Who Was Responsible For Hamlet's Tragedy

Tragic events are something everyone faces. Such events not only affect the victim but also others around them. In the event of a tragedy, there is always someone who is responsible. In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, tragedies constantly occur, which all originate at one key event. Claudius can be seen as the one who is responsible for the tragedy of the play. Claudius’ murder of King Hamlet, frantic actions to cover his tracks, and manipulation of Laertes all made great contributions to the tragedy of the play.

Claudius’ murder of King Hamlet caused Prince Hamlet to act out of character, which in turn caused the tragic deaths of Polonius and Ophelia. During Hamlet and Gertrude’s conversation, Polonius got stabbed while he eavesdropped from behind

Claudius tries to set a trap for Hamlet, by pouring poison in a cup for Hamlet to drink during the sword fight however, Gertrude accidently and unknowingly drinks it. “No, no, the drink, the drink, - O my dear Hamlet, -/ The drink, the drink! I am poison'd.” (5.2, 299-300). As Gertrude died, she said ‘I have been poisoned’ which revealed to everyone the evil plotting of Claudius and Laertes. Even though Gertrude’s death was unintentional, Claudius was responsible for the presence of the poison. The poisoning of Gertrude ultimately comes back to the murder of King Hamlet. If Claudius had not committed the murder of King Hamlet, he would not have had to try to Hamlet which would have prevented the accidental death of Gertrude. However this makes him responsible for the death of Gertrude, which contributed to the great tragedy of the play. Claudius organizes a sword fight between Hamlet and Laertes, in which they plot to kill Hamlet. However this plot to kill Hamlet turns out to be the biggest tragedy in the play where not only Hamlet is

Claudius’ plan to kill Hamlet backfires when Hamlet and Laertes get into a scuffle where Hamlet gets cut with the poisoned sword then cuts Laertes with the poisoned sword when swords get mixed up. After getting cut, Laertes reveals the existence of poison on the sword, which causes Hamlet to stab Claudius as well as make him drink the poison, which In turn kills all three men. This tragic event could have been avoided through Claudius’ actions, in two ways. Either, he could have been smart and not have committed the murder of his brother, the late King Hamlet, or seeing that Claudius’ committed murder of the late king becomes known to everyone by the end of the play, he could have bravely came out and confessed to his tragic mistake and taken his consequence like a man, rather than die for being a coward. It is evident that, Claudius’ manipulations of Laertes had caused a detrimental effect on the characters, which demonstrated Claudius’ contribution to the tragedy of