Hamlet

Hamlet Essay Ernst 1

"What then is tragedy? In the Elizabethan period it was assumed that a play ending in death was a tragedy, but in recent years we have come to understand that to live on is sometimes far more tragic than death." George P. Baker. This statement holds some truth in that tragedies ending in death in the Elizabethan period, however that definition of death can vary. The character can end up dead in side which can be worse than actually dieing because it drags on. This can be formulated in a question: What is Elizabethan tragedy? Tragedy during the Elizabethan era was in transition. Any form of art goes through transitional periods to Ð''keep up with the times' because it keeps that art form easy to view and understand. In this era the biggest societal change was religion. Europe was moving away from Greek world view to become a Christian society. This brought a new definition of tragedy which still keeps us somewhat entertained today. Because of the great chain of being, which the Elizabethans modeled their society around, it was best to keep the person at the centre of the tragedy of high standing. Fate was no longer a strong belief of society but in Hamlet the characters seem to hold on to the idea of fate and toil in life as they would, believing it doesn't matter. Tragedy has always needed the character to make a mistake or hamartia, but every main character in this play makes tragic errors. The Elizabethans believed that when you are born you are born into a place in society and if you strived to be better it was hybristic, however it was not considered hybristic if a superior promotes you to a new position in society. This was usually the main characters major mistake or flaw. Proving this definition, are three main characters Claudius, Laertes and of course Hamlet. Therefore, Hamlet is most certainly a tragedy,

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which we can see the major flaws of the characters and plot unfolding from the beginning.

Firstly, Claudius started the whole tragedy with his hybristic choice to kill King Hamlet which was him stepping out of the chain of order to pursue a higher spot. As soon as the Elizabethan audience would have known Claudius killed King Hamlet they would have known he would be condemned to death. Although the Christian God is forgiving and for the greater good we know that Claudius is evil. He never asks for forgiveness, "O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon't- A brother's murder. Pray can I not, Though inclination be as sharp as will, My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent, And, like a man to double business bound, I stand to pause where I shall first begin, And both neglect"(Hamlet 3, 3, 36-43) whether because he thinks he can't be forgiven or doesn't care about the afterlife and has already lost all hope. Here he is in a sense giving up on life, but still wants to stick around and toil in the mess he created. He never accepts death right up to his death. He is scared of death and for some reason thinks he can get through all of this without dying. In his last words in the play, "O yet defend me, friends. I am but hurt." (Hamlet 5, 2, 329), he still does not except death. He does not believe he will die. It is just and injury. Or perhaps he is saying that he has been hurting all along. This makes us pity him a little, but right up until his last breath Claudius lies and cannot repent. Another huge mistake of Claudius' is when he decides to take matters into his own hands with Hamlet by hiring Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy. This whole concept shows the King's fear of death and guilt for what he has done. He wants to

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know if Hamlet knows, "I like him not, nor it stands safe with us- To let his madness range"(Hamlet 3,3, 1-2). Of course Claudius uses Hamlet's Ð''madness' as a safety net, as in do not believe a word he says because he is crazy. He feels threatened, because he knows that Hamlet is smart and cares about truth. Claudius' hamartia causes a chain reaction that leads on to the other characters in the play.

Secondly, Laertes

Thirdly, Hamlet is the