Hamlet has been read by various critics as dramatically a man with a fatal flaw, a misfit in a treacherous world or a weak revenger - In light of this, and using the soliloquies as a starting point,examine how an Elizabethan audience might have understood

Hamlet has been read by various critics as dramatically a man with a fatal flaw, a misfit in a treacherous world or a weak revenger. In light of this, and using the soliloquies as a starting point, examine how an Elizabethan audience might have understood him and how that compares with your reading.

Revenge tragedy was a popular theme when Shakespeare began his play writing career. The central feature of each revenge play was a hero who sought to avenge a wrong in a society where the law was unreliable. "Hamlet" is usually described as a revenge tragedy. The revenge in Renaissance drama emerged as a dominant genre. By modifying material sources Shakespeare was able to take an unremarkable revenge story and make it into one with fundamental themes and problems of the Renaissance. The Renaissance is a vast cultural phenomenon that began in 15th century Italy with the recovery of the classical Greek and Latin texts that had been lost in the middle-ages. "Hamlet", by Shakespeare, uses the traditional conventions which an Elizabethan audience would have expressed interest in because of their moral and social implications. Kyd's best known play " The Spanish Tragedy" was the most influential tragedy of the Elizabethan period inspired by the tragedies of Seneca, both of which served up a rich diet of madness, melancholy and revenge. However "Hamlet" has outlived most revenge plays and is still immensely popular.

Vengeance was forbidden in the Elizabethan era as it was thought unethical and sinful because it could consume a person, erasing within them any sense of moral justice. This thought preoccupies Hamlet for much of the play. An Elizabethan audience would have sympathised with Hamlet's attitude towards revenge and the tension of having fundamental Christian beliefs about mercy contrasted with the human impulse for revenge. To kill a king or queen who was protected by the divine aura of kingship was seen as an act of treason. However vengeance was also seen as an honour which had to be satisfied.

Although an Elizabethan audience would have had prevailing Christian beliefs about mercy juxtaposed with secular view points in tune with human impulse for revenge, a modern audience would empathise with "Hamlet" as a revenge hero due to the 20th century concept of the "just war" theory, which states that war can only take place under certain conditions e.g. when all forms of peaceful negotiations have failed.

In "Hamlet" soliloquies are used to reveal Hamlet's innermost thoughts reflecting his contemplative character, a convention that an Elizabethan audience would have understood. Hamlet's melancholy is a leading factor throughout the play; his soliloquies give us a more in-depth perception as to what he is thinking. We can not read minds and in theatre, it is important for us to have this insight into the characters mind as away of understanding motivations. In Hamlet's case, we are aware of this from the beginning. Hamlet is extremely distraught by the death of his father and the incestuous union of his mother and Claudius:

"How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable

Seems to me all the uses of the world!

Fie on't, ah fie, 'tis an unweeded garden"

This statement is dramatic in that he is using the unweeded garden as a way of metaphorically speaking about our world that is full of ailment and repulsiveness as opposed to a weeded garden which would represent order and contentment. Although an Elizabethan audience would have accepted Hamlets hesitation, a modern audience would accept and understand the feelings expressed in Hamlet's soliloquies.

Hamlets passionate first soliloquy provides a striking contrast to the controlled dialogue ...

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"How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable

Seems to me all the uses of the world!

Fie on't, ah fie, 'tis an unweeded garden"

Hamlets passionate first soliloquy provides a striking contrast to the controlled dialogue he must exchange with Claudius and his court. The primary function of the soliloquy is to reveal to the audience Hamlet's melancholy and despair at the time he is presenting the soliloquy. A modern audience would realise that Hamlet is "a mere Prince of Philosophical Speculators who would not feel at home in an incestuous tomb of politics"¹ thus delaying this actions to avenge his father's death. William Hazlitt also states that Hamlet "is not a character marked by strength of will or even passion, but by refinement of thought and sentiment"². This marks him out as "a misfit in a treacherous world". The world in which Hamlet is living in is claustrophobic full of deception, spying and greed. Brannagh's interpretation of "Hamlet" presents this idea effectively through the use of mirrors in the Great Hall, behind which people spy on one another. Hamlet himself notices that Elsinore is a prison rather than a sanction:

"Denmark's a prison world…in which there are many confines

Wards and dungeons…"

In a disjointed outpouring of disgust, anger, sorrow and grief, Hamlet explains that, without expectation, everything in the world is either futile or contemptible. His speech is saturated with suggestions of rot and corruption, as seen in the basic usage of words such as "rank" and "gross", and the metaphor associating the world with "an unweeded garden". The nature of the his grief is soon exposed, as we learn that his mother, Gertrude, has married her brother-in-law only two months after the death of Hamlet's father, believing that her display of love was a pretense to satisfy her own lust and greed. Shakespeare employs the use of juxtaposition and contrast to enhance Hamlet's feelings of contempt, disgust and inadequacy. Another juxtaposition in the soliloquy is Hamlet's use of Hyperion and a satyr to denote his father and uncle, respectively. Hyperion, the Titan God of light, represents honor and virtue, all traits belonging to Hamlet's father. Satyrs, the half-human and half-beast companions of the Wine-God Dionysus, represents lasciviousness and overindulgence, much like Hamlet's uncle. It is therefore no wonder Hamlet develops disgust for Claudius. An important contrast in this soliloquy is seen in Hamlet's self-depreciating comment;

"But no more like my father

Than I to Hercules"

Hamlet's comparison of himself to the courageous Greek hero indicates his developing lack of self worth, a theme focused upon in the second soliloquy.

In addition to revealing Hamlet's plot to catch the king in his guilt, Hamlet's second soliloquy uncovers the essence of Hamlet's true conflict. Hamlet is committed to seeking revenge for his father, yet he cannot act due to his revulsion towards extracting the cold and calculating revenge. Determined to convince himself to carry out the premeditated murder of his uncle, Hamlet works himself into a frenzy. He hopes that his passions will halt his better judgment and he will then be able to kill Claudius without hesitation. But Hamlet fails to quell his apprehensions and can not act immediately. The traditional

revenge hero would be seen, by an Elizabethan audience, as one who sought to avenge a wrong in an unjust society. Hamlet reflects the Elizabethan views of revenge with his determined heart during the second soliloquy. The soliloquy leaves the reader feeling that Hamlet will keep his word and that revenge will certainly follow in the flowing act. However, Hamlet's determination begins to deteriorate as the play progresses suggesting Hamlet's ambivalence of avenging his father's death, through phrases such as "o cursed spite that even I was born to set things right"

From this point onwards Hamlet fails to carry out the avenger's role, which would have defied an Elizabethan audience's tradition. Shakespeare intentionally defies the traditional conventions because he wants to show that Hamlet is different. However, Hamlet gains sympathy from the modern audience rather than loses sympathy because a modern audience might be more interested to consider how many uncertainties our lives are built upon and Hamlet's psychological motivation.

Unlike Hamlet's first two major soliloquies, the third and most famous speech seems to be governed by reason and not frenzied emotion. Unable to do little but wait for completion of his plan to "catch the conscience of the king", Hamlet sparks an internal philosophical debate on the advantages and disadvantages of existence, and whether it is one's right to end his or her own life. Hamlet must find the appropriate analysis in his situation, however finds himself shifting back and forth between consideration of whether action or inaction is better. In terms of Hamlet's analysis, the two issues are closely related. Yet, his words in Act 2 Scene 2 highlight his understanding that man's nobility transcends the notion of revenge:

"What a piece of work is man! How noble

In reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express

And admirable, in action……"

He has a public obligation to do right by Denmark, but this should not be done morally unless it is done in good will. It can therefore be said that Hamlet's deepening grief is blinding his sound judgment and fogging his path for acceptance of his misgiving. As a result Hamlet begins berating himself with words such as "ass" and "scullion", for failing to carry out his duty as an avenger, even though he has real reasons for revenge. Hamlet is hypersensitive. Everything that has happened to him has made him intensely self-aware and ready to be self-critical. Although an Elizabethan audience would not have accepted Hamlet's hesitation, a modern audience would accept and understand the feelings expressed in Hamlet's soliloquies because hesitation is natural in humanity. The soliloquy ends with Hamlet planning to "Catch the conscience of the king" through a play. Thrilled that his scheme will help prove that Claudius killed his father, Hamlet experiences a sudden surge of confidence. The word "conscience" has more significance than it may seem. It can be read as a conflation of Hellenistic and Roman with Christian influences extending the apostle Paul into Shakespeare's time. Going well beyond a guilty feeling, it points forwards and backwards providing guidance to action.

Hamlet's last soliloquy is crucial to our understanding of his character development. By the end of the soliloquy, Hamlet brings to a halt his solemn contemplation on the immoral act of murderous revenge, and finally accepts it as a necessary duty. It is not that Hamlet has presented a solid and reasonable argument to convince himself of his terrible responsibility: rather he has driven himself to the conclusion with intense and distorted thoughts. Hamlet accuses himself of forgetting his father in the "bestial oblivion", yet he thinks his problem could be "thinking to precisely on the event". More ever, although Hamlet has seen Fortinbras only a moment earlier in the play, and knows nothing of his true motives for going to war, Hamlet convinces himself that he is fighting to protect his honor. Part of Hamlet realizes the idea of such a conviction, however illogical and futile, he focuses on the image of Fortinbras courageously leading his troops. Hamlet's reason, the part of him that has been dominant throughout the play; the part of him that questions the "honour" in murder and revenge, this time cannot provide a rebuttal. Hamlet is overcome by his obligations to enact revenge. Hamlet was once greatly distressed over having to exact payment for this father's murder, even though the reason for such revenge was weighty. Now, Hamlet commends the idea of the "imminent death of twenty thousand men".

Laertes, Fortinbras and Hamlet are all sons seeking to avenge a wrong in an unjust society. Laertes displays an impulsive reaction when angered. Laertes' imprudent actions are motivated by fury and frustration, giving little thought to action

"I'll be revenged most thoroughly for my father"

This provides an insight into Laertes' mind displaying his desire for revenge at any cost. In contrast, Hamlet looks for certainty, through contemplation, before taking action, seeking a right without tainting his mind. Likewise, Fortinbras is an obvious contrast to Hamlet, though his situation similar, as a man of action. Hamlet himself notices the contrast:

"…tender prince, whose spirit with divine ambition puffed

Makes mouths at the invisible event…"

Laertes is fast to act. He wants to revenge and he wants it immediately. His actions are rushed, allowing the possibility of manipulation by Claudius. He cannot let his natural feelings rule his will. He only thinks about his consequences after he has performed. This is evident at the end of the play when he asks for Hamlet's forgiveness when he says "I am justly killed with mine own treachery". He is too willing to believe the king's version of events, thus Claudius uses Laertes anger for his own benefit. Laertes only wants revenge and is not concerned with punishment. Shakespeare makes these contrasts to highlight Hamlet as a stereotypical "weak avenger", but an infinitely more interesting and complex character consumed by the moral complications of revenge, which reveal him as a hero blesses or cursed by the power of individual thought as opposed to a hero who follows unthinkingly the revenge tradition.

An Elizabethan audience would see "Hamlet" as a weak avenger with a "fatal flaw" and a propensity to think too much, therefore not keeping within the dramatic conventions, which would have been greatly appreciated by an Elizabethan audience. However, a modern audience may sympathise greatly with Hamlet's inability to abandon or fulfill his role because making an epic decision is rarely straightforward. It seems that Shakespeare wants to present Hamlet as a tortured soul, influenced by Christian beliefs.

The dilemma "Hamlet" faces is in some ways the dilemma faced by civilized man at large, William Hazlitt supports this view by stating that "Hamlet is one of those plays that we think the most about because it reflects on human life"¹.

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