Is Hamlet a Tragic Hero - Essay Example

Nykia Comerie Eng 12 October Hamlet as a tragic hero Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare in the kingdom of Denmark; theplay focuses on the revenge hamlet has on his uncle Claudius for murdering King Hamlet. The play portrays revenge and madness. In the play there are many questions that come up about the sanity of many characters. Hamlet and Claudius are both considered as villains. Hamlet is dishonest by faking his own madness, trying to figure out if Claudius is guilty. He also steals and changes a letter which leads to the murder of his two childhood best friends. Similarly, Hamlet’s actions cause Ophelia’s death and he ends up by killing Claudius, his uncle. However, Claudius proves himself to be more villainous as he murders his own brother, marries his sister in law and sends a letter with hamlet’s best friends, that hamlet should be murdered. On the other hand, Hamlet’s deeds are motivated by his inner thirst to avenge the death of his father. Thus, one can rightly understand the play as a tragic depiction of the tragic hero Hamlet who suffers and finally ruins his own life because of the tragic flaw in his character- that of procrastination or indecision. I believe hamlet is a hero. He is a hero because his quest for revenge. Although others around him must suffer, he also suffers. I believe Hamlet is a hero because he has heroic qualities. Although Hamlet is the cause of Ophelia’s death he has a good cause. In scene 2 of Act five, he explains the pain he feels for Ophelia’s death. Similarly, Hamlet is so distraught with seeking revenge that he kills Ophelia’s father by mistake. Although Hamlet is the cause of Ophelia’s death and kills her father Polonius by mistake he is very much distressed about Ophelia’s death: “I loved Ophelia; forty thousand brothers couldn’t not with all their quantity of love” (Shakespeare 255). Hamlet confesses his love for Ophelia to the people surrounding him. He also confesses that he will do things for Ophelia that Laetres can never dream of- eating a crocodile for her or being buried alive with her. Even though Hamlet kills Polonius and becomes instrumental for the death of Ophelia he expresses his feelings as if he wishes never to have killed him. This is a touching scene mainly because it shows Hamlet’s true feelings towards death, not only towards his father but his true love. Hamlet speaks as if he will do anything to get Ophelia back to life, which is not characteristic of a villain. The tragedy of Hamlet can be best understood with regard to Aristotle’s conception of a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a person of noble birth, who having all heroic qualities, suffers from a ‘hamartia’, a tragic flaw or weakness in his character that leads to his catastrophe or downfall. Hamlet confronts the ghost of his father in Scene V, Act I of the play and the ghost discloses that he is murdered by Claudius and that Hamlet has to avenge his death. The plot develops based on the Elizabethans’ traditional belief that the murdered person’s soul will not be saved until his murder is being avenged. The spectator expects Hamlet to take revenge on Claudius, the antagonist of the play, which he does not. Hamlet, on the other hand, postpones his action to the last moment. At first, he is suspicious regarding the credulousness of the ghost and he waits to make sure whether Claudius himself has committed the cruel deed. After the staging of ‘the play within the play’ he is quite convinced of his Uncle’s and mother’s part in the murder. Even then he is incapable of acting promptly because of his tragic flaw. His mind is full of thoughts and plans regarding the revenge. In Act III, Scene I he tells Orphellia: “I am very proud revengeful, ambitious; with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in” (III. I, 123-128). However, instead of taking his revenge, Hamlet is moved by moral, psychological and philosophical speculations. He is in conflict with Claudius; however, his conflict within his own self is much more powerful, deeper and stronger. The ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy best displays the inner struggles in him. He even thinks of committing suicide but is unable to subject himself to the thought as he thinks that people will consider it to be cowardice. Thus, he makes a lot of plans and schemes. However, he fails to do the inevitable and this procrastination causes his own downfall at the end. Similarly, the villainous acts committed by Hamlet are out of his madness and not on his own will. In scene 1 of Act five Hamlet owns full responsibility for Polonius’s death and apologizes to Lateres blaming it on his madness. He blames his pain, fear and self-conflicts for the things his wrong doings. Similarly, one can find Hamlet expressing regret to Horatio over his mischievous behavior of replacing the sealed letter which results in the execution of Rosencrantz and the Guildensterm. He also explains that he is starting to see his negative deeds and promises to seek Laertes good favor. Towards the end of the play Hamlet begins to see all his negative actions and tries to make things better. Thus, Hamlet is a tragic hero mainly because he finds the flaws within himself and tries to make things better. Hamlet asks Laertres for forgiveness claiming that it is his madness and not his own will, which murdered Polonius: “give me your pardon, sir. I have done you wrong; but pardon as you are a gentleman” (Shakespeare 273) Hamlet looks introspectively at his wrong doings and admits that things will be different if can go back in time: “I am punished with a sore distraction. What I have done that might your nature, honor and exception roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.” Hamlet thus becomes a tragic hero as his villainous acts are committed out of his madness and not on his own free will. Hamlet’s character thus depicts more of heroic and noble qualities than his negative deeds. His insanity or madness is quite evident in the play. In fact, Hamlet becomes quite unstable and upset when his father dies and his mother marries his uncle after the death of his father. Throughout the play Hamlet grows increasingly unbalanced due to the different events going on, but at the end he becomes at peace and is no longer insane. Hamlet is not a villain but a tragic hero who realizes his own flaws at the end of the play. He sees his flaws in procrastinating to kill Claudius which would have saved many people from dying. To be a tragic hero one needs to suffer and Hamlet undergoes sufferings and mental agonies all throughout the play. However, when the final realization strikes him it is too late to redeem him from his inevitable destruction and downfall. Read More