Tragic Flaw Of Hamlet Research Paper

1022 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Character analysis in hamlet

Hamlet is a revenge tragedy full of many characters portraying many different traits. Hamlet is just one character in this catastrophic Elizabethan tale. Each character contains a flaw, some that one might consider crazy or even tragic. A tragic flaw is a disastrous weakness that leads to the downfall of a tragic hero and in this case the tragic hero is Hamlet. In Hamlet, Shakespeare paints the perfect revenge tragedy, showcasing the main character, Hamlet, with an inability to act, his lack of trust, and his egocentric personality that brings him to his downfall Hamlet’s largest tragic flaw is his inability to take action. The inability to take actions indicates that one has a hard time to complete tasks that their mind is telling them to do. People who …show more content…

In act 1, scene 5, the ghost of King Hamlet comes through to Hamlet in order to share something surrounding his death. The Ghost says “the serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown” (act 1 scene 5) making sure it is known to Hamlet that he was murdered by his brother, the man that now holds power. Although Hamlet is extremely angered toward this news and knows that his father wants revenge over his death, he has a hard time taking action because he doesn’t know all of the details. This is just one instance where Hamlet’s inability to take action goes against what someone else wants. Due to the message from the ghost, Hamlet’s fury towards King Claudius worsens. His hatred and upset toward Claudius and his mother Gertrude causes him to contemplate suicide. In Hamlet’s “to be or not

Show More
Related

  • King Claudius's Downfall

    678 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Act 1, Hamlet is overcome with joy as he meets his father’s ghost. Consequently, this can be considered to be the downfall of his reputation and his relationships with other characters in the play. He learns of the true nature of King Claudius’s selfish motives. The Ghost of King Hamlet returns to him because he has unfinished business: “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder…The serpent that

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Immaturity in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet is given reason to believe that his Father was murdered. A ghost bearing the “…same figure like the king that’s dead.” (Bernardo 1:1) informed him that the old King’s death was “Murder most foul…” (Ghost 1:5). When Hamlet eagerly inquires as to the meaning of the Ghost’s words he is told that “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life/ Now wears his crown.” Upon hearing this Hamlet immediately knows that his Uncle Claudius, the new king and his new step-father, is the guilty party. A mature person upon hearing news like this would, most likely, also have gone slightly insane with anger. How ever a mature person, upon regaining some control of his or her faculties, would have taken steps to punish the murderer in a just fashion. These steps would have included informing to populace and the Queen of the New King’s treachery against the old. Hamlet does not do this, instead he schemes and plots ways to kill his Uncle as opposed to giving him the opportunity to exculpate himself. Had Hamlet acted with maturity and expressed his concerns about his uncle the lives of many people would have been spared.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Hamlet was an Overthinker and Complex Philosopher

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of Hamlet’s flaws is that he over thinks things a lot and it is first shown the most at the prayer scene with Claudius. Once Hamlet sees how Claudius reacts to the play he knows that Claudius killed his father and that the ghost was right, he has a chance to kill him and doesn’t take it . His only proof was the ghost and even though others saw the ghost no one else heard it talk except Hamlet. Hamlet was also considering a lot of other things at this time, like how if he killed Claudius now Claudius would be free of sin and would go to heaven. He was also thinking if his father didn’t get to die free of sin it wouldn’t be fair for Claudius to die free of sin either, which shows how vengeful Hamlet’s character is. At the same time, Hamlet has morals and understands the consequences so that’s why it’s harder for him to perform the act . After a l...

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare Hamlet Suicide Quotes

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet. The son of a king. A man who could have had it all, but instead he chose the much more painful route of revenge and a life of bloodshed. The downfall of Hamlet is comparable to trying to hide a lie one has told. The deeper we try to cover the lie, the worse it gets and harder it becomes to do the right thing. The deeper the reader explores into Hamlets life, the messier and messier it becomes. With a mind full of suicidal thoughts and insanity with no effort to contain it can only lead one thing, and Hamlets downfall is the ultimate example. Pain, suffering, and extreme

    Read More

  • Hamlet Procrastination Quotes Analysis

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of Aristotle’s Five Rules for Tragedy state that the main character should possess a tragic flaw, something in his character which causes his downfall. In William Shakespeare’s tragic play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the main character’s tragic flaw is procrastination. There are four major quotes in the play that supports the argument that Hamlet’s tragic flaw is procrastination.

    Read More

  • How Does Steinbeck Use Power In Hamlet

    2132 Words  | 5 Pages

    In speaking to the ghost of his father, Hamlet says, “And thy commandment all alone shall live / Within the book and volume of my brain, / … / Now to my word,” (I.v.26). Hamlet is voicing his allegiance to his father’s ghost and the command that he has given him to seek revenge. His need for vengeance motivates all of his actions throughout the text. Hamlet pretends to be going mad to distract the King from his act of revenge that he is plotting. Rosencrantz, sent by the king, speaks of Hamlet and his madness; “He does confess he feels himself distracted, / But from what cause he will by no means speak,” (III.i.51). Hamlet is doing this to distract the king, the queen, and Polonius from his plans that he is scheming. Since the moment that Hamlet learned of his father’s death, he has been constantly preparing for the actions that he is going to take. This act of revenge relates to the politics of Denmark because murdering the king, whether for revenge or not, will cause chaos throughout the nation, just as Claudius’s murder of his brother did. Hamlet does not care what happens to Claudius because he was born to make the murder of his father right by seeking revenge; “O cursed spite, / That ever I was born to set it right!” (I.v.28). Hamlet understands that he must make things right, so he has to seek revenge on the king. Hamlet knows that murdering the king will

    Read More

  • Father and Son Relationship in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the play Hamlet is in constant conflict with himself. An appearance of a ghost claiming to be his father, “I am thy father’s spirit”(I.v.14) aggravates his grief, nearly causing him to commit suicide and leaving him deeply disgusted and angered. Upon speaking with his ghost-father, Hamlet learns that his uncle-stepfather killed Hamlet the King. “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown”(I.v.45-46) Hamlet is beside himself and becomes obsessed with plotting and planning revenge for the death of his father.

    Read More

  • Indecision, Hesitation and Delay in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Shakespeare's Hamlet is tragic because all of the enmity being the product of one man's inability to make decisions. I believe the play is showing the steps of hesitation a person goes through who cannot choose, and the resultant angst. This one man is Prince Hamlet. Throughout the play he comes into situations where he just can't move himself into action.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Inability to Act on Impulse is his Tragic Flaw in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet is the most written about tragedy in the history of man. But, why is it a tragedy? Is it because Hamlet has a tragic flaw that creates his downfall? Or is it that all the cards are stacked against him since the beginning of the play and there is no way he can prevail? I believe that it is a tragedy because of Hamlet's tragic flaw. Hamlet's tragic flaw is that he cannot act on impulse for things that require quick, decisive behavior, and that he acts on impulse for things that require more contemplation than is given by him.

    Read More

  • Social and Psychological Influences on Hamlet

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    Once Hamlet has learned of his father’s death, he is faced with a difficult question: should he succumb to the social influence of avenging his father’s death?  The Ghost tells Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.31) upon which Hamlet swears to “remember” (1.5.118).  Hamlet’s immediate response to this command of avenging his father’s death is reluctance.  Hamlet displays his reluctance by deciding to test the validity of what the Ghost has told him by setting up a “play something like the murder of (his) father’s” (2.2.624) for Claudius.  Hamlet will then “observe his looks” (2.2.625) and “if he do blench” (2.2.626) Hamlet will know that he must avenge his father’s death.  In the course of Hamlet avenging his father’s death, he is very hesitant, “thinking too precisely on the event” (4.4.43).  “Now might I do it…and he goes to heaven…No” (3.3.77-79) and Hamlet decides to kill Claudius while “he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in th’ incestuous pleasure of his bed” (3.3.94-95).  As seen here, Hamlet’s contradicting thought that Claudius “goes to heaven” (3.3.79) influences him to change his plans for revenge.  Hamlet eventually realizes that he must avenge his father’s death and states “from this time forth my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth” (4.4.69).  From this, Hamlet has succumbed to the social influence and has vowed to avenge his father’s death.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Tragic Flaw is Death and Tragedy

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet has a tragic flaw in his personality and behavior. His flaw is that he is overly concerned with death and tragedy. This flaw or weakness in Hamlet leads him into a world of chaotic surroundings and madness. Hamlet's flaw and his mad personality led to the death of several people, including his mother and the King of Denmark! If Hamlet did not have this fascination with death and tragedy, the deaths of the several people would not have occurred--including his own.

    Read More

  • The Ideal Hero in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    1641 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hamlet is the only Shakespeare's tragic hero who doesn't have a tragic flaw, which makes him an ideal hero, instead of a tragic one. Hamlet, the play, still is the revenge tragedy, for Hamlet never lived to see the full revenge.

    Read More

  • Free Essays - Hamlet as a Tragic Hero

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    Webster’s dictionary defines tragedy as, “a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (such as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror.”  A tragic hero, therefore, is the character who experiences such a conflict and suffers catastrophically as a result of his choices and related actions.  The character of Hamlet, therefore, is a clear representation of Shakespeare’s tragic hero.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Reaction In Hamlet

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the play Hamlet, the main character Hamlet is your typical tragic hero - he is destined for greatness, but he fails thanks to his fatal flaw: inaction. Throughout the story, he repeatedly contemplates what he should do, or focuses on torturing his mother and uncle instead of simply taking action like his father’s ghost told him to. He constantly sits back and does nothing while others around him take action. This gets him into a great deal of trouble and ultimately causes his own demise. This flaw of his is not only fatal to himself, but to others as well.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Delay in Hamlet by Shakespeare

    295 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Act I scene V, Hamlet is told by his father’s ghost to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” The ghost then goes on to tell Hamlet that as he was “sleeping in my orchard, A serpent stung me” and that “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown.” Hamlet is told by the ghost to seek revenge, telling him that Claudius has corrupted Denmark and corrupted Gertrude, having seduced her in the foul lust of their incestuous marriage. The ghost urges Hamlet not to act against his mother in any way, telling him to “Leave her to heaven, And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge, To prick and sting her.”

    Read More

More about Tragic Flaw Of Hamlet Research Paper

Open Document