Hamlet Hero Essay Research Paper Hamlet is

Hamlet Hero Essay, Research Paper

Hamlet is a tragic hero through abandonment. His father’s death makes his mood

very melancholy. He feels that his father left him and he mourns over his death.

His father dies two months ago and he feels that isn’t enough time to mourn. To

point this out, " But two months dread, nay, not so much, not two;"

(I,ii,138) The more Hamlet grieves about his father, the more he dislikes

Claudius. To verify this, "She married; O most wicked speed, to past."

(I,ii,156) Hamlet’s mother gets remarried, and thus Hamlet feels she has

betrayed his father by marrying Claudius. In this quotation Hamlet’s anger is

shown towards his mother getting remarried, " You are the queen, your

husband’s brother’s wife,/ And -would it were not so! – you are my mother!"

(III,iv,15-16) Hamlet loves his mother very much and wants the best for her, but

he cannot bear her remarriage. Finally, Hamlet feels abandonment by Ophelia’s

death. She drowns, but Hamlet is unaware of this. He really loves Ophelia, even

though she was not loyal to him. When he finds out that Ophelia has died, he

cries out, " I lov’d Ophelia: forty thousand brothers could not, with all

their quantity of love, make up my sum."(V,i,270-272) In brief, Hamlet felt

abandoned by his father’s death, his mother’s remarriage and Ophelia’s death.

Hamlet is a tragic hero because of his misfortunes. His first misfortune is the

appearance of the ghost of his murdered father, who appeals to Hamlet to take

revenge for his wrongful death. The ghost reveals to Hamlet that Claudius and

Gertrude had been intimate before his murder. The ghost also reveals that

Claudius became king by treachery, disposing of Hamlet’s father in order to

satisfy his own greed. Hamlet becomes very upset and is in grief for his

father’s death. He is shocked in disbelief that his own uncle would betray the

family this way. Hamlet’s grief can be summed up in the following quotation,

" Make mad the guilty and appal the free,"(II,ii,563) Hamlet’s

analytical nature can be seen in his four soliloquies. In his first soliloquy,

he is talking about his joyless life, comparing it to a garden and how it is

decaying. An illustration of this is, " ’tis an unweeded garden/ That grows

in nature."(I,ii,134-135) He doesn’t find happiness in anything. He feels

sorrow at his father’s death and is disgusted at his mother’s remarriage. In

Hamlet’s second soliloquy, he is not very proud of himself. He calls himself a

coward for failing to achieve the requested revenge, and shows the anger he has

towards Claudius. To point this out, "A damn’d defeat was made. Am I a

coward." (II,ii,571) Also, to verify his anger, " Remorseless,

treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!" (II,ii,582) He also seems very

frustrated. In his most famous soliloquy, he has thoughts of suicide and asks

the question if life is worth living. He considers the problem of suicide.

Hamlet talks about all the suffering the people go through and he concludes that

this is a part of living. This is apparent by, "To be, or not to be, that

is the question;/ whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer." This

soliloquy has a universal and timeless quality and is written in a melancholy

tone. Finally, Hamlet’s misfortune can be seen by his own noble death. The final

catastrophe is when Hamlet at last kills Claudius, while he himself is dying,

and he is spontaneously provoked by his mother’s death and by Laertes’

accusation. As evidence of this, " I am dead, Horatio. wretched queen,

adieu!" (V,ii,322) While he was dying, he tells Horatio to live and to tell

the world about his most incredible, miraculous story. In summary, Hamlet is a

tragic hero for his misfortune of seeing his murdered father’s ghost, his

analytical nature in his soliloquies and his noble death. Hamlet is a tragic

hero because of his isolation. First of all, Hamlet was betrayed by his family

and his own personal friends. His uncle, who is supposed to take the place of

his father, tricks Hamlet all the way until the end. Hamlet cannot share his

strong feeling and emotions with his mother, while she is literally sleeping

with the enemy. Gertrude has betrayed her husband by marrying Claudius. The only

other woman is Hamlet’s life is Ophelia and she has chosen the side of Claudius

because of her father, Polonius. Hamlet’s two friends, Rosencrantz and

Guildenstern also betray him by not being loyal, and on top of that they were

spying on him. Everyone turns against Hamlet and thus he felt betrayed by

everyone. This can be summed up in the following quotation, " Now I am

alone./O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!" Hamlet’s isolation also

caused his antic disposition. As evidence of this, " As I perchance

hereafter shall think meet/ To put an antic disposition on" (I,v,170-171)

He pretends to be a madman to actually test everyone’s loyalty to him. Hamlet,

then studies the behavior of everyone around him, including his own. It also

gives him time to wisely think about obtaining revenge for his father’s death.

He wants to achieve a balance between action and inaction. This is apparent by,

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous

fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them. (

III,i,57-60) The third result for Hamlet’s isolation was his tragic flaw. He

couldn’t bring himself to kill Claudius. He cannot seem to do anything about

this and he takes too much time to think. He always comes up with some excuse to

prevent taking action. After first hearing about his father’s murder, he

immediately determines to take action. Then he begins to think that perhaps his

father’s ghost was a devil, attempting to trick Hamlet into performing wrong

deeds. Then Hamlet schemes to determine Claudius’s guilt, and then he again sets

out to avenge his father’s death. Hamlet later catches Claudius in prayer, one

of the rare times he finds Claudius alone. Again, he begins to think how

Claudius will have had his sins forgiven, and that he wants to damn Claudius’s

soul. So he resolves to wait and kill him at another time. As evidence of this,

"Now might I do it Pat, now a’ is a-praying;/ And now I’ll do it and so he

goes to heaven." (III,iii,73-74) In conclusion, Hamlet’s reason for being

isolated was because of his betrayal by his family, by his friends and by

Ophelia, plus his antic disposition and tragic flaw which actually is his

internal conflict. Hamlet is a perfect example of a tragic hero through

abandonment, misfortunes and isolation. He feels abandonment through his

father’s death, his mother’s remarriage and the death of Ophelia. Hamlet’s

misfortunes starts with his father’s ghost, his analytical nature in his

soliloquies and by his own noble death. Finally, Hamlet’s isolation from his

family, his antic disposition which results in his tragic flaw. Although he has

many good qualities, such as bravery (as shown by his deeds), loyalty (to his

father and mother), intelligent (putting on an antic disposition), and

sensitive( he keeps grieving over his father’s death), it eventually becomes

clear that it is these very attributes causing his misfortunes, isolation and

abandonment.