Hamlet Tragic Hero Essay

By many accounts of Williams Shakespeare’s Hamlet the main character, Hamlet, is considered to be the classic tragic hero, but in fact Hamlet is not a hero at all. There are many accounts of heroes in earlier writings such as The Odyssey and Beowulf. These heroes had confidence, careful thought, and thought clearly in their times of trial. Hamlet was not any of these things. His inability to think clearly through his anger leads to indecisiveness which inevitably puts him in a situation that costs him his own life. Hamlet is a victim to himself in this play. Throughout the entire play Hamlet is very confused, indecisive, and blinded by his mission of vengeance. It also seems that while he is angry about the murder of his father, he tries

He has absolutely no thought for others in the realm of relationship. As a matter of fact, Ophelia is hurt by his juvenile advances know full well that his actions will damage her. These are the actions of a selfish, inexperienced person that cares nothing more than for his own thought. Laertes sees right through this and warns his sister, “For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favor, Hold it a fashion, and a toy in blood, A violet in the youth of primy nature, Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, The perfume and suppliance of a minute, No more.” (Shakespeare 668) There are other characters that see through his youthful ignorant actions in this play. These actions also end in the death of Ophelia. Many disagree whether her death was suicide or not, but nonetheless there is a thought that this may be due to her distresses caused by the relationship difficulties between her, Hamlet, and her brother Laertes. He was also not at all open with his mother. There is an understanding that he was upset with his mother for the marriage to his uncle, but never one time until his meeting in her room does he ever tell her. He says, “A bloody deed! Almost as bad, good mother, As kill a king, and marry with his brother.” (Shakespeare 713) Holding these emotions internally and allowing them to fester is like a young inexperienced person that does not know how to communicate. Again are these the actions of a hero? He costs many

He, just as anyone would be, was distraught over the dismantling of his family with the death of his father and the remarrying of his mother. He resorts to thoughts of suicide during the process. One such time he states, “O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew[…] How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world!” (Shakespeare 664) Now any person that talks of suicide is on the wrong side of crazy, but there is also a little proof that shows he could be faking this condition in order to throw those he is wishing to harm off his trail. This is proofed out when Hamlet tells his mother, “I am not in madness, But mad in craft.” (Shakespeare 717) This actually explains much about him, but still does not explain his indecisiveness or even lack of a plan in taking the life of King Claudius when he has the chance. Both of these passages speak to the confusing nature of Hamlet himself. He is so up and down in his throughout this play which speaks to his mental state all by itself, never mind the fact that Hamlet’s vengeance begins with a visit of a ghost. His mental state whether he fakes part of it or not plays a huge part in this play, because it speaks to his lack of heroic