James Baldwin once wrote; “Children have never been very good at listening to their adults, but they have never failed to imitate them. ” Parents play a very special role in a child's life. Good or bad, who a child will one day become will be influenced by how his or her parents decide to raise him or her. This can be shown in many different ways in Shakespeare's Hamlet, one of which is Hamlet's desire to seek revenge after his father's death. Hamlet's close relationship with his mother is another example, which led to the death of both of them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay A third example is Hamlet's relationship with Claudius and his hatred towards him after finding out that he killed his father. Laertes' close relationship with his father, Polonius, influences who he becomes once he chooses to avenge his father's death over his friendship with Hamlet. Finally, Ophelia's one-sided relationship with Polonius leads to her own death. A parent's decision affects the child in ways that could certainly complicate his or her rational decision. Hamlet has a deep love and respect for his father. His life and attitude change dramatically after the king's death and the discovery that it was a murder, rather than a simple accident. “Such an excellent king; that was, for that matter, Hyperion to a satyr: so loving to my mother. ” (Act I, Scene ii, l. 139-140) This quote shows the effect the king had on Hamlet, as he calls him an “excellent king” and compares him to Hyperion, the sun god in Greek mythology. That being said, Hamlet and the king have a right two-way relationship, which can be proven by what Hamlet had to say and the trust the king has in his son to take revenge for his death. This dynamic complicated the action of the play in a way that transformed Hamlet from a good, innocent man to one who spends every second of his days seeking revenge for his father's death. If he and his father did not have a close relationship, Hamlet would not have spent his time plotting his revenge just because his father's ghost told him to. “There has never been, nor will there ever be, anything so special as the love between mother and child. The author of this quote is unknown, but the fact remains true. Over the course of the story, Hamlet becomes progressively angry at his mother and becomes very angry when she marries Claudius, his father's brother, just after a month. No matter how upset he was, the love and care he felt for his mother was irreplaceable. It wasn't just her fault, Gertrude loved her son very much, to the point that she disobeyed her husband, the direct order of the king, and drank in honor of her son, poisoning herself and dying. If the bond between the two had not been so strong, Gertrude would not have decided to drink the poison that Claudius had arranged to kill Hamlet. Claudius went from being Hamlet's uncle to murdering his own brother and marrying his brother's wife, becoming Hamlet's father. Hamlet becomes angry when he hears that Claudius has poisoned his father, as shown in the quote "O wicked, wicked, smiling, damned wicked!" (Act I, scene v, l. 106). Hamlet then attempts to stab Claudius when he hears a voice coming from behind the tapestry in his mother's room. He mistook Polonius' voice for Claudius and killed Polonius on the spot. If Hamlet had not had a close relationship with his biological father, he would not have cared that he had been murdered and, in fact, would not have mistakenly stabbed Polonius. After feeling threatened by Hamlet, Claudius took part in the plan to poison Hamlet, which resulted in his death.