Hamlet

Hamlet is a distinctive tragedy which segregates from the conventions of Shakespearean dramaturgy, continually exploring in an enduring manner the ineffectuality of vengeance through the inaction of the protagonist. The play communicates the futility of revenge through Hamlet’s philosophical reasoning and paralysis, and through the impulsive consequences of Laertes and Fortinbras’ own avenger destinies. Through his antithetical use of character foils, Shakespeare demonstrates the renaissance values of humanism and individual choice, which in turn critiques the traditional role played by wrath and vengeance in Elizabethan tragedies. As such, the audience witnesses that it is this examination of inaction and the inadequacy of revenge which subverts the tradition of tragedy, arousing interest and universality, thus making Hamlet a key tenant for future study.

Initially, Shakespeare demonstrates that Hamlet assents the duty enforced upon him by the ‘world of the supernatural’. The cost of revenge is articulated through the assertion within his soliloquy “I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records… thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain,” enunciating that he must transform himself into a tool of revenge through purging his human emotions. Thus through the extended metaphor of dehumanizing himself into a ‘book’ where memories can be wiped implies that vengeance can diminish our humanity. Shakespeare demonstrates several raison d’être which drives Hamlet onward. Through the mythical allusion “Hyperion to a satyr,” Hamlet unveils reverence for his father, by paralleling Old Hamlet to a Greek sun god. Through the superlative within the dramatic technique of the letter which reads “the celestial, and my soul’s idol, the most beautified Ophelia,” Hamlet demonstrates his love for Ophelia. Nevertheless, the vengeance to which Hamlet takes oath seems without appropriate reason as it will not bring back his father, nor give him his love....