Hamlet as Shakespearean Tragedy

“HAMLET” AS A TYPICAL SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY

OR

SHAKESPEARE’S CONCEPT OF TRAGEDY

Aristotle says about tragedy:

“Tragedy is essentially an imitation not of person but of action and life, of happiness and misery. Its elements are plot, characters, thought, diction, melody and spectacle”.

Shakespeare did not confine himself to the notion of medieval tragedy. Shakespeare’s treatment of tragedy is further developed Renaissance drama. A Shakespearean tragedy may be defined as:

“A story of exceptional quality leading to the death

                                    of a man enjoying a high position or status”.

Shakespearean tragedies always deal with one man of noble position and depict his sufferings and misfortunes leading to his death. “Julius Caesar”, “King Lear”, “Macbeth” “Hamlet” and “Othello” are concerned with the tragedies of heroes having lofty position in life.

‘Hamlet’ also deals with the tragedy of one man, who is popular among the people of Denmark and is regarded as:

“Beloved of the distracted multitude”.

Hamlet is noble in his thoughts has a sensitive conscience which prevents him from doing evil acts.

           

A Shakespearean tragedy arouses in spectators the feelings of pity, sympathy, wonder and fear. Hamlet too suffers terribly throughout the play. He is introduced as a man grieving over the death of his father and his mother’s hasty marriage with his uncle. As in his first soliloquy, Hamlet’s despair is shown that is the result of his grief:

                                             “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable,

                                              Seem to me all the uses of this world!”

In Shakespearean tragedies, we have an element of melodrama which contributes to the feelings of terror. ‘Hamlet’ too has the tinge of melodramatic elements like ‘Macbeth’ “Othello” and ‘King Lear”. There is first of all, the appearance of the Ghost. The next melodramatic event is the murder of Polonius. Then, the scene in which Laertes revolts against the king has melodramatic tinge. Another melodramatic situation is Laertes’s leaping into Ophelia’s grave followed by Hamlet’ leaping into it. Finally there are various murders which bring the play to close.

Tragic flaw plays an important role in the suffering of the central character in Shakespeare’s tragedies. The sufferings do not happen accidentally, but they result chiefly from the actions of character. The tragedy of Hamlet is due to irresolution in his character. He is capable of impulsive action but not preplanned action. He kills Polonius on impulse. He thinks too much and meditates upon his own action.

In Shakespearean plays, “Character is Destiny”. A combination of the defect in the character and fate accounts for the tragic end of the hero. In ‘Hamlet’ too, we witness Hamlet becoming the victim to this fate. It is Hamlet’s fate that his father has been murdered and the ghost of his father enjoins upon him the duty of avenging his father’s murder. Hamlet knows his incapability to carry out this work successfully.

“The time is out of joint. O cursed spite,

                                             That ever I was born to set it right!”

The action of Shakespearean tragedies progresses through conflict which is both internal and external. In ‘Hamlet’, we find the external conflict between Hamlet and Claudius and Hamlet and Laertes and the internal conflict is within the mind of Hamlet that is revealed through his soliloquies. He says:

“To be or not to be, that is the question.”

In Shakespearean tragedies, the heroes are so virtuous and noble that when they suffer we feel that the element of good is wasted. In ‘Hamlet’, Hamlet is presented as a prince of nobility with greatness of honor and genius. In spite of this, he is unable to fulfill the wishes of his Father’s ghost without killing himself. Hence the element of good is wasted.

Shakespeare also introduces supernatural elements like fairies in “The Tempest” and “The Mid Summer Night’s Dream” and the Ghost in ‘Hamlet’ and “Julies Caesar” as Moulton says:

“Supernatural agency has a place in the world of Shakespeare”.

In ‘Hamlet’ the Ghost of Hamlet’s father reveals the fact of his father’s death:

“The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown”.

In Shakespearean tragedies, we find a marked change in hero’s character. Hamlet was an ideal prince “The Observed of all observers” in the beginning. After his father’s death, he is in a state of depression. In order to take the revenge of his father’s murder, he puts on an antic disposition. Then he is sent to England. But when he returns, he is totally a changed man. At the end of the play, he learns the right philosophy of life that:

“There is divinity that shapes our ends”.

It is one of the qualities of Shakespearean tragedies that the villain of his tragedies repents after the wrong. As we see that Lady Macbeth repents after helping in killing the king. In ‘Hamlet’, we see that Claudius repents after killing his brother.

Shakespeare maintains a perfect unity of tone and effect in his tragedies. He gives less importance to feminine characters in his tragedies. Moreover he deals with tragic and comic elements without affecting the singleness of emotional appeal.

In short, Shakespearean tragedies are the masterpieces of the world of literature. He wants to show that human mind can never have the authority to make his bad circumstances favourable. He presents tragic flaw, weakness and conflict in his heroes. But they win our sympathy and love. Shakespeare’s concepts of presenting tragedies as mirror of life seem at its height in ‘Hamlet’.

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