Universität Salzburg

Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik

PS: Literary Proseminar II

SS 2004

William Shakespeare:

Hamlet and the idea of tragedy

by

Teresa Rieger

June 2004

Hamlet

definitely is one of Shakespeare′s most discussed plays in the world. Many critics

consider it as the best tragedy and most famous play ever written. Interest in him and in

Shakespeare′s play about him is as strong today as it ever was. Books continue to be written

about him, and interpretations of his character on stage are unending in number and variety.

As for me I would like to say that I read the book utterly attentively and even watched a very

good film version of the play, but only by working through the immense amount of secondary

literature I got an idea of the great genius Shakespeare and the work

Hamlet

itself. I was

thoroughly fascinated and overwhelmed by the detailed structure of the work. The huge

amount of secondary literature dealing with Shakespeare′s

Hamlet

shows and underscores the

many ambiguities within and varying interpretations of the work. One part fits exactly the

other, but only by analysing the play in detail one realizes the various connotations of words

and phrases.

Just to mention one example which I consider very true, namely that the character of

Polonius really has no idea what is going on around him. His nature is best demonstrated in

his forgetfulness, his inability to see himself for an old fool. He asks Reynaldo, who he orders

to spy on Laertes, "[...] what was I/ about to say? By the mass, I was about to say something./

Where did I leave it?" (Shakespeare, II. i. 48-50) I wondered about this question also in the

film and finally noticed that it applies very much to Polonius′ character as a whole. It clarifies

that in spite of all his plots he is wrong in his assumptions and far away from the truth

especially concerning the cause for Hamlet′s madness. But the consistency throughout the

book is only one aspect why

Hamlet

is such a popular play. Further reasons are of course its

artistic richness (plenty of songs ­ exceptions where rhyme is used), Hamlet′s putting love for

oration, the reader′s asking of nature of language, Hamlet′s passionate interest in things

himself and isolation in himself. The play is really unique and an extraordinary masterpiece in

the density of its theatrical self-reference. As a first point I want to establish a basis for the

discussion of the play afterwards. Where does the plot of

Hamlet

originate and what is known

about the play in general?

The narrative behind Hamlet derives from the legendary story of Hamlet (Amleth)

recounted in the Danish History form the twelfth century, a Latin text by

Saxo the

Grammarian

. This version was later adapted into French by Francois de Belleforest in 1570.

The primal sins of fratricide and incest, sexual initiation, the emergence of a dark wisdom

from riddles and apparent folly, a son′s revenge for his dead father and the cleansing of a

polluted house were all elements of the Saxo′s version of the myth of Hamlet. It is very likely

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that Shakespeare knew this version of Hamlet, along with another play done in 1589, the so-

called

Ur-Hamlet

(now lost), since he took up the main ideas from this form in subtly altered

forms. Equivalents, not only for Hamlet, but also for most of the major characters also appear

in Saxo, although with different names. There is some evidence that the legend is based on

historical fact, but proof is lacking. If so, the action took place at some indeterminate period

in the tenth century. (cf. Anne Barton 7-8; Lott xix-xxi) There is, however, one big

discrepancy between this and Shakespeare′s version: in the first one the murder of Amleth′s

father is quite public and Amleth′s actions are considered to be a duty rather than a moral sin.

The element of hesitation was therefore introduced by Shakespeare, and comparing Greek and

Elizabethan tragedy, this is exactly the point in which they differ most, namely the traditional

hero who acts versus the modern hero who predominately thinks.

It is worth noting that there might be a connection of Hamlet with the image of incest.

Lots of critics view Hamlet in terms of an

Oedipus complex

, which is associated with the

wish to kill his father and sleep with his mother. Although I think this is a special way to

approach the story of

Hamlet

, I would never agree with them. Firstly, Claudius is not

Hamlet′s real father but his uncle. Secondly, Hamlet does not kill Claudius in order to sleep

with his mother, but rather to revenge his father′s death and his mother′s death too. (Note that

Hamlet immediately turns to action when Gertrude accidentally is poisoned by Claudius.)

The Spanish tragedy

, whose author was Thomas Kyd, initiates the story of the revenge

tragedy and precipitated the genre of

revenge plays

of which Hamlet is a part. It includes

many of the elements that Hamlet has, such as a ghost seeking revenge, a secret crime, a play-

within-a-play, a tortured hero who feigns madness, and a heroine who goes mad and commits

suicide. "The story of the Revenge Play begins with the crime, usually murder, but with

varying motives. The duty of vengeance is laid on the next of kin, who is faced with the

problem of identifying the murderer, a matter of some difficulty." (Harrison 89-90) In

Hamlet

the ghost of the late king of Denmark returns to reveal the crime and accuse its murderer. The

ghost is the one who demands that its son Hamlet should fulfil his pious duty. But Hamlet′s

fundamental problem seems to be that he lacks the strength of will to avenge his father.

Passages in the play, especially Hamlet′s own soliloquies, support this point of view. Hamlet

is a person with extraordinary intelligence and sensitivity. Obviously, he is a thinking as well

as a feeling person and he is conscious of the good an bad points in every step he takes. Due

to this special trait of character the act of revenge is particularly difficult and even painful for

him. But one should not disregard the fact that Hamlet has only one "appropriate" occasion to

take revenge (of course if he had been the classical hero he would not have made the murder

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