Essay On Hamlet As A Tragic Hero

In William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Hamlet, Shakespeare recounts the story of a prince who is given the task to avenge the death of his father. The play is centered around Hamlet, a student whose studies are interrupted by his father’s death. After returning to the kingdom, Hamlet encounters a ghost claiming to bear the soul of his father. Upon this confrontation, Hamlet is faced with evidence that his uncle, Claudius, murdered his father, Hamlet I. As a result, Hamlet strategizes to perform revenge on Claudius for his malefaction. Hamlet, the main protagonist, displays a multitude of dynamic traits that emerge as the play develops.

When Hamlet discovered that it was King Claudius that had killed his father, Hamlet maps out a process in which he would go about the death of Claudius. He ponders and thinks of the repercussions that may arise in every situation. At times, he inadvertently lets his emotions get the best of him. For example, his plan of revealing Claudius’s guilt through the observation of the self-reflecting play called “Mousetrap” works as Hamlet had intended. However, Hamlet’s impatience overcomes his control, allowing Claudius to realize the motives of Hamlet.

5) Although it only seems as background information, the fact that Hamlet is a scholar plays a large role in his thinking in act 2. Due to his desire to believe ideas that can be proven through evidence (similar to Horatio's reaction when had not seen the ghost), the questions Hamlet faces are unusual for him because they involve the supernatural, a non scientific phenomenon. This is due to the influence of the Renaissance. In addition, pride in human potential was also a newly introduced principal. When Guildenstern and Rosencrantz visit, it is his education that allowed him to quickly grasp onto the true reason they have visited and it is the influence of the Renaissance on his knowledge that allowed him to display betrayal in unique way.

Ethan Frome from the book Ethan Frome fits the description of a tragic hero, but only in some aspects. In most aspects, Ethan more closely fits the description of a pathetic coward. Ethan Frome does have a reversal of fortune because of his error in judgement, but Ethan is not hubris, nor is his fate greater than he deserved. Conversely, Hamlet does fit the mold of a tragic hero well. He had a flaw of judgement in deciding to avenge his father, his fortune is reversed from a wealthy prince to a dead man, Hamlet does realize he brought about his own fate, he does have excessive pride, and his fate is the worst kind of fate; death.

Hamlet was very impulsive with his decisions. He choose to act rashly and impulsively without taking the time to check out situations thoroughly which unfortunately led to devastating consequences. Throughout the story, Hamlet struggled with the ability to control his strong emotions which led to his impulsive behavior. In Hamlet there were two big, significant occasions in which Hamlet’s hasty actions were done without forethought, and led to a great deal of trouble in the

The definition of a tragic hero according to csus.edu is ‘‘A tragic hero is a person of noble birth with heroic or potentially heroic qualities. This person is fated by the Gods or by some supernatural force to doom and destruction or at least to great suffering. But the hero struggles mightily against this fate and this cosmic conflict wins our admiration.’’ When Hamlet is faced with the quest to seek his father 's vengeance he does not act on impulse. Hamlet decides the make a play reacting the death of his father that was described to him by his father 's ghost this can be seen as Hamlet seeking the truth before making his decision which leads to his outcome.

Although, he is given a perfect opportunity to kill Claudius, his tendency to overthink often causes him to procrastinate in fulfilling his responsibility, therefore, becoming his major flaw. Another element of the Aristotelian tragic hero is the reversal of fate, or rather a change for the worse. He does possess the potential to claim the throne, restore order in the kingdom, and to keep his family in power of the crown. However, these outcomes are only possible if he can execute his plan with swiftness. Instead, Hamlet

Like many things, Hamlet is intelligent and honorable, but his indecisiveness is the cause of his tragic downfall. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare portrays that Hamlet is very incapable of finishing the task at hand. Throughout the drama Hamlet faces many trials and tribulations due to his late father Hamlet, who was murderously killed by Claudius. His inability to kill Claudius and himself is one grand flaw of an epic hero. After King Hamlets passing, Hamlet entered an unknown state of mind that not only feared others for his wellbeing, but also feared himself.

Throughout Hamlet, Prince Hamlet is faced against many situations that question his mental stability and ability to make decisions. His indecisiveness comes from the way he reacts to the situations he is put in and the way his mind presents these situations to him. The most important indecisive moments are Hamlet’s suicidal thoughts, his father’s ghost, and his vengeance to Claudius. When Hamlet is told by a ghost that has a resemblance of his father that Claudius had killed him, he vows to take vengeance and revenge his father’s death.

It is that persona that makes it such a challenge to understand him, but in fact, it can be that the reason that his feelings are widely unknown are not because he is completely inexpressible as he is portrayed, but can be the outcome of a plot that besmirched his character. Shakespeare’s fault was generating a story that unsettled Hamlet’s emotions, and so his madness is perceived as “a deliberate dissimulation” – a trick to gain revenge on his

Towards the end of the play, Hamlet finally receives his chance at revenge in the form of a fencing match against Claudius. Although he kills Claudius, a poisonous sword wounds Hamlet, and he exclaims that “O, I die, Horatio./ The potent poison quite o’ercrows my spirit”(5.2.352-353). Revenge distorts Hamlet’s mind to the extent that he challenges Claudius to a fencing match, even though Claudius is out to kill Hamlet. As a result, Hamlet dies, and, in turn, illustrates that revenge hinders logical decision making, and induces dire repercussions.

Later in act 2, scene 2, he criticizes his lack of action and reprimands himself. He compares himself with one of the actors in the arranged play, who had "[t]ears in his eyes" (2.2.58) after the play, suggested he was passionately stirred by the recreation. Hamlet, in contrast, cannot even act to avenge his father’s death. These two other scenes in the play, along with Hamlet’s action and dialogue in Act 3, Scene 3, provide solid evidence of the difficulty and complexity of taking

The stories "Hamlet" and "Death of a Salesman" are two of the most well known tragedy stories. The stories may have been in two completely different eras, and have different plots, but the main characters in the story, Hamlet in "Hamlet" and Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman" compare in many different ways. Although the characters can be seen as very similar, there are differences between the characters as well. Hamlet and Willy compare and contrast in the ways as they are both tragic heroes, they both act insane, and both have trouble doing what they say they are gonna do.

A ghost is considered earthbound if its essence remains lingering in the physical world and hasn’t been able to cross over into the spiritual realm. They get stuck behind here on Earth, caught in limbo between the living and dead, and wander restlessly seeking resolution. Hollywood tends to thrive on the idea that these ghosts are roaming around creating chaos to the lives of those they encounter. The fact of the matter is we can’t really be sure what the true purpose is a departed soul. There are many theories as to why a ghost, or more appropriately a spirit, may become static on Earth instead of moving on to the beyond.

Though Hamlet is aware of what things may come under the rule of his uncle, he is slow to action, which some might contribute to his"extreme sensitive nature" (Knight 3); however, deep down Hamlet harbors a need to be completely sure of the facts surrounding his father's death before he can convince himself to take action. Hamlet's own insecurities about whether or not he should take action severely halts his efforts at canceling fate, and it may be argued that his insecurities even made it stronger. On the other hand, it can be argued that Hamlet is simply enacting his free will in the way that he chooses to wait and be sure, rather than to take action against Claudius right away as his father's ghost wants him to. This brings about an internal conflict for Hamlet because outwardly, one is able to see that he is nervous of Denmark's fate, comparing it to "an unweeded garden that grows to seed" (Shakespeare 1.2.135-136) under Claudius' reign. Perhaps if Hamlet did not wait so long to take action, he might have been able to save many lives and rule the kingdom himself, thus changing the country's fate.