Factors Contributing to Shakespeare's Hamlet Being a Great Play

1211 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The theme of morality in Hamlet

Factors Contributing to Shakespeare's Hamlet Being a Great Play

William Shakespeare's Hamlet, through the heroism and nobility of its hero, his superior power of insight into, and reflection upon, his situation, and his capacity to suffer the moral anguish which moral responsibility brings, is considered one of the greatest pieces of literature ever written. Throughout the play, Hamlet, through both soliloquies and actions, displays these characteristics, which make Hamlet such an important and intriguing individual.

Hamlet's heroism and nobility displayed throughout most of the play, classify Hamlet as a tragedy that "towers above other plays of its kind." The main reason Hamlet is considered honorable and noble is because of the audience's sympathy for Hamlet. At the beginning of the play, he has just lost his father, and immediately his mother and uncle marry. Hamlet's anguish is justifiably explained when Gertrude states, "If it be/ why seems it so particular with thee?" Hamlet responds, "'Seems' madam? Nay, it is." Hamlet is obviously upset about the death of his father and circumstances of the marriage between Gertrude and Claudius. This situation intends to evoke sympathy for Hamlet from the reader. The sympathy becomes more significant in Act I, Scene 5, when the Ghost appears to Hamlet. The Ghost tells Hamlet that he, King Hamlet, is "Doomed for a certain term to walk the night/And for the day confined to fast in fires/ Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature / Are burnt and purged away," and that Claudius, "in the porches of my ears did pour/ The leprous distilment." Thus, King Hamlet's murder, due to the high esteem kings are held to as a "divine ru...

... middle of paper ...

...knowledging his Christian ideals. Hamlet shows a wonderful capacity to deal with moral anguish from moral responsibility, an important theme in Hamlet, which helps create the play as one of the greatest pieces of literature ever written.

Helen Gardner is correct in her statement that the reason Hamlet is such a great piece of literature, especially when compared to other tragedies, is because of the nobility of Hamlet, his insight and reflection on his situation, and Hamlet's ability to deal with his moral anguish. Shakespeare creates the elaborate character of Hamlet and the many aspects of his character not only through Hamlet's actions, but more importantly through his soliloquies. Hamlet has secured its place in literature as one of the greatest plays ever, because of Shakespeare's complicated and intriguing character, Hamlet.

Bibliography:

Show More
Related

  • Winston Smith of George Orwell’s 1984 and Hamlet of Shakespeare’s Hamlet

    1569 Words  | 4 Pages

    The morality of the hero also plays a key role in the nature of his heroism. Hamlet holds himself to high moral standards and ethics. “We, the ...

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's Hamlet

    1338 Words  | 3 Pages

    The death of King Hamlet established a mission to accomplish for the main character of the play. After his visit with the ghost, Hamlet discovered his mission - killing Claudius. However, he was still doubtful if the information he got from the ghost was truthful. The story of Hamlet as the tragic hero who avenges his father's death begins here. Shakespeare has founded the play by displaying Hamlet as a innocent young prince who just lost his father. Furthermore, by indicating that Hamlet's own uncle killed his father, the writer employs pathos so that the audience automatically side with the main character and root for his success.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Capacity For Self-Sacrifice In The Face of Compelling Circumstances.

    1402 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare portrays the protagonist, Hamlet, as someone with a great emotional and physical capacity for self-sacrifice. Burdened with a heroic task of avenging his father’s murder, Hamlet chooses to put on an “antic disposition”. This leads him to willingly transform his identity by altering his values, beliefs and his self-image. Hamlet also chooses to sacrifices true love for Ophelia, his right to freely express himself, and ultimately his life as well. Shakespeare shows how an individual, when burdened by a difficult task, will sacrifice anything including his own life for the purpose of fulfilling that goal.

    Read More

  • Equilibrium Of The Mind In Hamlet

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    Foremost, is the character of Hamlet: the causes and effects of his actions, or lack thereof. Hamlet is a very thoughtful person by nature, and often spends more time thinking than acting. However, Hamlet does realize that "...conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue of resolution/ Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought"(III.i.84-85). Although Hamlet recognizes the fact that too much reflection could end poorly, he does it nonetheless. Every situation he is faced with he insists upon planning it out first, and rarely actually acting upon these plans. Additionally, since Hamlet is considered to be a tragedy, there must be a tragic hero. All tragic heroes have some kind of flaw or blemish, which, according to the article "Characters", "Hamlet's weakness may be that he 'thinks too much' and cannot make up his mind. The resulting inactions leads to his death" ("Characters"). Because Hamlet spends so much time pondering his surroundings, he sometimes misses the chance to act on them. This inability to accomplish anything slowly pulls Hamlet to a point where no amount of thought or action could possibly help him. However, at one point in the play Hamlet comes very near to followin...

    Read More

  • The Transformation of Hamlet

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning of the story, Hamlet’s character was struggling with the sudden marriage of his mother, Gertrude, to his uncle, Claudius, a month after his father is death.  For a young man, it’s hard to believe that he understood why his mother quickly married Claudius especially since, Claudius is his uncle. Later he learned that his father’s ghost was sighted. Intuitively, he knew there had to be some kind of “foul play.” At this point, Hamlet is a university student; his morals and way of thinking are defined by books and what was taught to him. This is seen when he speaks about the flaws of men, setting a bad reputation for all, and the man’s flaws causing their “downfall.”(a.1, sc.4, l.)

    Read More

  • The Success of Hamlet

    2080 Words  | 5 Pages

    This play is ranked by many as the very greatest ever written. Cumberland Clark in “The Supernatural in Hamlet” gives the consensus regarding Hamlet that exists among literary critics of today:

    Read More

  • Claudius' Speech

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Shakespeare’s Hamlet revolves around Hamlet’s quest to avenge his father’s murder. Claudius’ first speech as King at the beginning of Scene 2, Act 1 introduces the themes of hierarchy, incest and appearance versus reality and plays the crucial role of revealing Claudius’ character as part of the exposition. The audience is left skeptical after Horatio’s questioning of King Hamlet’s ghost in the first scene of the play. By placing Claudius’ pompous speech immediately after the frightening appearance of Hamlet’s ghost, Shakespeare contrasts the mournful atmosphere in Denmark to the fanfare at the palace and makes a statement about Claudius’ hypocrisy. Through diction, doubling and figurative language, Shakespeare reveals Claudius to be a self centered, hypocritical, manipulative and commanding politician.

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's Hamlet

    531 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare tragic story, “Hamlet”, illustrates the miserable character under such a tragic reality. Hamlet is a clear representation of Shakespeare's tragic hero, as he possesses all the necessary characteristics of such a hero. Hamlet is seen as a tragic hero as his father king Hamlet died and his uncle who is the murder of old Hamlet took over the power and his unfortunate fate with Ophelia and etc. These character traits and distinctiveness make Hamlet a Tragic Hero.

    Read More

  • Effects Of Trauma In Hamlet

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare consists of classic tales, as some would say. He uses such a beautiful language and a strong depiction of his characters, atmosphere, background and even the overall message he tries to send through his productions. Specifically, Hamlet is a very important play because it covers a broad range of themes that we encounter today in the 20th century ranging from love, betrayal, politics, war, death, insanity, espionage and so on. Shakespeare’s work was a form of art and you can get a lot out of his

    Read More

  • Free Essays - Hamlet as a Tragic Hero

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the play’s tragic hero, Hamlet exhibits a combination of good and bad traits.  A complex character, he displays a variety of characteristics throughout the play’s development.  When he is first introduced in Act I- Scene 2, one sees Hamlet as a sensitive young prince who is mourning the death of his father, the King.  In addition, his mother’s immediate marriage to his uncle has left him in even greater despair.   Mixed in with this immense sense of grief, are obvious feelings of anger and frustration.  The combination of these emotions leaves one feeling sympathetic to Hamlet; he becomes a very “human” character.  One sees from the very beginning that he is a very complex and conflicted man, and that his tragedy has already begun.

    Read More

  • Conflict in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

    2442 Words  | 5 Pages

    Old Hamlet is killed by his brother Claudius. Only two months after her husband’s death a vulnerable Gertrude marries her husband’s brother Claudius. Gertrude’s weakness opens the door for Claudius to take the throne as the king of Denmark. Hamlet is outraged by this, he loses respect for his mother as he feels that she has rejected him and has taken no time to mourn her own husband’s death. One night old Hamlets ghost appears to prince Hamlet and tells him how he was poisoned by his own brother. Up until this point the kingdom of Denmark believed that old Hamlet had died of natural causes. As it was custom, prince Hamlet sought to avenge his father’s death. This leads Hamlet, the main character into a state of internal conflict as he agonises over what action and when to take it as to avenge his father’s death. Shakespeare’s play presents the reader with various forms of conflict which plague his characters. He explores these conflicts through the use of soliloquies, recurring motifs, structure and mirror plotting.

    Read More

  • Hamlet Character Analysis Essay

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet’s wit and play of words deceits everyone. He seems to be philosophical and existential being with a certain interest to the meaning of life. Many may see him as the tragic hero fighting against a superior force. This image of a tragic hero seems to be just a façade. Although there can be many reason why he may be seem as a tragic hero he is corrupted by those around him making him evil.

    Read More

  • Condemned: Hamlet’s Moral Dilemma

    1663 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hamlet is one of the most often-performed and studied plays in the English language. The story might have been merely a melodramatic play about murder and revenge, butWilliam Shakespeare imbued his drama with a sensitivity and reflectivity that still fascinates audiences four hundred years after it was first performed. Hamlet is no ordinary young man, raging at the death of his father and the hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. Hamlet is cursed with an introspective nature; he cannot decide whether to turn his anger outward or in on himself. The audience sees a young man who would be happiest back at his university, contemplating remote philosophical matters of life and death. Instead, Hamlet is forced to engage death on a visceral level, as an unwelcome and unfathomable figure in his life. He cannot ignore thoughts of death, nor can he grieve and get on with his life, as most people do. He is a melancholy man, and he can see only darkness in his future—if, indeed, he is to have a future at all. Throughout the play, and particularly in his two most famous soliloquies, Hamlet struggles with the competing compulsions to avenge his father’s death or to embrace his own. Hamlet is a man caught in a moral dilemma, and his inability to reach a resolution condemns himself and nearly everyone close to him.

    Read More

  • Inconsistency in The Character of Hamlet

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    The perfection of Hamlet’s character has been called in question - perhaps by those who do not understand it. The character of Hamlet stands by itself. It is not a character marked by strength of will or even of passion, but by refinement of thought and sentiment. Hamlet is as little of the hero as a man can be.  He is a young and princely novice, full of high enthusiasm and quick sensibility - the sport of circumstances, questioning with fortune and refining on his own feelings, and forced from his natural disposition by the strangeness of his situation.

    Read More

  • Hamlet as the Tragic Hero

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet is the best known tragedy in literature today. Here, Shakespeare exposes Hamlet’s flaws as a heroic character. The tragedy in this play is the result of the main character’s unrealistic ideals and his inability to overcome his weakness of indecisiveness. This fatal attribute led to the death of several people which included his mother and the King of Denmark. Although he is described as being a brave and intelligent person, his tendency to procrastinate prevented him from acting on his father’s murder, his mother’s marriage, and his uncle’s ascension to the throne.

    Read More

More about Factors Contributing to Shakespeare's Hamlet Being a Great Play

Open Document