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Ophelia, daughter of Polonius and ex-girlfriend of Hamlet, goes mad after finding out about the death of her father). Similarly, Polonius’s death was a solid indicator to
Claudius that Hamlet posed a threat to his life. Therefore, Claudius exploited the opportunity in convincing Gertrude, the queen of Denmark, mother of Hamlet and ex-wife of the late Hamlet Sr., to let go of her insane son, and dodging public concern who admired Hamlet, in explaining that sending Hamlet to England would be beneficial not only to the royal court, but Hamlet himself. However, Claudius instructed people within England to kill Hamlet upon his arrival. Luckily though, due to a turn of events, Hamlet managed to get out of that situation and back to Denmark but oblivious to the fact another death trap awaited him on that end as well. Eventually, Hamlet accomplishes his goal of avenging his father’s murder, however, at the cost of his own life. Therefore, this proves that if Hamlet had indeed acted hastily, instead of obsessively seeking the perfect moment to murder Claudius, firstly, he wouldn’t destroy the lives of many around him, and secondly, (maybe) Hamlet wouldn’t of had died himself.
Laertes, the son of Polonius (adviser to King Claudius) and brother of Ophelia, was another character whose downfall was a result of his obsessive behavior. Laertes, like Hamlet, was a character who respected his father with a passion. Therefore, upon hearing of his Polonius’s murder by the hands of Hamlet and the additional tragedy of his sister’s loss of her state of mind and then her accidental death, Laertes was obsessively determined to avenge the deaths of both Polonius and Ophelia:
LAERTES. And so have I a noble father lost,
A sister driven into desperate terms,
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Whose worth, if praises may go back again,
Stood challenger on mount of all the age
For her perfections. But my revenge will come.
(IV. vii. 25-29)
However, Laertes flaw lied in the fact that his obsessive behavior, piggy backing on his impulsive and hot-headed character, entrapped him in the evil domain of Claudius, where his dullish mind was manipulated to partake in a plan that would ultimately kill Hamlet. Laertes was convinced to partake in a fencing duel where he’d be given a poisoned sword to slash Hamlet, thus poisoning him to death. Although he succeeds in poisoning Hamlet, however, due to utter confusion caused by a turn of events, the oblivious Hamlet ends up with the poisoned sword himself and similarly, slashing Laertes as well. Therefore, ultimately, Laertes obsession with the idea of hastily avenging his father and sister’s murderer, obliged him to commit a misdeed, that would shortly after comeback and get Laertes himself as well.
Ambition was another characteristic that led to the unfortunate fates of several characters. One of them was Polonius, a senior adviser to King Claudius and father to Ophelia and Laertes. Polonius’s ambition to serve Claudius to his fullest potential by providing the wisest of insight and opinion led to his downfall. In order to provide his insight and opinions, Polonius adopted many crooked and indirect methods of obtaining information he needed. For example, he used his daughter Ophelia as an instrument to
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discover the cause of Hamlet’s madness and even went as far as spying himself. Polonius’s cunning and deceptive personality can be recognized when he quotes:
POLONIUS. See you now,
Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth.
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlasses and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out.
(II. i. 61-65)
Polonius considers serving the king his top priority because ultimately it would increase his social rank further within the Danish society. However, he fails to acknowledge due to his excessive ambition that the methods he employs not corrupt the morals of his very own daughter, but could potentially pose as a threat to his own life as well.
Claudius is another character whose ambitious personality leads to his eventual downfall. In fact, Claudius’s ambitions of attaining the crown and the queen were of such significance to him, that they outweighed the sacred bond of brotherhood, as Claudius was responsible for killing his elder brother, Hamlet Sr., to fulfill his ambitions. Although he comes to repent his gruesome sins motivated by his intense ambitions, in fear of his life and afterlife, however, even during prayer, Claudius was reluctant to give up his throne or his queen to redeem himself.
CLAUDIUS. That cannot be, since I am still possessed,
Of those effects for which I did the murder: My crown,
mine own ambition, and my queen.
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Claudius’s ambitions were the primary cause of his eventual downfall. He constantly manipulated, deceived, and cheated in his pursuit of power. However, Shakespeare does an excellent job in conveying the theme of karma, as Claudius’s unfortunate fate was
primarily due to his ambitious and ruthless personality.
The childhood companions of Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, in
similarity to Claudius, were also so blinded by the ambition of increasing their social rank, that betrayal of Hamlet’s trust and friendship was not problematic as long as Claudius was served. In fact, the two become so blinded by their ambition; they consider serving Claudius a sacred and religious duty:
GUILDENSTERN. We will ourselves provide.
Most holy and religious fear it is,
To keep those many, many bodies safe,
That live and feed upon your majesty.
Due to their ambition and the necessity to fulfill it, they become the deceptive and cunning puppets of Claudius that lose all value for their long-term friendship with Hamlet. In fact, the two go even as far as to escorting Hamlet to England under the command of Claudius, where Hamlet would be eventually murdered. Fortunately, however, Hamlet discovers the deceitfulness of his long-term companions and arranges for their deaths in place of his. Therefore, the unfortunate fate of these two characters (death), which in a sense is fully justifiable for their disloyalty, was due to their betrayal of Hamlet’s friendship.
Ophelia’s betrayal of Hamlet’s trust and love was a partial cause behind her later
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insanity and eventually downfall. Although she herself had no intention to be disloyal and manipulate Hamlet into releasing information behind the cause of his madness, however, she was forced to partake in treacherous situations by her father, Polonius. Even though
Hamlet is fully aware of the root people enforcing her actions (Polonius and Claudius), however, Ophelia’s disloyalty and betrayal of Hamlet’s trust, establish a very low opinion
of her character and personality. For example, Hamlet describes her as a two-faced, double-crosser:
OPHELIA. I have heard of your paintings too, well enough.
God has, given you one face and you make yourselves another.
Hamlet’s remarks and additional madness first confuse Ophelia but later wound and terrify her. Ophelia, who once admired the noble mind of the charming Hamlet, is disturbed by the current corrupt mind of Hamlet, which beholds derogatory, gross, and a opinion of woman in general. In addition to this, the deceitful intrigues surrounding her, combined with the sudden death of her father, Ophelia eventually can’t bear the pain and throws herself into a state of madness. Unfortunately however, Ophelia had no intention in betraying Hamlet’s trust, but it can be arguably established that one cause behind her insanity was the despicable painting Hamlet held in his mind towards her character.
The primary characters within the play, including the protagonist, have tragic fates due to their acts (throughout the play) and personalities. Specifically, however, the root causes behind the unfortunate fate of the several tragic characters was due to their obsessive behaviors, ambitions, and betrayal. The obsession of Hamlet and Laertes in avenging the murders of their father’s, cause them to commit misdeeds which eventually lead to the downfall of the two characters. Similarly, ambitions were another cause
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behind the unfortunate fates of several characters. For example, Claudius’s ambitious and ruthless pursuit of power, forces him to commit the sinful act of murder. However,
Claudius is ultimately punished, as he destroyed the lives of many around him and for what goes around, comes around. In addition to these, the act of betrayal between characters, in some cases, who were closely bonded at one point, was another reason for the downfall of several characters. For example, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, whom were supposed to be perceived as long-term companions of Hamlet, in fact, due to their ambition of increasing their social rank, continuously, betray the friendship of Hamlet in order to serve Claudius. Ultimately, obsession, ambition, and betrayal, were the primary causes for the tragic downfalls of several characters within William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet.
