How Is Hamlet An Anti Hero

This essay will explore two plays that clearly demonstrate the idea of hero and anti-heroism. The two plays are: William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. The first paragraph of this essay will define and deconstruct the qualities that both titles manifest. The second paragraph will analyze the actions and qualities of the character Hamlet in Hamlet to prove that he perfectly fits the Aristotelian model of a tragic hero. The third paragraph will argue that Hedda Gabler in Hedda Gabler contrastingly displays questionable actions and qualities that classify her as an anti-heroine. Finally, the conclusion will summarize all of the major points made throughout this essay.

Drama theorist Aristotle defines his own term of a

As mentioned earlier, the first characteristic on Aristotle’s list is that a tragic hero must be noble. Shakespeare deliberately establishes Hamlet’s nobility in the play. There are several moments throughout the text that the word “noble” is used to describe the Prince. It is in Act III, Scene One, following Hamlet’s rant, that Ophelia says these words about him: “O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!” It is also at the end of Act V that Horatio says to Hamlet instantly after his death: “Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince: And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!” Another characteristic that Hamlet easily fits is, that he is not always preeminently honorable. Hamlet, like all of us, is human. Therefore, he is not perfect and makes many mistakes. There is no doubt that Hamlet’s insanity is indeed one of his biggest flaws, and there are many moments in the play that establish this. A clear example occurs in Act III, when Ophelia is being used by Polonius to test Hamlet’s madness. The prince makes a verbal attack on Ophelia in public, accusing her of unfaithfulness: “Get thee to a nunnery, go: farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool: for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them.” It is also in Act III that Hamlet makes his biggest mistake. In a failed attempt to execute his uncle Claudius, Hamlet accidently murders Polonius. It is after this, that a series of unfortunate events start to unfold for the Prince, as Claudius now knows of his intentions. This tragic flaw, “was not the result of vice or depravity in Hamlet; he was not habitually vindictive and regularly desirous of the eternal damnation of his relatives.” (Froula 2001, 25) Even in Hamlet’s most outraged state, he still believed that Claudius would be sent to heaven when he dies: “A villain kills my father; and for