Was Hamlet a Tragedy?
Often forced to confront the ghost of his father, Hamlet spends his time contemplating revenge in the name of his father, all the while watching others take action which he disagrees with. While some may see it as a tragedy, perhaps in the name of love, I instead see it as a tragedy because of his own indecision. If, when Hamlet was first visited by his father's ghost he had taken immediate action, most of the family members that were ultimately betrayed and killed by the actions of Claudius
It is not until the end of this play that we see any truly decisive action on the part of Hamlet. Hamlet often spoke in beautiful words, but chose to either fake illness or insanity, instead of confronting the king and his men. The end comes too soon for Hamlet however, and soon he will join his family members, perhaps somewhere in a place called "Purgatory". He realizes too late that he bears responsibility by not taking any action. Sadly however, it is the result of the death of his mother the queen that finally spurs Hamlet into action, where upon he avenges his father's death. As he continues to find ways to either exile or kill Hamlet, Hamlet all the while pretends to be unaware of what is happening around him. Rather than trusting the apparition that came to him often swearing his death was the result of murder, Hamlet continued to slowly look for truth or corroborating evidence to discover who amongst the royal family bore guilt. Even though Hamlet appears to be slipping into madness, he is really using this ploy to buy himself extra time to uncover the truth of his father's death. Ironically however, when he was especially hard on his mother, causing his father's spirit to once again reappear, Hamlet would listen and immediately cease any action against her. Although Claudius has devised what he believed to be a foolproof plan that would get him the throne, he realizes that Hamlet must go.
Common topics in this essay:
Hamlet Tragedy,
Hamlet Sadly,
Hamlet Hamlet,
father's death,
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