The tragic hero is responsible for their downfall through their own “tragic flaw.” Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his obsession. Throughout the course of the work, Shakespeare develops Hamlet’s many obsessions. His main obsession, that leads to all the tragic events in the play all sprout from Hamlet’s obsession with dignity and revenge. His intense need to act revengefully towards the man that took his fathers life and throne caused him to delay his actions so long that his hatred towards Claudius grew larger and larger. Hamlet became obsessed with destroying Claudius in a very horrible way that he did not even kill Claudius when he had the perfect chance. Instead he prolongs with hatred and in the end, other people are killed.
Although many works may include many unfortunate turn of events, in a tragedy the suffering and calamity are exceptional. The whole story of Hamlet is filled with intense suffering but the final scene is exceptionally tragic. Shakespeare depicts the fencing duel between Hamlet and Laertes. Within this short scene, Shakespeare manages to end the lives of all the major characters in the story. First, Gertrude drinks from a cup that her own husband Claudius placed poison into with the intentions of offering to Hamlet in order to kill him. Next, Laertes stabs Hamlet with the point of the poisonous blade. Ironically, Hamlet and Laertes manage to switch swords and Hamlet reciprocates Laertes’ act by stabbing him. To exaggerate the irony, Hamlet has no idea that the sword is poisonous and stabs Laertes with no intention of killing him. Laertes, in his final moments prior to death, explain the whole situation to Hamlet, and his apologies are expressed. Angered by all this, Hamlet rams the same fatal sword into Claudius. In the end of just this scene, four dead bodies are produced.
Lastly, the whole progression of the plot of a tragedy must lead up to , and include, the death of the hero. Hamlet dies by the hands of Laertes, at the end of the work. It is during their final duel that Laertes stabs Hamlet with his sword that had been dipped in poisonous liquid which in turn leads to Hamlet’s death.
Although Hamlet is not the only one to blame for all the tragic events of the work, he indeed is an intricate part of the whole scheme of things. As mentioned earlier, it is Hamlet’s obsession that led to the death of many. Many can argue however, that without the actions of Claudius that killed Hamlet’s father, Hamlet’s story would not be considered a tragedy.
Many reasons contribute to the Hamlet’s delay in exacting revenge for his father’s death. Due to Hamlet’s tragic flaw of obsession, he is unable to kill Claudius when the perfect opportunity comes along. When Hamlet sees Claudius praying, he thinks twice about killing him then and there, although it is the perfect chance for him to, because Hamlet thinks if he were to kill Claudius during the act of prayer, that Claudius would go to heaven. Because his hatred for Claudius is so great, Hamlet would not allow Claudius’s entry into any place other than hell. Instead he prolongs his anguish and further develops his hatred towards Claudius. In a way these are good reasons for being hesitant on Hamlet’s part because he has been driven insane. His passion for Claudius’s downfall has created a clouded perception of the situations he is put in. Hamlet does not think straight or methodically because he is simply blinded by his own passion.
Short Questions
Identify the following passages and explain their significance.
1. "He and his stallion clop like warlords among the trash,
his ideals stand in the air, a frozen cloud
from between his unsmiling lips."
2. "In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the deathbed whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourished by."
3. "What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?"
4. " To die: to sleep;/No more; And by a sleep to say we end/The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks/That flesh is heir to,’tis a consummation/Devoutly to be wish’d."
-The person speaking in this scene is Hamlet. His words here are significant because they truly show how crazy he is becoming. It seems that he is now weary of everything and has second thoughts about every decision. He speaks about death in an extremely detailed manner. Saying that death is somewhat like sleep except that when you sleep you still dream, but in death there is no dreaming. Also, when you fall asleep you expect to wake up the next day, but from death you never wake up.
5. "One advantage to this scene taking place in summer, I can follow this up with a clean exit, there’s no fumbling around getting your coat and galoshes, I just saunter into the electric eye in my white shirt that my mother ironed the night before, and the door heaves itself open, and outside the sunshine is skating around on the asphalt. I look around for my girls, but they’re gone, of course."
-This passage is from Shakespeare’s “Shall I compare the to a summer’s day”. The entire poem is basically comparing a woman to a summer’s day. However, these lines seem to express the beauty that summer brings out in a woman. He believes that in the summer do to the warm weather women are wearing less clothing, therefore, bearing more of their beauty because there are no coats or sweaters covering them.