Undeniably, all humans possess an attribute that has the ability to make them prosperous if used to an advantage, but in many cases this attribute is a defect, otherwise known as a flaw. Whether one possess a singular flaw, or multiple, they are considered to be a tragic figure. In the play Hamlet the protagonist, Hamlet, possesses many tragic traits leading to his downfall. Hamlet is an artist who pauses, contemplated and constantly overthinks. His rationality creates an inability to take action in many aspects of his life. Hamlet also possesses an imperious and arrogant personality, another tragic trait that some may consider to also be a factor contributing to his inability. Nonetheless, despite Hamlet recognizing his flaws at the end of …show more content…
Hamlet first visible incapability is seen when he fails to take action on his suicidal thoughts due to his rationality. When Hamlet questions “to be or not to be” he wishes that “the everlasting had not fixed his canon 'gainst self slaughter'” (3.1.56, 1.2.132). Hamlet life has lost all meaning, but the fear of “the undiscovered country” (3.1.80) is stopping him from taking action, and he is aware that not committing suicide will create an obligation and commitment to fulfill the murder of Claudius. His ability to act is affected as he cannot decide on what action to take, and as a result, he does not act on either. In addition to Hamlet's incapability of committing suicide, he procrastinates on avenging his father. When given the opportunity to kill Claudius, Hamlet claims that a confessional murder would be “hire and salary not revenge” and draws back his sword for “a more horrid hent” (3.3.80-89). His rationality causes him to over think, and the irony is that revenge could have been satisfied if he kills Claudius in the confessional, as Claudius was not really praying not repenting his sins. Hamlets over thinking merely complicated his mission, and only prolonged the revenge necessary. Furthermore, Hamlet has an incapability of taking action to fix the relationships with the two women in his life, Gertrude …show more content…
His first action of arrogance is evident early in the play, when he first converses with the ghost of his father. Hamlet is given a difficult mission, to kill Claudius, and instead of acting cynical, he immediately exclaims “Haste me to know’t that I with wings ad swift… /May sweep to revenge” and later decides to “put on an antic disposition”. (1.5.29-31, 173). Hamlets arrogance has not only created a sense of comfortability, but he is so confident in his crafty scheme, and sincerely believes that he would get revenge on Claudius. He fails to realize that Claudius has not only been scheming behind his back, but that his plan could only proceed to a certain extent, failing to prepare in advance. Additionally, Hamlet exhibits arrogance when he indirectly implies that his friend over the death of his father is real, but Gertrude’s and Claudius's is not genuine. When asked about the authenticity of his grief, Hamlet claims “Seems, madam? Nay it is. I know not 'seems’” (1.2.76). The prince is ironically setting himself up to be a character whom abhors lies, corruption and deceit by implying his grief is sincere. At the same time, he is insinuating that his parents have an “inky cloak” (1.2.77), and unlike them, he is unable to mask his feelings. In the same way Hamlet expresses arrogance towards Claudius and Gertrude, he
Displaying an 'antic disposition', Hamlet first attempts to side step his trepidation by feigning madness. After meeting with his fathers proposed ghost, Hamlet attempts to distance himself from the thought or evidence of death. Hamlet notifies his friends, Marcellus and Horatio, of his plan to distract the kingdom from his real intentions. Although Hamlet proposes this as a way to fool those in Denmark, in the last lines of his meeting with Horatio and Marcellus, he curses that this revenge be placed upon him. This is the first indication of Hamlets reluctance to perform murder. Hamlet then returns to Claudius and Gertrude, at the castle, and acts out his madness for them and for the visitor, Polonius. Upon speaking to Polonius, Polonius picks up upon Hamlets 'madness', yet decides that this unnatural nature is because if Ophelia's behavior toward Hamlet. Indication of Hamlets fear is presented when Polonius asks leave of the prince. Hamlet then states that Polonius can take anything from him, anything but his life. Hamlet repeats thrice this idea of taking anything 'except [his] life.' Not only does this indicate how compulsive Hamlets fake insanity is becoming, but how afraid he is of dying. During the 'To be or not to be' soliloquy, Hamlet contemplates his view of death. As he go...
There are a lot of flaws in a character which could lead to his downfall, like in the famous movie, Batman, where the craziness of the Joker leads to his downfall. In many movies and even in the real world there are character traits which can lead to someones downfall. Also in the Elizabethan tragedy play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, there are many persons which have character flaws. Hamlet, known for its exciting action and tragic characters, is about Prince Hamlet whose father is murdered by his uncle. Prince Hamlet tries to get revenge for his father by
He cannot decide on anything in his life and this a result of his inability to know himself. Being inconclusive about a matter is an internal battle that can only be solved by the victim. It is a sickness that is inside a person and continues to affect them. Depressed people tend to be indecisive to avoid the burden of their decision. They know that once they make a choice, they will be committed to their decision. In addition to feeling burden, depressed people don’t want to feel regret. The University of Pennsylvania Press elaborates on this thought by saying, “Depressed patients anticipate making the wrong decision: whenever they consider one of the various possibilities they tend to regard it as wrong and they will regret making that choice” (29). Hamlet struggles to make a choice on whether or not to commit suicide, on when to get revenge, or when to take action. He cannot make these decisions because he is afraid of the results. As The University of Pennsylvania Press states, he does not want to make the wrong conclusion and regret it. As Hamlet stands looking at Claudius he decides to get revenge and says, “Now might I do it pat, now he is praying” but then changes his mind and states, “And so he goes to heaven / And so am I revenged.—That would be scanned” (Shakespeare III.iii.74-76). Hamlet first thinks he should kill Claudius, but quickly changes his mind, which shows his extreme indecisiveness. He
Hamlet's tragic flaw was that he either considered things too much, or he acted on impulse but out of passion and not reason, which leads to his downfall. Hamlet was an over thinker and a complex philosopher who wanted revenge on his father’s death. Things don’t go as planned as Hamlet’s two opposite flaws change things. One of Hamlet’s flaws, procrastination, is shown in the prayer scene when he has the opportunity to kill Claudius and get revenge on his father’s death, and he doesn’t take it. His second flaw completely opposite from the first, was acting on impulse out of passion making him kill the wrong man, Polonius. Hamlet’s acting out of passion and anger not only killed the wrong man but it was also Ophelia’s father, causing her to commit suicide. Hamlet was a hero trying to do the right thing, but his tragic flaws turn everything around when everyone including himself dies .
In the play Hamlet, Hamlet is described as daring, brave, loyal, and intelligent. However, he is always consumed by his own thoughts, this being his tragic flaw. There are numerous times Hamlet does not act when he should, like his inability to act on his father's murder, his mother's marriage, and his uncle's assuming of the throne.
By many accounts of Williams Shakespeare’s Hamlet the main character, Hamlet, is considered to be the classic tragic hero, but in fact Hamlet is not a hero at all. There are many accounts of heroes in earlier writings such as The Odyssey and Beowulf. These heroes had confidence, careful thought, and thought clearly in their times of trial. Hamlet was not any of these things. His inability to think clearly through his anger leads to indecisiveness which inevitably puts him in a situation that costs him his own life. Hamlet is a victim to himself in this play. Throughout the entire play Hamlet is very confused, indecisive, and blinded by his mission for vengeance. It also seems that while he is angry about the murder of his father he
Hamlet although he believes that suffering must be endured or battled, he also understands that suffering is optional and that suffering is caused from pain and all pain can be relieved. At times Hamlet no longer sees the point of bearing the huge burden of suffering as he does, but rather to end the burden through suicide. These thoughts are however based or can be linked back to Hamlet’s emotion and how his negative emotions overcome his logical thinking. We see however Hamlet’s ability to think logically and understand the reasoning behind suffering and the preciousness of his life. At this point in the play Hamlet no longer doubts his meaning in life, this is quite pivotal because this then allows him the confidence and power to seek revenge on Claudius.
Hamlet has an enormous amount of stress placed on him by the events of his father’s death and his mother’s hasty marriage. Hamlet’s mentality is further stressed by his father’s appearance in the form of a ghost telling Hamlet the true cause of his death, “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown” (Shakespeare 1.5.38-39), and more importantly telling Hamlet to avenge his death and to never forget him (1.5). This must weigh heavily on Hamlet’s mind as he tries to bring himself to carry out such a corrupt act. As Javed describes Hamlet’s ordeal as, “having taken on unwillingly the task of the revenge whose narrower function may have been to avenge a wronged kinsman, but whose wider one was to purge from society the evil which it could not otherwise escape” (332.) The corruption of Hamlet’s character is tragic because as Polonius says: “the safety and health of [the] whole state” depends on him (Shakespeare 1.3.20). The first drastic demonstration of Hamlet’s corruption is shown when he finds Polonius hiding behind a curtain . Hamlet, who believes his uncle Claudius is spying on him, stabs at the curtain, inadvertently killing Polonius. As Dr. Topchyan describes this act, Hamlet does it in “unrestrained passion,” unexpectedly even for himself. His deed, dictated by the situation, is impulsive, not deliberate – an instinctive action, a desperate
Hamlet's fatal flaw is his inability to act. Unlike his father, Hamlet lets his intelligence rather than his heroism govern him. When he has a chance to kill Claudius, and take vengeance for his father's murder, he hesitates, reckoning that if he kills the man while he is at prayer, Claudius would have asked for pardon from the Lord and been forgiven of his sins, therefore allowing him to enter Heaven. Hamlet decides to wait for a better opening. His flaw of being hesitant in the end leads to his own death, and also the deaths of Gertrude, Ophelia, Laertes, and Claudius.
As illustrated through his speeches and soliloquies Hamlet has the mind of a true thinker. Reinacting the death of his father in front of Claudius was in itself a wonderful idea. Although he may have conceived shcemes such as this, his mind was holding him back at the same time. His need to analyze and prove everythin certain drew his time of action farther and farther away. Hamlet continuously doubted himself and whether or not the action that he wanted to take was justifiable. The visit that Hamlet recieves from his dead father makes the reader think that it is Hamlet's time to go and seek revenge. This is notthe case. Hamlet does seem eager to try and take the life of Claudius in the name of his father, but before he can do so he has a notion, what if that was not my father, but an evil apparition sending me on the wrong path? This shows that even with substantial evidence of Claudius' deeds, Hamlet's mind is not content.
Well Kylie, a tragedy is usually a story of one person, with both the hero victims in the play usually of a high standing of society. This is especially the case in “Hamlet”, with his victims being King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, Polonious, Laertes, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, all being linked to the Royal Family of Denmark. A personality fault (the tragic flaw) causes the hero to act in a manner which brings about his own misfortune and eventually death, during which he lets the audience know he is dying by delivering a final speech. In “Hamlet”, it is his tragic flaw of his indecisiveness and inability to act, which brings his own suffering and misfortune. Had he been able to kill King Claudius in the beginning none of the suffering would have occurred. He also delivers his final speech telling the audience of his death, “I am dead Horatio. Wretched queen, adieu!” he exclaims after being poisoned by Laertes envenomed rapier.
Hamlet seems incapable of deliberate action, and is only hurried into extremities on the spur of the occasion, when he has no time to reflect, as in the scene where he kills Polonius, and again, where he alters the letters which Rosencraus and Guildenstern are taking with them to England, purporting his death. At other times, when he is most bound to act, he remains puzzled, undecided, and skeptical, until the occasion is lost, and he finds some pretence to relapse into indolence and thoughtfulness again. For this reason he refuses to kill the King when he is at his prayers, and by a refinement in malice, which is in truth only an excuse for his own want of resolution, defers his revenge to a more fatal opportunity, when he will be engaged in some act "that has no relish of salvation in it."
According to the Aristotelian view of tragedy, a tragic hero must fall through his or her own error. This is typically called the "tragic flaw", and can be applied to any characteristic that causes the downfall the hero. Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark can be seen as an Aristotelian tragedy and Hamlet as it's tragic hero. Hamlet's flaw, which in accordance with Aristotle's principles of tragedy causes his demise, is his inability to act. This defect of Hamlet's character is displayed throughout the play.
The tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most popular and greatest tragedy, presents his genius as a playwright and includes many numbers of themes and literary techniques. In all tragedies, the main character, called a tragic hero, suffers and usually dies at the end. Prince Hamlet is a model example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Every tragedy must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero must own many good traits, but has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. If not for this tragic flaw, the hero would be able to survive at the end of the play. A tragic hero must have free will and also have the characteristics of being brave and noble. In addition, the audience must feel some sympathy for the tragic hero.
Hamlet’s tragic flaw was shown to him in a dream by the ghost of his father. His father tells him that he was murdered by his uncle, Claudius. In this scene, the tragic flaw was transferred and manifested itself in Hamlet’s actions. His obsession with revenge and death is all he can think about. He needs to act quickly and decisively but finds himself procrastinating about what to do. In Act III, Hamlet holds the knife over the head of his uncle, Claudius, but cannot strike the fatal blow. Instead, he writes a play about the same scenario to study the reaction of Claudius as to a clue of his guilt. After he decides Claudius is guilty of murdering his father, he still relents from taking his revenge. He says, “Haste me to know ‘t, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thought of love May sweep to my revenge.