The writers of Hamlet and The Wars, William Shakespeare and Timothy Findley respectively, transform their main characters from the expected war hero or powerful prince into that of an antihero. William Shakespeare presents Hamlet as a prince bent on revenge but unwilling to do it. Timothy Findley, on the other hand, sends Robert Ross off to war in hopes that he will finally make something of himself. Hamlet is the prince of Denmark, a state around 700AD filled with death, destruction, and corruption. Robert Ross, the more modern character of the two entered World War I, “the war to end all wars”, in 1915AD. Shakespeare writes of Hamlet in the form of a play while Timothy Findley writes about Robert Ross in the form of a novel. Shakespeare and Findley portray Robert Ross and Hamlet as antiheroes by showing that Robert and Hamlet make the reader feel sympathetic while they do not conforming to male traits such as courage and strength.
The first characteristic of an antihero is that the main character makes the reader feel sympathetic to him or her. Shakespeare effectively pushes forth the idea that Hamlet is a victim of circumstance and by it the reader feels sympathetic for him. Before the play even begins, Hamlet’s father dies
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Instead, Robert did the opposite when he, “thought it was idiotic and said so”. With this comment, he obviously is not trying to imply that his uncle is the same as his father. Even if Robert Ross wasn’t going out with Heather, if a woman is to tell a man that another man is upsetting her, the hero-type would go to her rescue and get rid of whatever problem there is. Not only does Hamlet lack strength in body, but also in mind.
When the “heroes”, Hamlet and Robert Ross, fall under pressure of turmoil in the family there assumed status of hero disappears. In the realm of love, Hamlet is similar. In particular, Hamlet comments on his own physical appearance when he says, “My father’s brother, but no more like my father/ Than I to Hercules”. His alcoholic mother tries to force him to kill one of the few pleasures of his deceased sister, the bunnies. However trivial, Robert Ross would not fight for his girlfriend is a sign of a lack of courage as well as a fear of girls. Robert Ross truly lacks strength as is shown with weapons. Since he would not be able to defeat his enemy in one-on-one combat and by linking back to Robert’s lack of courage, Findley links the letter back home to that of his weakness. Similarly, when Robert Ross’ closest companion, his sister, dies he is grief-stricken. In respect to Hamlet’s father, he is slow to action because he “lacks advancement”. As one can tell from Hamlet’s description, he is not a man of physical features.
Approximate Word count =
868
Approximate Pages =
3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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