This leads onto the idea of a hero in a revenge tragedy possessing a tragic flaw. This is taken from the Greek Philosopher Aristotle’s idea of how a revenge tragedy should be constructed. This ideology has influenced William Shakespeare’s presentation of Hamlet. The tragic flaw, which haunts Hamlet, is his inability to partake in the revengeful act, which is his filial responsibility to commit. A prime example of this inactiveness is shown when Hamlet is presented with the opportunity to take Claudius’s life, Act 3 Scene 3. ‘Why this is hire and salary, not revenge’, the quote is a reference to Hamlet considering whether inflicting his revenge whilst the king is in prayer is adequate. Criticisers of Hamlet will interpret this as Hamlet being too cowardly to go through with the act, on the other hand defenders of Hamlet may argue the point that Hamlet is a thinker and in the given situation was correct to remain passive as murdering Claudius while he was in prayer would not have achieved the main objective of avenging his father and punishing Claudius with purgatory.
Another key facet to the character of Hamlet is his decline into an insane frame of mind. This mainly begins to occur in Hamlet’s troubled mind after being enlightened on how his father came to be deceased. An argument could be made at this point that his madness was inevitable as Hamlet is already in a suicidal state of mind and King Hamlet imparting this knowledge onto an emotional Hamlet would only increase the already unbearable stress and pain Hamlet is feeling. The first sign of Hamlet’s madness occurs in Act 2 when engaged in a conversation with Polonious, who wishes to confront Hamlet on his love for Ophelia. Hamlet rather than speaking with Polonious in a sensible and constructed fashion, prefers to hurl verbal abuse at him, ‘ Excellent well. You are a fishmonger’ (Act 2 Scene 2). This indicates to the reader that Hamlet is losing his sense and sane train of thought.
Another example of Hamlet’s descent into madness is shown through his conduct with Ophelia, whom is supposedly the woman who is he loves. He speaks to her in an un-gentlemanly disrespectful tone, in contrast to what the reader expects. An example of this is shown in Act 3 Scene 2 when he says to Ophelia, ‘ Lady shall I lie in your lap?’, The quote may be perceived as innocent in modern day but in Shakespearean times it inferred sexual motives. This again shows the reader that Hamlet is losing touch with reality as his treatment of other human beings is incredibly insensitive and Hamlet’s may be speaking before he thinks. This would contradict the idea that Hamlet is a thinker, as he is not communicating with other human beings in the accepted polite way.
Hamlet’s also places himself upon a pedestal, in which he feels that he is a chosen person whom god has given the right to take a persons life if Hamlet’s feels it is necessary to, ‘ that I must be their scourge and minister’. An example of his arrogance is shown during his discussion with Claudius over the death of Polonious. Hamlet refers to Polonious as simply body parts rather than as a person, ‘ I’ll lug the guts into the neighbours room’. Hamlet is once again being incredibly delirious and inconsiderate towards other people feelings, as to a sane human being this description of a human being would be considered repulsive. This de-humanizing of a person shows the reader that Hamlet’s mind is disintegrating into one of an evil and corrupt person with unholy satanic views. The devilish way of thinking which Hamlet has transgressed into is conveyed to the reader when he speaks of condemning another human being to hell. This threat of damnation to another represents to us that Hamlet may have become insane, also losing sight of the limitations which a he has, as Hamlet is oblivious to the fact that he does not hold such a great power over someone. This shows that Hamlet has not only become insane when having a dialogue with others but also losing moral sense.
The next characteristic of Hamlet I am examining is his interaction with his mother in the play.
In the early stages of the play Hamlet utters the famous line, ‘ frailty thy name is woman’. The loss of his father has caused a pain so intense within Hamlet that he labels all women as weak and feeble.
A paramount relationship for Hamlet is with his mother, Gertrude. This relationship can be interpreted in different fashions. One way of looking at the relation is that it is purely platonic. Hamlet looks up to his mother as just a figure of guidance and emotional support. This is the socially acceptable view held by the society at the time and contemporary society.
Another way of analysing their relationship has to do with the Oedipal complex. An outline of the Oedipus story involves a son murdering his father and marrying his mother. In relation to Hamlet, theorists on human and social interaction like Freud would argue that Hamlet has lustful and passionate feelings towards his mother. Freud’s theory is that when a boy is young he holds sexual feelings towards his mother but upon finding out that his mother does not possess male genitals; he hides his feelings in fear of castration from his father. This theory could be applied to Hamlet in the sense that upon finding out about the nature of his father’s death rather than vent his anger towards Claudius, he channels it towards his mother. ‘O most pernicious woman’ (Act 1 Scene 5), Hamlet’s response could be looked at as sheer anger at his mother for marrying the man who murdered his father, in comparison one might make the assumption that Hamlet’s mind is filled with sexual corruption and it is mere jealousy which has been the catalyst behind this outburst. ‘Incestuous sheets’ (Act 3 Scene 4), this quote may signify that Hamlet’s mind is occupied with so much sexual corruption that whenever speaking with his mother the subject of sex encapsulates his thoughts. This relates to Earnest Jones theory, which entails the notion that Hamlet is actually unaware of the feelings he holds towards his mother, as they are subconscious.
Hamlet goes onto verbally abuse his mother later on in the play, which is going against the wishes of his father, ‘ Leave her to heaven’. This shows that due to Hamlet’s madness he may have lost the point of why he is so upset if he cannot recall the words and orders, which the ghost of his father had imparted on him. This is also going against the religious beliefs Hamlet holds as the Old Testament states that a person should honour thy father and mother. A feminist point of view regarding this situation is that Hamlet is a coward who takes all his frustrations and inner demons out on the weaker sex. This is linked to the historical fear and hatred of women known as misogyny.
In this section I shall discuss which aspect of Hamlet’s character comes through as the strongest in my reading and interpretation of the play. The facet, which appears to have an impact on all of Hamlet’s characteristics looked upon and examined during this essay, is his tragic flaw which is his inaction and idleness in a physical sense.
Firstly Hamlet’s madness is a result of this variable to his character. This is due to the idea that if Hamlet was not informed of the death of his father in the manner which occurred and then instructed to seek out revenge, there would be no inclination on the part of Hamlet to trouble himself with the burden of his father’s possible route to heaven depending on him. Therefore the stress of having such responsibility placed upon him and being unable to carry out his father’s orders may have lead to Hamlet’s mind descending into madness involuntarily as the extreme and conflicting emotions running through his thought process could possible have lead to a mental breakdown.
Lastly Hamlet’s relationship with his mother could also relate to Hamlet’s tragic flaw transcending from a physical to a mental disease. This is relating to the aforementioned idea of sexual corruption existing within Hamlet’s mind through a possible Oedipal complex. Hamlet’s inaction may have extended to his mental indecision about what his true feelings towards his mother actually are therefore causing Hamlet’s emotions and physical interaction with Gertrude to vary. This leads to a strange and inconsistent relationship existing between the two just as Hamlet’s tragic flaw prevents him from possessing any consistent sense of purpose and public projection in terms of the nature of his character.
In conclusion the character of Hamlet is a complicated individual who like a classic tragic hero has a flaw preventing him from completing his quest for revenge, without dying in the process. His relationship with women on the whole is also multi layered as his plethora of emotions are shown when he interacts with his mother and Ophelia.
