Topic- Hamlet as a Tragedy

Name-  Mansi D Rajyaguru

Paper- Renaissance Literature

Topic- "Hamlet" as a Tragedy

Class- M.A 2 (Sem 1)

Year-2012-13

Submitted to,

Dr. Dilip Barad,

Dept of English,

M.K Bhavnagar University,

Bhavnagar.

Topic- Hamlet as a Tragedy

Although Hamlet has good intentions, his tragic flaw, the inability to act produces negative outcomes of unforeseen death, tragic dramatic irony, and prevailing evil. Under these provisions, Hamlet presents itself as a classic example of tragedy.

*The Tragic flaw

Simply put, the tragic flaw refers to the quality of a hero that is the primary cause of his/her own demise. It is the aspect of their core personality that causes a deviation from the desired path of success. This may not only be a quality, but a mistake or unforeseen lapse in judgment or decision–or in the case of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet“, no decision at all.

*Tragic Hero

A tragic hero, in Shakespeare and such, is a character born noble, but no necessarily virtuous. There is some aspect of his personality that he has in great abundance.

i.e. great intelligence, ambition, honour.

*In Shakespeare's "Hamlet"

Hamlet is a prime example of a tragic hero. First of all, Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark which clearly shows his nobility in society. He is an intelligent man who, because of thinking too rationally, does not fully achieve what he desired in the end. One of his goals he succeeded in was to claim revenge for his father’s death by slaying Claudius, but he did it too late. His rational thinking made him verify the ghost’s information, as well as fail to murder Claudius because he believed he was praying. The delay in his actions was his hamartia in turn led to Hamlet’s downfall where because of his powerlessness to act, everything he loved was destroyed. Hamlet realizes his flaw in Act Five, Scene 2 when he is speaking with Horatio before he accepts the challenge to sword-fight against Laertes. Here, Hamlet does not care if he dies because he now accepts fate’s duty.

Hamlet's suffering in his melancholy, in his hesitation, in his inaction at a crucial moment in his life, in each one of the aspects of his many-sided personality; he typifies some one or the other phase of human nature.

*Death and Tragedy

Death is utilized in all sorts of tragic plays and stories. It is the ultimate expression of human suffering, the primary ingredient of tragedy. Death evokes deep emotion within characters in the play, and the audience/reader.

*Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony is often employed in  tragedies to engage the audience into what is taking place. By having knowledge of something that is occurring, the audience is able to witness a character’s error of action which other characters are unaware aware of. In turn, the knowledge gives the audience foresight of the particular character’s fate. It is the foresight induces the audiences tragic feeling’s of sorrow and grief.

The dramatic irony in Hamlet is used to emphasize the how mischief and dishonesty can lead to tragic occurrences. This can be seen through the deaths of Polonius and Queen Gertrude, as well as the rise of Fortinbras, as the new King of Denmark.