Words: 728
Hamlet Is not the usual tragic hero that Shakespeare liked to use in his works. In “The Tragedy of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark” he does not die an evil man, but Is complemented by Horopito and Fortifiers. There are many different thoughts on what Hamlet’s tragic flaw is; Jealousy, Inaction, and Insanity are all accepted as possibilities. Jealously and Inaction are very plausible, but Hamlet was not Insane. Hamlet Is In love with his mother Gertrude and cannot stand the thought of a man other than his father In bed with her. The fact that her and Claudia’ relationship Is noninsured Incestuous makes the marriage even worse In his eyes.
He dwells on the relationship between the two of them, and constantly thinks of their bed. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet focuses on the relationship she has with Claudia. Not the fact that he may have been responsible for the murder of his father. Only after a visit from Old Hamlet’s ghost does the murder add to his hatred for Claudia. Claudia must be punished for taking advantage of Gertrude in a vulnerable situation and killing his father, but she must remain unharmed. Hamlet has no robber with that order, as he cannot imagine harming his mother.
When the Queen tries to figure out what is wrong with Hamlet near the end of Act 3, he cannot keep from relating their discussion back to her sexual relations with Claudia. The death of his mother after being poisoned by Claudia’ drink is what finally convinces Hamlet to kill the King. If she had not been harmed, Hamlet may have never done anything. Hamlet’s obsession with Hamlet’s inaction leads to numerous deaths in the play. He cannot bring himself around to killing Claudia, no matter how many times he thinks back to the horrid details of his father’s murder and the incestuous relationship with Gertrude.
After the King leaves the play in Act 3, Hamlet has a perfect opportunity to kill him as he is bent over in his room. Hamlet does not kill him at this time, as he is waiting for “a more horrid hint” (Ill. Iv. 88). Hamlet’s inability to avenge his father’s death at this time causes more problems for him as time progresses. When he Is speaking with his mother, he hears someone behind the curtain. Thinking the man to be Claudia, he stabs Into It and kills Polonium. That action results In his being sent to England with Restaurants and Guilelessness with Claudia’ Instructions for execution.
He avoids that during a skirmish with pirates where he escapes the ship and actually switches the letter so his friends are killed. When Hamlet returns to Denmark he sees Firstborns’ troops marching on through Poland to fight for a parcel of land that does TLS reminds Hamlet of the silliness of his Inaction, but he quickly gets caught up In Aphelion’s suicide and Alerter grief. Even though he knows Claudia ordered his killed Claudia immediately upon his return he would have saved his own life, and that of Alerter and Gertrude. Hamlet is not suffering from a case of melancholy, or insanity.
His actions are much too calculating for a man that is truly insane. The way he deals with the questions from Claudia, Aphelia, Gertrude, and Restaurants and Guilelessness regarding his problems show that he is Just using their beliefs to throw them off his real purpose. Polonium realizes this after Hamlet’s meeting with Aphelia, “Though this be madness, yet there is method knit. ” (al. Ii. 204-5). He uses his feigned insanity to his advantage; Hamlet is able to things that would have normally been unacceptable in the royal rout.
The calculating way in which he has Restaurants and Guilelessness killed also show that he most assuredly has full function of his mind. His actions were not committed out of madness, but he does use his perceived insanity in order to get what he wants. Though there are many arguments for Hamlet’s tragic flaw, the most sensible ones are Jealousy and inaction. Those two traits cause the most problems for him throughout the play. Hamlet is definitely not suffering from a real case of melancholy; he is Just using that act to gain what he desires.