Activity 1.3

Each character in every novel or play has his or her own constructed reality. In Hamlet, everybody views themselves as more or less, a good person because not everyone is aware of everything that goes on. Gertrude has a constructed reality that least resembles actuality. She does not know that Claudius killed her husband. She has no idea about Hamlet seeking revenge upon Claudius. She simply believes that King Hamlet died of some natural or unknown cause and to keep her position as queen she must marry Claudius. She also believes that Hamlet has gone mad, although Hamlet is just putting on a show for everyone. In the end she dies because Claudius was trying to kill Hamlet using poison and she ended up drinking the poison.
Hamlets constructed reality is completely different. Hamlet sees Claudius as the enemy and would love nothing more than for him to be out of the picture. He knows that his mother is a good person and does not understand why she loves Claudius so much. In Hamlets eyes, no one is to be trusted. He acts insane so that he can get away with more, and this was not seen by the others. In the end Hamlet is killed.
Claudius believes that Hamlet is crazy. He thinks that it should be pretty easy to kill Hamlet, because he is crazy. Claudius knows that he had done a terrible thing by killing his brother, but he thinks that it was for the right reasons, and he is also unaware that Hamlet knows the truth about the whole ordeal.. He believes that he is a good person. In his reality Hamlet is mad, and Gertrude loves him. The actuality of it is that Hamlet is not insane, although Gertrude does seem to love him. In the end Claudius is killed.
Now, after seeing the constructed realities of some of the different characters in the play, it is easy to see how important the family unit is not only to the members of the family but also in society. Firstly, the family unit is very important to the members of the family because it is a sort of reflection on how well each member interacts with each other. If the overall outlook of the family is one that is optimistic than this means that there is a healthy relationship between its members. Conversely, if the family seems to be dysfunctional than this means that the relationship between members is either lacking or just not solid. Hamlets family is one that is dysfunctional because there is not a solid relationship between its members. Each family member has a different constructed reality therefore no one is really on the same page. If Hamlets family would have all shared a common reality than maybe their relationship would have been better.
The family unit may be one of the smallest units of society, but it is without a doubt, one of the most important. The family unit is very important to society because it ensures a standard welfare and care amongst its members. The family unit that a child is born into offers the child safety and stability and later on nurturing and advice. Further on down the road, a family offers a kind of intermediate step between the safety of the family home and the harsh real world. If a child is brought up in a world without a family unit than this child will have serious difficulties growing up. There is no one really there to offer them care and nurturing so the child will most likely have a rough childhood. This child may go on to do bad things, such as commit crimes, but can you really blame the person in this case? They never really experienced being in a family, therefore they were never really properly cared for. The family unit is important to society because it (generally) prevents children from growing up into bad people by offering them nurturing and care at a young age. Hamlet seemed to have experienced a good childhood but the same cannot be said about his later years. He grew up in a healthy family, and this stayed the same until the death of his father. After his father’s death, one could argue that Hamlet took a turn for the crazy (the reason for this being his fathers death) and this ended up costing him his life.
The family unit is very important, although it is often taken for granted by people these days. If ever you have a problem, the family unit is always there for you. If ever you just need someone to talk to, the family unit is always there for you. People do not generally take the time to think about how much family actually means to them. This reflection actually made me appreciate my family and how much they mean to me. I don’t know what I would do without my family, and I think the same can be (hopefully) said for everyone.