In the Shakespearian play of Hamlet tragedies are a constant occurrence. All of the tragedies take place as a consequence of Claudius’ choices. Claudius is more responsible than Hamlet for the tragedies in the play. He is more responsible for a few main reasons. The murder of King Hamlet, his frantic actions, and the manipulation of Laertes are all contributions to the tragic events in Hamlet.
Shakespearean tragedy, as a rule, is always a tragedy both of character and fate. Similarly Hamlet is a tragedy both of character and fate.
In Hamlet we find the most pathetic example of a great man ruined through the existence of a trifling inherent weakness and surrounded by hostile circumstances which are beyond his control. Yet he himself is responsible for his formidable fall.
Hamlet as a play produces in us the feeling that there is some mysterious power in the universe which upsets human hopes, plans,
I and calculations. The very appearance of the Ghost in Hamlet is a situation for which fate is responsible. The Ghost is not a figment of Hamlet’s fancy, because others besides him have seen the Ghost. With the passage of time Hamlet would have recovered from the feeling of melancholy which afflicts him after his father's death, and his mother's hasty remarriage. But fate intervenes in the form of the Ghost who not only makes a shocking revelation to Hamlet but also imposes a task or duty on Hamlet to avenge his father's murder. Hamlet feels bewildered by the situation which has been created by fate.
The murder of King Hamlet can be seen as where it all began. The selfish decision Claudius makes to murder Hamlet’s father makes him liable for all the other tragedies that occur. The death of King Hamlet causes Hamlet to act out of character, which makes him do things he would not normally do.
When Polonius gets caught spying on Hamlet talking to his mother, Hamlet takes a sword and stabs through the curtain and kills Polonius in hopes that it was Claudius. Hamlet would never have knowingly killed Polonius. On account of the death of Polonius, this causes Ophelia to act crazy because she misses her father. “Well good dild you! They say the owl was a baker's/ daughter. Lord, we know what we are, but know not/ what we may be.
Further fate intervenes in the form of accident for it is mere an accident that the ship in which Hamlet travels to England is attacked by the pirates vessel and subsequently he returns to Denmark to meet his tragic death. It is fate that he has to end his life in Denmark and fulfil the Ghost's injunction to avenge his father's murder or else Hamlet would arrived in England, never to return.
However, in Hamlet the tragedy is mainly due to character. True that fate has placed the hero in a difficult situation, but another man in his place would have executed the revenge promptly after a confirmation of the Ghost's allegation at any rate, and have done with it. But Hamlet hesitates and wavers. This vacillation is the tragic flaw in his character. The course that a man of action would adopt in such a situation is clear—instant pursuit of revenge. But Hamlet is not a man of action. He is primarily a philosopher, a thinking man and one who thinks too much and this excessive reflectiveness in his character renders him incapable of action.
At the end of the play we have a sense of fate. manner in which several characters including Hamlet are killed in the last scene, strengthen a sense of fate operating in the play. The Queen's unknowingly drinking the poisoned wine and the exchange of rapiers between Hamlet and Laertes, we feel, are the works of fate. But all these happen because Hamlet, lacking the capacity for the prompt and needful action, fails to act at the proper time.
Shakespearean tragedy, as a rule, is always a tragedy both of character and fate. Similarly Hamlet is a tragedy both of character and fate.
In Hamlet we find the most pathetic example of a great man ruined through the existence of a trifling inherent weakness and surrounded by hostile circumstances which are beyond his control. Yet he himself is responsible for his formidable fall.
Hamlet as a play produces in us the feeling that there is some mysterious power in the universe which upsets human hopes, plans,
I and calculations. The very appearance of the Ghost in Hamlet is a situation for which fate is responsible. The Ghost is not a figment of Hamlet’s fancy, because others besides him have seen the Ghost. With the passage of time Hamlet would have recovered from the feeling of melancholy which afflicts him after his father's death, and his mother's hasty remarriage. But fate intervenes in the form of the Ghost who not only makes a shocking revelation to Hamlet but also imposes a task or duty on Hamlet to avenge his father's murder. Hamlet feels bewildered by the situation which has been created by fate.
The murder of King Hamlet can be seen as where it all began. The selfish decision Claudius makes to murder Hamlet’s father makes him liable for all the other tragedies that occur. The death of King Hamlet causes Hamlet to act out of character, which makes him do things he would not normally do.
When Polonius gets caught spying on Hamlet talking to his mother, Hamlet takes a sword and stabs through the curtain and kills Polonius in hopes that it was Claudius. Hamlet would never have knowingly killed Polonius. On account of the death of Polonius, this causes Ophelia to act crazy because she misses her father. “Well good dild you! They say the owl was a baker's/ daughter. Lord, we know what we are, but know not/ what we may be.
Further fate intervenes in the form of accident for it is mere an accident that the ship in which Hamlet travels to England is attacked by the pirates vessel and subsequently he returns to Denmark to meet his tragic death. It is fate that he has to end his life in Denmark and fulfil the Ghost's injunction to avenge his father's murder or else Hamlet would arrived in England, never to return.
However, in Hamlet the tragedy is mainly due to character. True that fate has placed the hero in a difficult situation, but another man in his place would have executed the revenge promptly after a confirmation of the Ghost's allegation at any rate, and have done with it. But Hamlet hesitates and wavers. This vacillation is the tragic flaw in his character. The course that a man of action would adopt in such a situation is clear—instant pursuit of revenge. But Hamlet is not a man of action. He is primarily a philosopher, a thinking man and one who thinks too much and this excessive reflectiveness in his character renders him incapable of action.
At the end of the play we have a sense of fate. manner in which several characters including Hamlet are killed in the last scene, strengthen a sense of fate operating in the play. The Queen's unknowingly drinking the poisoned wine and the exchange of rapiers between Hamlet and Laertes, we feel, are the works of fate. But all these happen because Hamlet, lacking the capacity for the prompt and needful action, fails to act at the proper time.
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