) is a true ghost or a ghost that serves
a darker purpose: to win Hamlet's immortal soul to eternal damnation if he unrighteously
kills a king. This shows Hamlet's need to "preserve" his
soul.

Hamlet is not the only one who is compelled to act in
the name of self-preservation. Claudius believes that Hamlet must die so that no one
discovers how Claudius became King. As time goes on and Hamlet seems more and more
crazy, Claudius' plans to do away with Hamlet become more aggressive: sending him to
England to be executed there, and having Laertes poison a sword for the "sword play"
between Laertes and Hamlet.

Gertrude, the widow of the old
king, is also motivated by self-preservation. She does not remarry for a love Claudius,
as far as we know. There is no suggestion that anything existed between them before she
wed Claudius. However, without a man to protect her, Gertrude may well have married
quickly not only to guarantee that she would have a home and food, but to also guarantee
a good life for her son Hamlet.

There are a number of other
character who act out of a need for self-preservation. Polonius, and Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern, are all interested in remaining in favor with the King, to guarantee
themselves comfortable lives. Ironically, with all these many characters in the story
with a desire to protect themselves, the actions they take do not, in fact, protect them
at all.

If I were to write a thesis statement based on your
topic, it might be similar to the following:

readability="9">

In Shakespeare's tragedy of
Hamlet, several characters are motivated by the need for
self-preservation; ironically, however, their actions do anything
but guarantee their
survival.