The prince's philosophical inventions, described in Shakespeare's great tragedy, find a response and sympathy in the hearts of readers five centuries later. “To be or not to be?” - the young man asks himself, after a series of betrayals. Hamlet's characterization creates an idea of him as a very strong and wise man who managed to defend his honor and avenge the death of his father.
The image of Hamlet in the play by W. Shakespeare
Despite the fact that it does not external description to its main character - an eternal image in world literature. Only from small hints, one can notice that Hamlet is not a strong man at all, but a pampered, even slightly overweight young man.
Beloved Ophelia believed that Hamlet had the gaze of a nobleman, the sword of a fighter, and the tongue of a scientist. She called him the “color and hope” of all of Denmark.
After his apparent madness, Hamlet appears as Ophelia in a new way. He comes to her sloppily dressed, in dirty stockings that fall to his heels, his camisole is not buttoned. He knocks his knees and "pale shirts." She cannot recognize him, she says that Hamlet’s mind has cracked like an old log, and “the appearance of blooming youth” has been torn apart by delirium and madness.
Behind the outward image of the mad Hamlet in Shakespeare's tragedy lies a smart and cunning avenger. But his inner nobility does not allow him to immediately take his revenge. He doubts his decision for a long time.
Characteristics of Hamlet
Hamlet fully corresponds to his characterization as a noble prince of Denmark. Shakespeare wrote that he lived in a happy and caring family until his father died. Hamlet is forced to put up with the fact that his mother married a murderous uncle.
“...He is a citizen at his birth...” Laertes says about him.
For Hamlet, servants and luxury are familiar: “...He does not cut his own piece like others...”
Despite his outward indecisiveness and spoiled behavior, Hamlet is brave and is not afraid of even a ghost:
“...And if again he takes the form of his father,
I'll talk to him, even if hell breaks loose,
Tell me to shut up..."
He compares himself to the brave German lion, whose every vein is full of courage.
Having learned about the murder of his father, the cunning and calculating prince does not immediately decide on open confrontation. He checks the ghost's words and only after learning the truth does he begin to act.
Without revenge, life loses its meaning. He says to Horatio:
“My life is cheaper to me than a pin.”
Hamlet's uncle, King Claudius of Denmark, recognizes a strong personality in his nephew who has gone crazy. He says that: “The madness of the strong requires supervision.”
The main character of the work, Hamlet, is undoubtedly smart and savvy by his characteristics. Calls on friends: “...Give meaning to everything, but not language.”
He calls traitors and imaginary friends sponges that absorb the king’s bounty. Sees their futile attempts to “play it” like a flute, wanting to “... pluck out the heart<...>secrets..."
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In History foreign literature Middle Ages and Renaissance
"Image of Hamlet
in W. Shakespeare's tragedy "Hamlet"
Completed by: student
030 gr. 71RYA
Introduction 3
1. The image of Hamlet at the beginning of tragedy 4
2. Hamlet's ethics of revenge. The culmination of the tragedy. 10
3. Death of the main character 16
4. The Ideal Hero of the Renaissance 19
Conclusion 23
References 23
Introduction
Shakespeare's tragedy “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” (1600) is the most famous of the plays of the English playwright. According to many highly respected art connoisseurs, this is one of the most profound creations of human genius, a great philosophical tragedy. It concerns the most important issues of life and death, which cannot but concern every person. Shakespeare the thinker appears in this work in all his gigantic stature. The questions posed by the tragedy are of truly universal significance. It is not without reason that at different stages of the development of human thought, people turned to Hamlet, looking for confirmation in it of their views on life and world order.
How true piece of art, “Hamlet” has attracted many generations of people. Life changes, new interests and concepts arise, and each new generation finds in tragedy something close to itself. The power of the tragedy is confirmed not only by its popularity among readers, but also by the fact that for almost four centuries it has not left the theater stage.
The tragedy "Hamlet" heralded a new period in Shakespeare's work, new interests and moods of the writer.
According to the words “Every drama of Shakespeare is a whole, separate world, having its own center, its own sun, around which the planets with their satellites revolve,” and in this universe, if we mean the tragedy, the sun is main character, who will have to fight the entire unjust world and give his life.
The most attractive thing in tragedy is the image of the hero. “It’s wonderful, like Prince Hamlet!” – exclaimed one of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, Anthony Skoloker, and his opinion was confirmed by many people who understand art over the centuries that have passed since the creation of the tragedy (1; P.6)
To understand Hamlet and sympathize with him, you don’t need to find yourself in his life situation - to find out that his father was villainously killed, and his mother betrayed her husband’s memory and married someone else. Even with the dissimilarity of life situations, Hamlet turns out to be close to readers, especially if they have spiritual qualities similar to those inherent in Hamlet - a tendency to peer into themselves, immerse themselves in their inner world, acutely perceive injustice and evil, feel other people's pain and suffering as their own .
Hamlet became a favorite hero when romantic sensibility became widespread. Many began to identify themselves with the hero of Shakespeare's tragedy. The head of the French romantics, Victor Hugo (), wrote in his book “William Shakespeare”: “In our opinion, Hamlet is Shakespeare’s main creation. Not a single image created by the poet disturbs or excites us to such an extent.”
Russia also did not remain aloof from the Hamlet hobby. Belinsky argued that the image of Hamlet has universal significance.
The image of Hamlet at the beginning of the tragedy
At the beginning of the action, Hamlet has not yet appeared on stage, but he is mentioned, and this is more significant than it seems at first glance.
Indeed, the night guards are the king's guards. Why don’t they report the appearance of the Phantom, as they should - “according to the authorities” - to someone close to the king, at least Polonius, but attract Horatio, a friend of the prince, and he, convinced that the Phantom looks like the late king , advises telling this not to the current king, but to Hamlet, who has no power and has not yet been declared heir to the crown?
Shakespeare does not structure the action according to the Danish guard duty regulations, but immediately directs the audience's attention to the figure of the Danish prince.
He highlighted the prince with a black suit, sharply contrasting with the colorful clothes of the courtiers. Everyone dressed up for the important ceremony marking the beginning of a new reign, only one in this motley crowd in mourning attire - Hamlet.
His first words, a remark to himself, apparently spoken on the proscenium and addressed to the audience: “He may be a nephew, but certainly not dear” - immediately emphasizes that not only in his attire, but with his whole being, he does not belong to the submissive and servile host those who surround the king.
Hamlet restrained himself when answering the king and his mother. Left alone, he pours out his soul in a passionate speech.
What feelings fill Hamlet's soul when he first appears on stage? First of all, the grief caused by the death of his father. It is aggravated by the fact that the mother so quickly forgot her husband and gave her heart to another. The parents' relationship seemed ideal to Hamlet. But a month later she was already married again, and “she had not yet worn out the shoes in which she followed the coffin,” “and the salt of her dishonest tears on her reddened eyelids had not disappeared.”
For Hamlet, the mother was the ideal of a woman, a natural feeling in a normal, and especially in such a good family as Hamlet surrounded.
Gertrude's betrayal of her husband's memory outrages Hamlet also because in his eyes the brothers are incomparable: “Phoebus and the satyr.” Added to this is the fact that according to the concepts of the Shakespearean era, marriage with the brother of the late husband was considered a sin of incest.
Hamlet's first monologue reveals his tendency to make the broadest generalizations from a single fact. Mother's behavior
leads Hamlet to make a negative judgment about all women
With the death of his father and his mother's betrayal, for Hamlet there came a complete collapse of the world in which he had lived until then. The beauty and joy of life has disappeared, I don’t want to live anymore. Happened only family drama, but for the impressionable and strongly feeling Hamlet it was enough to see the whole world in black:
How insignificant, flat and stupid
It seems to me that the whole world is in its aspirations! (6; p. 19)
Shakespeare is faithful to the truth of life when he portrays Hamlet’s emotional reaction to what happened in this way. Natures endowed with great sensitivity deeply perceive terrible phenomena that directly affect them. Hamlet is exactly like that man-man hot blood, a large heart capable of strong feelings. He is by no means the cold rationalist and analyst that he is sometimes imagined to be. His thought is stimulated not by abstract observation of facts, but by deep experience of them. If from the very beginning we feel that Hamlet rises above those around him, then this is not the rise of a person above the circumstances of life. On the contrary, one of Hamlet’s highest personal advantages lies in the completeness of his sense of life, his connection with it, in the awareness that everything that happens around him is significant and requires a person to determine his attitude towards things, events, and people.
Hamlet experienced two shocks - the death of his father and the hasty second marriage of his mother. But a third blow awaited him. From the Phantom he learned that his father's death was the work of Claudius. As the Phantom says:
You should know, my noble boy,
The snake is your father's killer -
In his crown. (6; p. 36)
Brother killed brother! If it has already come to this, then the rot has corroded the very foundations of humanity. Evil, enmity, and betrayal have crept into the relationships of people closest to each other by blood. This is what struck Hamlet most of all in the Ghost’s revelations: not a single person, even the closest and dearest, can be trusted! Hamlet's anger turns against both his mother and his uncle:
Oh, the woman is a villain! O scoundrel!
O baseness, baseness with a low smile! (6; p. 38)
The vices that corrode human souls are hidden deeply. People have learned to cover them up. Claudius is not the scoundrel whose abomination is already visible in his very appearance, as, for example, in Richard III, the main character of Shakespeare's early chronicle. He is “a smiling scoundrel, hiding the greatest heartlessness and cruelty under the mask of complacency, statesmanship and a penchant for fun.”
Hamlet makes a sad conclusion for himself - no one can be trusted. This determines his attitude towards everyone around him, with the exception of Horatio. In everyone he will see a possible enemy or accomplice of his opponents. Hamlet takes on the task of avenging his father with a zeal that is somewhat unexpected for us. After all, quite recently we heard him complain about the horrors of life and admit that he would like to commit suicide, just not to see the surrounding abomination. Now he is filled with indignation and gathers his strength.
The ghost entrusted Hamlet with the task of personal revenge. But Hamlet understands her differently. Claudius’s crime and his mother’s betrayal in his eyes are only partial manifestations of general corruption:
The century has been shaken - and worst of all,
That I was born to restore it!
If at first, as we saw, he passionately vowed to fulfill the Ghost’s behest, now it is painful for him that such a huge task fell on his shoulders, he looks at it as a “curse”, it is a heavy burden for him. Those who consider Hamlet weak see this as the hero’s inability, and perhaps even unwillingness, to enter into the struggle.
He curses the age in which he was born, curses that he is destined to live in a world where evil reigns and where, instead of surrendering to truly human interests and aspirations, he must devote all his strength, mind and soul to the fight against the world of evil.
This is how Hamlet appears at the beginning of the tragedy. We see that the hero is truly noble. He has already won our sympathy. But can we say that he is able to easily and simply, without thinking, solve the problem facing him and go ahead? No, Hamlet first strives to comprehend what is happening around him.
It would be a mistake to look for completeness of character and clarity of outlook on life in him. We can say about him for now that he has an innate spiritual nobility and judges everything from the point of view of true humanity. He is going through a profound crisis. Belinsky aptly determined the state in which Hamlet was before the death of his father. It was “infantile, unconscious harmony,” harmony based on ignorance of life. Only when faced with reality as it is, a person faces the opportunity to experience life. For Hamlet, knowledge of reality begins with shocks of enormous force. The very introduction to life is a tragedy for him.
Nevertheless, the situation in which Hamlet finds himself has a broad and, one might say, typical significance. Without always realizing it, everyone normal person imbued with sympathy for Hamlet, because rarely does anyone escape the blows of fate (1; p. 86)
We parted with the hero when he took upon himself the task of revenge, accepted it as a difficult but sacred duty.
The next thing we know about him is that he is insane. Ophelia bursts in to tell her father about the prince's strange visit.
Polonius, who has long been worried about his daughter’s relationship with the prince, immediately makes the assumption: “Mad with love for you?” After listening to her story, he confirms his guess:
There is a clear explosion of love madness here,
In whose furies sometimes
They reach desperate decisions. (6; P.48)
Moreover, Polonius sees this as a consequence of his ban on Ophelia meeting the prince: “I’m sorry that you were harsh with him these days.”
This is how the version arises that the prince has gone crazy. Has Hamlet really lost his mind? The question has occupied a significant place in Shakespeare studies. It was natural to assume that the misfortunes that befell young man, caused insanity. It must be said right away that this did not actually happen. Hamlet's madness is imaginary.
It was not Shakespeare who invented the hero's madness. It was already in the ancient saga of Amleth and in its French retelling by Belfort. However, under the pen of Shakespeare, the nature of Hamlet's pretense changed significantly. In pre-Shakespearean interpretations of the plot, taking the guise of a madman, the prince sought to lull the vigilance of his enemy, and he succeeded. He waited in the wings and then dealt with his father’s killer and his associates.
Shakespeare's Hamlet does not lull Claudius's vigilance, but deliberately arouses his suspicions and anxiety. Two reasons determine this behavior of Shakespeare's hero.
On the one hand, Hamlet is not sure of the truth of the Ghost's words. In this, the prince discovers that he is far from alien to prejudices regarding spirits, which were still very tenacious in the era of Shakespeare. But, on the other hand, Hamlet, a man of a new era, wants to confirm the news from other world absolutely real earthly proof. We will encounter this combination of old and new more than once, and, as will be shown later, it had a deep meaning.
Hamlet's words deserve attention in another aspect. They contain direct recognition of the hero's depressed state. What has been said now echoes Hamlet’s sad thoughts expressed at the end of the second scene of the first act, when he was thinking about death.
The cardinal question associated with these confessions is this: is Hamlet like this by nature or is his state of mind caused by the terrible events he encountered? There can undoubtedly be only one answer. Before all the events known to us, Hamlet was a solid, harmonious personality. But we meet him already when this harmony is broken. Belinsky explained Hamlet’s condition after the death of his father: “...The higher a person’s spirit, the more terrible his decay is, and the more solemn his victory over his finitude, and the deeper and more holy his bliss. This is the meaning of Hamlet’s weakness.”
By “decay” he does not mean the moral decay of the hero’s personality, but the disintegration of the spiritual harmony previously inherent in him. Hamlet's former integrity of views on life and reality, as it then seemed to him, was disrupted.
Although Hamlet's ideals remain the same, everything he sees in life contradicts them. His soul splits into two. He is convinced of the need to fulfill the duty of revenge - the crime is too terrible and Claudius is extremely disgusting to him. But Hamlet’s soul is full of sadness - the grief over the death of his father and the grief caused by his mother’s betrayal have not passed. Everything that Hamlet sees confirms his attitude towards the world - a garden overgrown with weeds, “the wild and evil reign in it.” Knowing all this, is it surprising that the thought of suicide does not leave Hamlet?
In Shakespeare's time, the attitude towards madmen inherited from the Middle Ages still persisted. Their bizarre behavior was a source of laughter. Pretending to be mad, Hamlet at the same time, as it were, puts on the guise of a jester. This gives him the right to tell people to their faces what he thinks about them. Hamlet takes full advantage of this opportunity.
He created confusion in Ophelia with his behavior. She is the first to see the dramatic change that has taken place in him. Polonia Hamlet is simply fooling, and he easily succumbs to the inventions of the feigned madman. Hamlet plays it in a certain way. “He plays on my daughter all the time,” says Polonius, “but at first he didn’t recognize me; said that I was a fishmonger...” The second motive in Hamlet's “game” with Polonius is his beard. As the reader remembers, to Polonius’s question about the book in which the prince always looks, Hamlet replies: “this satirical rogue says here that old people have gray beards...”. When Polonius later complains that the monologue read by the actor is too long, the prince abruptly cuts him off: “This will go to the barber, along with your beard...”.
With Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, fellow students, Hamlet plays differently. He behaves with them as if he believed in their friendship, although he immediately suspects that they were sent to him. Hamlet responds to them with frankness. His speech is one of the most significant parts of the play.
“Lately - and why, I don’t know myself - I have lost my cheerfulness, abandoned all my usual activities; and, indeed, my soul is so heavy that this beautiful temple, this earth, seems to me like a deserted cape... What a masterful creature man is! How noble in mind! How infinite in ability! In appearance and in movements - how expressive and wonderful. In action - how similar to an angel! In comprehension - how similar to a deity! The beauty of the universe! The crown of all living things! What is this quintessence of ashes for me? Not a single person makes me happy, no, not even a single one, although with your smile you seem to want to say something else.”
Hamlet, of course, is only playing straight with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. But although Hamlet masterfully plays pranks on his university friends, he is in fact torn by contradictions. Hamlet's spiritual balance is completely disrupted. He mocks the spies sent to him and tells the truth about his changed attitude towards the world. Of course, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who knew nothing about the secret of the death of the former king, could not have guessed that Hamlet’s thoughts were occupied with the task of revenge. They also did not know that the prince was reproaching himself for his slowness. We will not be far from the truth if we assume that Hamlet wants to see himself as an avenger who hesitates, but the stronger the blow will be when he delivers it with the same inexorability. (1, p. 97)
We know, however, that Hamlet had doubts about how much the Ghost could be trusted. He needs proof of Claudius’ guilt that would be earthly reliable. He decides to take advantage of the troupe’s arrival to show the king a play in which exactly the same crime as he committed will be presented:
“the spectacle is a loop,
To lasso the king's conscience."
Probably this plan arose when the First Actor was so excitedly reading a monologue about Pyrrhus and Hecuba. Sending away the actors, Hamlet orders the head of the troupe to perform the play “The Murder of Gonzago” and asks to include sixteen lines written by him. This is how Hamlet’s plan arises to test the truth of the Ghost’s words. Hamlet does not rely either on his intuition or on a voice from the other world; he needs evidence that satisfies the requirements of reason. It is not without reason that in a long speech expressing Hamlet’s view of the universe and man (mentioned above), Hamlet puts reason in the first place when he exclaims: “What a masterful creature is man! How noble in mind! It is only through this highest human ability that Hamlet intends to condemn Claudius, whom he hates.
Having paid tribute to the close reading of individual scenes of the tragedy, let us not forget about those strong adhesions that hold its beginning and the entire ascending line of action. This role is played by Hamlet's two large monologues - at the end of the palace scene and at the end of the second act.
First of all, let's pay attention to their tonality. Both are unusually temperamental. “Oh, if only this dense clot of meat // Melted, disappeared, and disappeared with dew!” This is followed by a frank admission that Hamlet would like to die. But the mournful intonation gives way to anger at the mother. By a stormy stream words flow from Hamlet’s mouth, finding more and more new expressions to condemn her (1 ; P. 99)
The hero's noble anger arouses sympathy for him. At the same time, we feel: if the thought of suicide flashes in Hamlet’s mind, then the instinct of life is stronger in him. His grief is enormous, but if he really wanted to give up his life, a man of such a temperament would not have reasoned at such length.
What does the hero's first big monologue say about his character? At least not about weakness. The internal energy inherent in Hamlet receives clear expression in his anger. A weak-willed person would not indulge in indignation with such force.
The monologue that concludes the second act is full of reproaches for inaction. And again he is struck by indignation, this time directed against himself. Hamlet throws all sorts of abuse at his head: “stupid and cowardly fool”, “mouthless”, “coward”, “donkey”, “woman”, “scullery maid”. We saw before how harsh he is towards his mother, how full of enmity he is towards Claudius. But Hamlet is not one of those who finds bad only in others. He is no less harsh and merciless towards himself, and this feature of him further confirms the nobility of his nature. It takes extreme honesty to judge yourself just as, if not more, harshly than you judge others.
The end of the soliloquy in which Hamlet lays out his plan refutes the idea that he does not want to do anything to achieve revenge. Before acting, Hamlet wants to prepare suitable conditions for this (1; P.100).
Hamlet's ethics of revenge. The culmination of the tragedy.
Hamlet has his own ethics of revenge. He wants Claudius to find out what punishment awaits him. He seeks to arouse in Claudius the consciousness of his guilt. All the hero’s actions are dedicated to this goal, right up to the “mousetrap” scene. This psychology may seem strange to us. But you need to know the history of the bloody revenge of the era; when a special sophistication of retribution to the enemy arose, and then Hamlet’s tactics will become clear. He needs Claudius to become aware of his criminality, he wants to punish the enemy first with internal torment, the pangs of conscience, if he has one, and only then deal a fatal blow so that he knows that he is being punished not only by Hamlet, but by the moral law, universal justice.
Much later, in the queen’s bedroom, having slain Polonius hiding behind the curtain with a sword, Hamlet sees in what seems to be an accident a manifestation of a higher will, the will of heaven. They entrusted him with the mission of being Scourge and minister - the scourge and executor of their destiny. This is exactly how Hamlet views the matter of revenge. And what do the words mean: “punishing me with them and punishing him with me”? (1 ;P.101)
That Polonius is punished for his intervention in the struggle between Hamlet and Claudius is clear from Hamlet’s words: “That’s how dangerous it is to be too nimble.” And why was Hamlet punished? Because he acted rashly and killed the wrong person, and thereby made it clear to the king who he was aiming at.
Our next meeting with Hamlet takes place in the gallery of the castle, where he has been summoned. Hamlet arrives, not knowing who is waiting for him and why, completely at the mercy of his thoughts, expressing them in his most famous monologue.
Monologue “To be or not to be” - highest point Hamlet's doubts. It expresses the hero’s state of mind, the moment of the highest discord in his consciousness. For this alone, it would be wrong to look for strict logic in it. She's not here. The hero's thought is transferred from one object to another. He begins to think about one thing, moves on to another, a third, and to none of them.
the questions he posed to himself do not receive an answer.
For Hamlet, does “to be” mean only life in general? Taken by themselves, the first words of the monologue can be interpreted in this sense. But not required special attention to see the incompleteness of the first line, while the following lines reveal the meaning of the question and the opposition of two concepts - what it means to “be” and what it means to “not be”:
What is nobler in spirit - to submit
To the slings and arrows of furious fate
Or, taking up arms in the sea of turmoil, defeat them
Confrontation?
Here the dilemma is expressed quite clearly: “to be” means to rise up on the sea of turmoil and defeat them, “not to be” means to submit to “the slings and arrows of furious fate.”
The formulation of the question is directly related to Hamlet’s situation: should he fight against the sea of evil or should he evade the fight? Here, finally, a contradiction appears with great force, the expressions of which have been encountered before. But at the beginning of the third act, Hamlet again finds himself in the grip of doubt. These changes of mood are extremely characteristic of Hamlet. We do not know whether hesitation and doubt are characteristic of him. happy time his life. But now this instability is revealed with all certainty.
Which of the two possibilities does Hamlet choose? “To be”, to fight - this is the destiny he has taken upon himself. Hamlet's thought runs ahead, and he sees one of the outcomes of the struggle - death! Here a thinker awakens in him, asking a new question: what is death? Hamlet again sees two possibilities for what awaits a person after death. Death is a descent into oblivion in the complete absence of consciousness:
Die, sleep -
And only: and say that you end up sleeping
Melancholy and a thousand natural torments...
But there is also a terrible danger: “What dreams will we dream in the sleep of death,//When we throw off this mortal noise...”. Perhaps the horrors of the afterlife are no worse than all the troubles of earth: “This is what brings us down; where is the reason // That disasters are so long-lasting..." And further:
Let's read the monologue and it will become clear that Hamlet is talking in general - about all people, but they have never met people from the other world. Hamlet's idea is correct, but it is at odds with the plot of the play.
The second thing that catches your eye in this monologue is the idea that it is easy to get rid of the hardships of life if you “Give yourself a settlement with a simple dagger.”
Now let's turn to the part of the monologue that lists the disasters of people in this world:
Who would bear the lashes and mockery of the century,
The oppression of the strong, the mockery of the proud,
The pain of despised love, the slowness of judges,
Arrogance of authorities and insults.
Performed by uncomplaining merit,
If only he could give himself a reckoning...
Note: none of these disasters concern Hamlet. He is not talking here about himself, but about the entire people, for whom Denmark is truly a prison. Hamlet appears here as a thinker, concerned about the plight of all people suffering from injustice. (1;P.104)
But the fact that Hamlet thinks about all of humanity is another feature that speaks of his nobility. But what should we do with the hero’s thought that everything can be put to an end with a simple blow of a dagger? The monologue “To be or not to be” is permeated from beginning to end with a heavy consciousness of the sorrows of existence. We can safely say that already from the hero’s first monologue it is clear: life does not give joy, it is full of grief, injustice, different forms desecration of humanity. It’s hard to live in such a world and I don’t want to. But Hamlet must not give up his life, for the task of revenge lies with him. He must make calculations with a dagger, but not on himself!
Hamlet's monologue ends with a thought about the nature of thoughts. In this case, Hamlet comes to a disappointing conclusion. Circumstances require him to act, and thoughts paralyze his will. Hamlet admits that an excess of thought weakens the ability to act (1; P. 105).
As already said, the monologue “To be or not to be” is the highest point of the hero’s thoughts and doubts. He reveals to us the soul of a hero who finds it extremely difficult in the world of lies, evil, deceit, and villainy, but who nevertheless has not lost the ability to act.
We are convinced of this by observing his meeting with Ophelia. As soon as he notices her, his tone immediately changes. Before us is no longer a pensive Hamlet, reflecting on life and death, not a man full of doubts. He immediately puts on the mask of madness and speaks harshly to Ophelia. Fulfilling her father's will, she completes their breakup and wants to return the gifts she once received from him. Hamlet also does everything to push Ophelia away from him. “I loved you once,” he says at first, and then denies this too: “I didn’t love you.” Hamlet's speeches addressed to Ophelia are full of mockery. He advises her to go to the monastery: “Go to the monastery; Why do you create sinners? “Or, if you absolutely want to get married, marry a fool, because smart people they know well what monsters you make of them.” The king and Polonius, who overheard their conversation, are once again convinced of Hamlet’s madness (1; p. 106).
Immediately after this, Hamlet gives instructions to the actors, and there is no trace of insanity in his speech. On the contrary, what he said up to our time is cited as the indisputable basis of the aesthetics of the theater. There is no trace of madness in Hamlet's next speech to Horatio, in which the hero expresses his ideal of a man and then asks his friend to watch Claudius during the performance. New touches that appeared in the image of Hamlet in the scene of a conversation with the actors - the warmth of the soul, the inspiration of an artist counting on mutual understanding (3; p. 87)
Hamlet begins to play the madman again only when the entire court, led by royalty, comes to watch the performance ordered by the prince.
When asked by the king how he is doing, the prince sharply replies: “I feed on air, I am stuffed with promises; capons are not fattened that way.” The meaning of this remark becomes clear if we remember that Claudius declared Hamlet his heir, and this is confirmed by Rosencrantz. But Hamlet understands that the king, who killed his brother, can easily deal with him. It is not for nothing that the prince says to Rosencrantz: “while the grass grows...” This beginning of the proverb is followed by: “... a horse can die.”
But most noticeable is the defiant nature of Hamlet’s behavior when he answers the king’s question whether there is anything reprehensible in the play: “This play depicts a murder committed in Vienna; the Duke's name is Gonzago; his wife is Baptista; you will see now; This is a mean story; but does it matter? This does not concern Your Majesty and us, whose souls are pure...” The words sound even sharper and more direct when on stage Lucian pours poison into the ear of the sleeping king (actor); Hamlet’s “commentary” leaves no doubt: “He poisons him in the garden for the sake of his power. His name is Gonzago. Such a story exists and is written in excellent Italian. Now you will see how the murderer wins the love of Gonzaga’s wife.” Here sarcasm already has two addresses. However, the entire play, performed by the actors, also aims at Claudius; and to Gertrude! (1; p. 107)
The behavior of the king, who interrupted the performance, leaves Hamlet in no doubt: “I would guarantee a thousand pieces of gold for the words of the Ghost.” Horatio confirms Hamlet's observation - the king was embarrassed when the theatrical villain poured poison into the ear of the sleeping king.
After the performance, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern come to Hamlet, they tell him that the king is upset and that his mother invites him for a conversation. This is followed by one of the most famous passages in the play.
Rosencrantz makes another attempt to find out the prince's secret, citing their former friendship. After this, Hamlet plays Polonius and finally, after all the worries of this day and evening, he is left alone. Now, left alone, Hamlet admits to himself (and to us):
...now I'm hot-blooded
I could drink and do this,
That the day would tremble.
Hamlet gained confidence in Claudius's guilt. He is ripe for revenge: he is ready to deal with the king and reveal to his mother all her crimes. (1; P.108)
"The Mousetrap" is the culmination of the tragedy. Hamlet sought the correct second and third acts. None of the characters, with the exception of Horatio, knows the secret that the Phantom told the prince. Viewers and readers are aware of it. They therefore tend to forget that Hamlet has a secret and that all his behavior is determined by the desire to obtain confirmation of the words of the Ghost. The only one who is truly concerned about Hamlet's behavior is Claudius. He would like to believe Polonius that Hamlet lost his mind because Ophelia rejected his love. But during the date, he could be convinced that it was not Ophelia who drove him out of her heart, but Hamlet who renounced the girl he loved. He heard the prince’s strange threat: “We will have no more marriages; those who are already married, all but one, will live...” Then Claudius could not yet know what it meant - perhaps just dissatisfaction with his mother’s hasty marriage. Now the opponents know the most important things about each other.
Claudius immediately makes a decision. He, who initially kept the prince near him to make it easier to keep an eye on him, now decides to send him to England. We do not yet know the full insidiousness of Claudius’s plan, but we see that he is afraid to keep the prince close. For this, as will become clear very soon, the king has reasons. Now that Hamlet knows about his crime, nothing can stop his revenge. And the opportunity, it would seem, is turning up. Going to his mother, Hamlet finds himself alone with the king, trying to atone for his sin. Hamlet enters and his first thought is:
Now I would like to accomplish everything...
But the prince’s hand stops: Claudius is praying, his soul is turned to heaven, and if he is killed, it will ascend to heaven. This is not revenge. This is not the kind of retribution Hamlet desires:
...will I be avenged?
Having defeated him in spiritual purification,
When is he equipped and ready to go?
No. (1 ;P. 109)
Hamlet is not lying, he is not deceiving himself and us when he says that to kill the praying Claudius means to send him to heaven. Let us recall what was said above about the ethics of revenge. Hamlet saw the Ghost Father, who is tormented because he died without proper repentance; Hamlet wants to take revenge on Claudia so that in the afterlife he will eternally writhe in agony. Let's listen to the hero's speech. Is there the slightest echo of mental weakness in her?
Back, my sword, find out the terrible girth;
When he is drunk or angry,
Or in the incestuous pleasures of the bed;
In blasphemy, at a game, at something,
What is not good. - Then knock him down.
Hamlet longs for effective revenge - to send Claudius to hell for eternal torment. Accordingly, killing Claudius at the moment when the king turns to God, according to Hamlet, is tantamount to sending the murderer’s soul to heaven. (5; p. 203) When in the next scene Gertrude, fearing Hamlet’s threatening words, cries out for help, a scream is heard from behind the curtain. Hamlet, without hesitation, pierces this place with a sword. He thinks that the king overheard his conversation with his mother - and this is the right moment to defeat him. Hamlet regretfully becomes convinced of his mistake - it was just Polonius, “a pitiful, fussy buffoon.” There is no doubt that Hamlet was aiming specifically at Claudius (1; p.110). When the body falls behind the curtain, the prince asks his mother: “was it the king?” Seeing the body of Polonius, Hamlet admits: “I aimed at the highest.” Hamlet's blow not only missed the target, it made Claudius clearly understand the prince's intentions. “It would be the same with us if we were there,” says the king, having learned about the death of Polonius.
Thus, there is no reason to doubt Hamlet's determination. He does not look like a relaxed person who has lost all ability to act. But this does not mean that the hero is concerned with only one goal - to defeat his offender. Hamlet's entire conversation with his mother undoubtedly shows the prince's bitterness, seeing that evil has captured the soul of such a person as dear to him as his mother.
From the very beginning of the tragedy, we saw Hamlet's grief caused by his mother's hasty marriage. In The Mousetrap, the lines spoken by the actor who played the queen are specially intended for her:
Betrayal cannot live in my chest.
The second spouse is a curse and a shame!
The second one is for those who killed the first one...
Critics argue about which sixteen lines Hamlet inserted into The Murder of Gonzago. Most likely those that contain direct reproaches of the mother. But no matter how true this assumption is, Hamlet, after hearing the words of the old play quoted here, asks his mother: “Madam, how do you like this play?” - and hears in response restrained, but quite significant words, corresponding to Gertrude’s current situation: “This woman is too generous with assurances, in my opinion.” One might ask why Hamlet didn’t tell his mother anything before? He waited for the hour when he would be sure of Claudius’ crime (1; P. 111). Now, after the “Mousetrap,” Hamlet reveals to her that she is the wife of the one who killed her husband. When Gertrude reproaches her son for committing a “bloody and crazy act” by killing Polonius, Hamlet responds:
A little worse than damned sin
After killing the king, marry the king's brother.
But Hamlet cannot blame his mother for the death of her husband, since he knows who the murderer was. However, if earlier Hamlet saw only his mother’s betrayal, now she is tainted by marriage to her husband’s murderer. Hamlet puts his murder of Polonius, the crime of Claudius, and his mother’s betrayal on the same criminal scale. You should pay attention to how Hamlet pronounces his addresses to his mother. You have to listen to the intonation of his tirades:
Don't break your hands. Quiet! I want
Break your heart; I'll break it...
By accusing his mother, Hamlet says that her betrayal is a direct violation of morality. Gertrude's behavior is equated by Hamlet to those violations of the world order that make the whole Earth tremble. Hamlet can be reproached for taking on too much. Let us remember, however, his words: he is a scourge and an executor of the highest will.
The entire tone of Hamlet's conversation with his mother is characterized by cruelty. The appearance of the Phantom intensifies his thirst for revenge. But now its implementation is prevented by sending it to England. Suspecting a trick on the part of the king, Hamlet expresses confidence that he can eliminate the danger. The reflective Hamlet gives way to the active Hamlet.
During the interrogation, which is carried out by the king himself, prudently surrounded by guards, Hamlet allows himself clownish speeches, which can be mistaken for the ravings of a madman, but the reader and viewer know that Hamlet’s reasoning about how the king can become food for worms is fraught with a threat; especially clear hidden meaning answer to the king's question where Polonius is. Hamlet says: “In heaven; send there to look; if your messenger does not find him there, then look for him in another place yourself,” that is, in hell; we remember where the prince intends to send Claudius...
We have traced Hamlet's behavior throughout two stages of action after he learned from the Ghost the secret of his father's death. Hamlet has a firm intention to put an end to Claudius, if he manages to overtake him at the moment when he is doing something bad, then, struck by the sword, he will fall to eternal torment in hell.
The task of revenge not only does not interfere, but aggravates the disgust for the world as it opened to the prince after the death of his father.
A new action phase begins. Hamlet is sent to England with reliable guards. He understands the king's intention. While waiting to board the ship, Hamlet sees Fortinbras' troops passing. For the prince, this serves as a new reason for thought.
Doubts ended, Hamlet gained determination. But now circumstances are against him. He needs to think not about revenge, but about how to avoid the trap prepared for him.
Death of the main character
Death hovers over the tragedy from the very beginning, when the Ghost of the murdered king appears. And in the scene in the cemetery, the reality of death appears before Hamlet - the earth that stores decayed corpses. The first gravedigger famously throws skulls out of the ground in which he is digging a grave for Ophelia. Among them is the skull of the royal jester Yorick.
Hamlet is struck by the frailty of everything that exists. Even human greatness cannot escape such a fate: Alexander the Great had the same appearance in the ground and he smelled just as bad.
In the tragedy, two concepts about death, two points of view on it collide: the traditional, religious one, which claims that human souls still continue to exist after death, and the real one: the appearance of death is the bones remaining from a person. Hamlet discusses this with irony: “Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander turns to dust; dust is earth; clay is made from earth; and why can’t they plug up a beer barrel with this clay into which he turned?
Sovereign Caesar turned into decay,
Perhaps he went to paint the walls.
Two ideas about death - religious and real - do not seem to contradict each other. One is about human soul, in another about his body. However, the alien from the other world, as the reader remembers, describes himself in no better shape - after poisoning: disgusting scabs clung to his body. This means that the earth’s crust also reaches the afterlife... (1; P.117)
Until now we have been talking about death in general. Yorick's skull brought death somewhat closer to Hamlet. He knew and loved this jester. However, this death also remains abstract for the prince. But then a funeral procession appears at the cemetery and Hamlet learns that they are burying his beloved.
After sailing to England, he could not hear anything about the fate of Ophelia. I didn’t have time to tell him about her and Horatio. We know how the death of his father plunged Hamlet into grief. Now he is again shocked to the core. Laertes did not spare words to express his grief. Hamlet did not yield to him in this. We have heard the hero’s passionate speeches more than once. But now it seems he has outdone himself:
I loved her; forty thousand brothers
With all the multitude of your love is with me
Wouldn't have equalized
That Hamlet's grief is great is undoubtedly, and it is also true that he is truly shocked. But in this hot speech there is something unnatural, not characteristic of other, even the most ardent speeches of Hamlet. It seems that Hamlet received the pomposity of Laertes' rhetoric. Hamlet's hyperboles are too obvious to be believed, as we believe the hero's other strong speeches. True, it happens in life that a deep shock is caused by a stream of words devoid of meaning. Maybe this is exactly what is happening in this moment with Hamlet. The Queen finds a direct explanation for her son’s behavior: “This is nonsense.” He will calm down and calm down, she believes (1; P. 119). Was Hamlet's grief feigned? I don't want to believe this. The Queen's words cannot be trusted. She is convinced of her son’s madness and sees only this in all his behavior.
If it is possible to explain Hamlet’s loud speech over the ashes of his beloved, then his unexpectedly conciliatory appeal to Laertes sounds strange: “Tell me, sir, Why do you treat me this way? I have always loved you." From the point of view of ordinary logic, Hamlet's words are absurd. After all, he killed Laertes' father...
Hamlet returned to Denmark a new man in many ways. Previously, his anger spread to absolutely everyone. Now Hamlet will only quarrel with his main enemy and his direct accomplices. He intends to treat other people tolerantly. In particular, this applies to Laertes. In the scene after the cemetery, Hamlet says to his friend:
I'm very sorry, friend Horatio,
That I forgot myself with Laertes;
In my destiny I see a reflection
His fate; I will put up with him...
Hamlet's words in the cemetery are the first manifestation of this intention. He knows that he has caused Laertes grief by killing his father, but apparently believes that Laertes should understand the unintentionality of this murder.
Concluding a conversation with Horatio, Hamlet admits that he got excited at the cemetery, but Laertes “infuriated me with his arrogant grief.” This is the explanation for Hamlet's exaggerated expressions of grief. Leaving the cemetery, the prince does not forget about main task and pretends to be crazy again.
But melancholy in the sense accepted by Shakespeare’s contemporaries, the intention to “clean out the dirty stomach of the world,” does not leave Hamlet. Just as Hamlet made fun of Polonius before, he mocks Osric.
Having received an invitation to compete with Laertes in fencing, Hamlet does not experience any suspicion. He considers Laertes a nobleman and does not expect any trick from him. But the prince’s soul is restless. He admits to Horatio: “...you can’t imagine how heavy my heart is here, but it doesn’t matter. This, of course, is nonsense; but it’s like some kind of premonition that, perhaps, would confuse a woman.”
Horatio advises to heed the premonition and abandon the fight. But Hamlet rejects his proposal with words that critics have long attached great importance, because both the thought and the intonation are new for Hamlet:
“...We are not afraid of omens, and there is a special purpose in the death of a sparrow. If now, then it means not later; if not later, then now; if not now, then someday anyway; willingness is everything. Since what we part with does not belong to us, does it really matter if it is too early to part with? Let it be". This speech of Hamlet must be equated to his great monologues.
Returning to Elsinore, Hamlet cannot directly attack the king, who is under heavy guard. Hamlet understands that the struggle will continue, but how and when - he does not know. He is unaware of the conspiracy between Claudius and Laertes. But he knows for sure that the moment will come, and then it will be necessary to act. When Horatio warns that the king will soon find out what the prince did to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet replies: “The interval is mine” (1; p. 122). In other words, Hamlet expects to put an end to Claudius at the very a short time and is just waiting for the right opportunity.
Hamlet cannot control events. He has to rely on a happy accident, on the will of Providence. He tells his friend:
Praise of surprise: we are reckless
Sometimes it helps where it dies
Deep design; that deity
Our intentions are completed
At least the mind has outlined something wrong...
It is difficult to say exactly when Hamlet came to the conviction of the decisive role higher powers for human affairs - then either on the ship, or after escaping from it, or upon returning to Denmark. In any case, he, who previously thought that everything depended on his will, when he decided to take his revenge, became convinced that the implementation of human intentions and plans is far from being in the will of man; a lot depends on the circumstances. Hamlet acquired what Belinsky called courageous and conscious harmony. (1; C; 123)
Yes, that's Hamlet final scene. Not suspecting a catch, he goes to compete with Laertes. Before the battle begins, he assures Laertes of his friendship and asks for forgiveness for the damage done to him. Hamlet did not pay attention to his answer, otherwise he would have suspected something was wrong earlier. A hunch dawns on him only during the third battle, when Laertes wounds the prince with a poisoned blade. At this time, the queen also dies, having drunk the poison prepared by the king for Hamlet. Laertes admits his betrayal and names the culprit. Hamlet turns the poisoned weapon against the king and, seeing that he is only wounded, forces him to finish the poisoned wine.
Hamlet's new state of mind was reflected in the fact that, having recognized the betrayal, he immediately killed Claudius - exactly as he once wanted.
Hamlet dies as a warrior, and his ashes are taken from the stage with military honors. The spectator of Shakespeare's theater fully appreciated the significance of the military ceremony. Hamlet lived and died as a hero.
The evolution of Hamlet is captured in the tragedy in harsh colors and appears in all its complexity. (3; p. 83)
The ideal hero of rebirth
There is such a feature in Shakespeare's plays: whatever the period of time when the action takes place; During this period a person goes through his life's journey. The life of the heroes of Shakespeare's tragedies begins from the moment they find themselves involved in a dramatic conflict. And indeed, the human personality reveals itself completely when, voluntarily or involuntarily, it is involved in a struggle, the outcome of which sometimes turns out to be tragic for it (1; p. 124).
Hamlet's whole life has passed before us. Yes exactly. Although the action of the tragedy covers only a few months, they were the period of the hero’s true life. True, Shakespeare does not leave us in the dark about what the hero was like before fatal circumstances arose. In a few strokes the author makes it clear what Hamlet's life was like before the death of his father. But everything preceding the tragedy has little meaning, because the moral qualities and character of the hero are revealed in the process of life’s struggle.
Shakespeare introduces us to Hamlet's past through two means: his own speeches and the opinions of others about him.
From Hamlet’s words “I have lost my gaiety, I have abandoned all my usual activities,” it is easy to conclude that state of mind Hamlet the student. He lived in a world of intellectual interests. It is no coincidence that Shakespeare the artist chose the University of Wittenberg for his hero. The glory of this city was based on the fact that it was here that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses against the Roman Catholic Church to the doors of the cathedral on October 31, 1517. Thanks to this, Wittenberg became synonymous with the spiritual reformation of the 16th century, a symbol of free thought. The circle in which Hamlet moved consisted of his university comrades. With all the economy necessary for the drama, Shakespeare included three of Hamlet's university classmates - Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - among the characters. From these latter we learn that Hamlet was a theater lover. We also know that Hamlet not only read books, but also wrote poetry himself. This was taught in the universities of that time. There are even two examples of Hamlet’s literary writing in the tragedy: a love poem addressed to Ophelia, and sixteen lines of poetry that he inserted into the text of the tragedy “The Murder of Gonzago.”
Shakespeare presented him as the typical "universal man" of the Renaissance. This is exactly how Ophelia paints him, regretting that, having lost his mind, Hamlet has lost his former qualities.
She also calls him a courtier, a warrior (soldier). As a true “courtier,” Hamlet also wields a sword. He is an experienced swordsman, constantly practicing this art and demonstrating it in the fatal duel that ends the tragedy.
The word “scholar” here means a highly educated person, not a scientific figure.
Hamlet was also seen as a man capable of ruling the state; it is not for nothing that he is “the flower and hope of a joyful state.” Thanks to his high culture, much was expected of him when he inherited the throne. All of Hamlet’s inner perfections were reflected in his appearance, demeanor, and graceful behavior (1; P.126)
This is how Ophelia saw Hamlet before a dramatic change occurred in him. The speech of a loving woman is at the same time an objective characteristic of Hamlet.
Jocular conversations with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern give an idea of Hamlet's inherent secularism. The scatterings of thoughts that fill the prince’s speeches speak of his intelligence, observation, and ability to sharply formulate a thought. He shows his fighting spirit in clashes with pirates.
How can we judge how right Ophelia is when she claims that in him they saw the hope for all of Denmark to receive a wise and fair monarch? To do this, it is enough to recall that part of the monologue “To be or not to be,” where Hamlet condemns “the slowness of judges, the arrogance of the authorities and the insults inflicted on uncomplaining merit.” Among the disasters of life, he names not just “the wrath of the strong,” but the injustice of the oppressor (oppressor’s wrong); by “the mockery of the proud” is meant the arrogance of the nobility towards ordinary people.
Hamlet is depicted as a follower of the principles of humanism. As his father's son, he must take revenge on his murderer and is filled with hatred towards Claudius.
If evil were embodied in Claudius alone, the solution to the problem would be simple. But Hamlet sees that other people are also susceptible to evil. For whose sake should we cleanse the world of evil? For Gertrude, Polonius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Osric?
These are the contradictions that oppress Hamlet’s consciousness. (1; C127)
We saw that he is fighting, morally destroying those who betray human dignity, and finally using weapons. Hamlet would like to fix the world, but doesn't know how! He realizes that killing yourself cannot be destroyed with a simple dagger. Is it possible to destroy him by killing another?
It is known that one of the cardinal issues of Hamlet criticism is the slowness of the prince. From our analysis of Hamlet’s behavior, it cannot be concluded that he hesitates, because, one way or another, he acts all the time. The real problem is not why Hamlet hesitates, but what he can achieve by acting. Not just to carry out the task of personal revenge, but to straighten the dislocated joint of Time (I, 5, 189-190).
He is brave, without fear he rushes to the Phantom's call and follows him, despite Horatio's cautious warnings.
Hamlet is able to quickly make decisions and act, as when he heard Polonius scream behind the curtain.
Although thoughts of death often worry Hamlet, he is not afraid of it: “My life is cheaper to me than a pin...” This is said at the beginning of the tragedy and repeated shortly before its end: “A person’s life is to say: “Once.” The conclusion is prompted by all the hero’s previous experience...
To correctly understand the hero, two more important circumstances must be taken into account.
The first of them is Hamlet's chivalry and his high concept of honor. It was no coincidence that Shakespeare chose the prince as his hero. Rejecting the obscurantism of the Middle Ages, humanists did not at all cross out the valuable things they saw in the heritage of this era. Already in the Middle Ages, the ideal of chivalry was the embodiment of high moral qualities. It is no coincidence that it was in knightly times that wonderful legends about true love arose, such as the story of Tristan and Isolde. This legend praised love not only before death, but also beyond the grave. Hamlet experiences his mother's betrayal both as a personal grief and as a betrayal of the ideal of fidelity. Any betrayal - love, friendship, duty - is regarded by Hamlet as a violation moral rules chivalry.
Knightly honor did not tolerate any, even the slightest, damage. Hamlet reproaches himself precisely because he hesitates when his honor is hurt for more than trivial reasons, while Fortinbras’ warriors “for the sake of whim and absurd glory//Go to the grave...”.
However, there is a clear contradiction to note here. One of the rules of knightly honor is truthfulness. Meanwhile, in order to carry out the first part of his plan and to make sure of Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet pretends to be something other than what he really is. As paradoxical as it may seem, Hamlet decides to pretend to be crazy, and this is exactly what hurts his honor the least.
Hamlet puts “nature, honor” side by side, and perhaps it is not by chance that “nature” comes first, for in his tragedy it is human nature that is primarily affected. The third reason, called by Hamlet, is not a “feeling” at all - a feeling of resentment, insult. The prince said about Laertes: “In my fate I see a reflection of His fate!” And indeed, Hamlet’s nature, that is, his filial feeling and honor, is also hurt by the murder of his father.
Hamlet's attitude towards the regicide is very important. With the exception of Richard III, Shakespeare everywhere shows that the murder of a monarch is fraught with troubles for the state. This idea receives a clear and unambiguous expression in Hamlet:
From time immemorial
The royal grief is echoed by a general groan.
Some readers will probably be confused by the fact that these words are spoken not by the hero of the tragedy, but simply by Rosencrantz.
Rosencrantz, not knowing the main circumstance, thinks that everything in Denmark will collapse if Claudius is killed. In fact, the country's tragedy is caused by the fact that Claudius killed its rightful king. And then what Rosenkrantz so figuratively described happened: everything got mixed up, chaos arose, ending in a general catastrophe. The Danish prince is by no means a rebel. He is, one might say, a “statist.” His task of revenge is also complicated by the fact that, fighting against the tyrant and usurper, he must do the same thing that Claudius did - kill the king. Hamlet has a moral right to this, but...
Here it is necessary to once again turn to the figure of Laertes (1; P.132)
Having learned about the murder of his father and suspecting Claudius of this, Laertes raises the people to revolt and breaks into the royal castle. In anger and indignation he exclaims:
Faithfulness to Gehenna! Oaths to black demons!
Fear and piety into the abyss of abysses!
Laertes behaves like a rebellious feudal lord who, in the name of personal interests, abandons allegiance to the sovereign and rebels against him.
It is appropriate to ask why Hamlet did not act the same as Laertes, especially since the people loved Hamlet. This is regrettably admitted by none other than Claudius himself. Upon learning that Hamlet killed Polonius, the king says:
How disastrous it is that he walks free!
However, you cannot be strict with him;
A violent crowd is partial to him...
Returning from France, Laertes asks the king why he did not take action against Hamlet. Claudius replies: “The reason // Not to resort to open analysis is // The love of the simple crowd for him.”
Why doesn't Hamlet rebel against Claudius?
Yes, because with all his sympathy for the plight of ordinary people, Hamlet is completely alien to the idea of involving the people to participate in affairs
states (1; p.133)
Hamlet cannot achieve his goal - “to straighten the dislocated joint of Time”, by himself violating the rule of law, raising the lower class against the higher. Personal resentment and violated honor give him moral justification, and the political principle, which recognizes tyrannicide as a legitimate form of restoring public order, gives him the right to kill Claudius. These two sanctions are enough for Hamlet to take revenge.
How does the prince look at his position when Claudius, having seized the throne, removed him from power? We remember that he considered Fortinbras's ambition a natural knightly trait. Is ambition inherent in him? Honor, the highest moral dignity, is one thing, ambition, the desire to rise at any cost, including crime and murder, is another. As high as Hamlet's concept of honor is, he despises ambition. Therefore, he rejects the assumption of the royal spies that he is consumed by ambition. Shakespeare portrayed ambitious people many times. In this tragedy it is Claudius. Hamlet does not lie when he denies this vice in himself. Hamlet is by no means power-hungry. But, being a royal son, he naturally considered himself heir to the throne. Knowing Hamlet's humanity and his condemnation of social injustice, it would not be an exaggeration to assume that, having become king, he would have sought to ease the lot of the people. From Ophelia’s words, we know that he was looked at as the “hope” of the state. The knowledge that power was in the hands of a usurper and an elodea and that he is not at the head of the state increases Hamlet’s bitterness. He once admits to Horatio that Claudius “came between the election and my hope,” that is, the prince’s hope of becoming king.
Fighting against Claudius, Hamlet seeks not only to carry out his revenge, but also to restore his hereditary right to the throne.
Conclusion
The image of Hamlet is given in the tragedy close-up. The scale of Hamlet’s personality increases because not only the contemplation of all-encompassing evil characterizes the hero, but also combat with the vicious world. If he was not able to heal the “shaken” century, to give a new direction to time, then he emerged victorious from his spiritual crisis. The evolution of Hamlet is captured in the tragedy in harsh colors and appears in all its complexity. This is one of Shakespeare's bloodiest tragedies. Polonius and Ophelia lost their lives, Gertrude was poisoned, Laertes and Claudius were killed, Hamlet dies from his wound. Death tramples death, Hamlet alone wins a moral victory.
Shakespeare's tragedy has two endings. One directly ends the outcome of the struggle and is expressed in the death of the main character. And the other is carried into the future, which will be the only one capable of perceiving and enriching the unfulfilled ideals of revival and establishing them on earth. The author points out that the struggle is not over, that the resolution of the conflict is in the future. A few minutes before his death, Hamlet bequeaths Horatio to tell people about what happened. They must know about Hamlet in order to follow his example in order to “defeat with confrontation” evil on earth and turn the world - prison into a world of freedom.
Despite the gloomy ending, there is no hopeless pessimism in Shakespeare's tragedy. The ideals of the tragic hero are indestructible and majestic
and his struggle with a vicious, unjust world should serve as an example for other people (3; p. 76). This gives the tragedy “Hamlet” the meaning of a work that is relevant at all times
Bibliography
1. Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet”. - M: Enlightenment, 1986. - 124 p.
2. Shakespeare. - M: Young Guard, 196 p.
3. Dubashinsky Shakespeare.- M: Education, 1978.-143 p.
4. Holliday and his world. - M: Raduga, 1986. - 77 p.
5. Shvedov Evolution of Shakespearean tragedy. - M: Art, 197p.
6. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. - Izhevsk, 198 p.
Hamlet has become one of the most beloved characters in world literature. Moreover, he has ceased to be just a character in an ancient tragedy and is perceived as a living person, well known to many readers. But this hero, close to many, turned out to be not so simple. In it, as in the whole play, there is a lot of mysterious and unclear things. For some, Hamlet is a weak-willed man, for others he is a courageous fighter.
In the tragedy of the Danish prince, the main thing is not external events, not in incidents that were exceptional in their grandeur and bloodiness. The main thing is what is happening all this time in the hero’s mind. In Hamlet's soul, dramas are played out no less painful and terrible than those that occur in the lives of other characters in the play.
We can say that the tragedy of Hamlet is the tragedy of man's knowledge of evil. For the time being, the hero’s existence was serene. He lived in a family illuminated mutual love I fell in love with my parents and felt reciprocity from the lovely girl. Hamlet had true friends. The hero was passionate about science, loved the theater, and wrote poetry. A great future lay ahead of him - to become a sovereign and rule his people. But suddenly everything began to fall apart. Hamlet's father dies in the prime of his life. Before the hero had time to survive this grief, he suffered a second blow: his mother, less than two months later, married Uncle Hamlet. Moreover, she shared the throne with him. And now comes the time for the third blow: Hamlet learns that his father was killed by his own brother in order to take possession of his crown and wife.
Is it any wonder that the hero was on the verge of despair? Before his eyes, everything that made his life valuable collapsed. Hamlet was never so naive as to think that there are no misfortunes in life. But he had a very rough idea about this. The troubles that befell the hero forced him to look at everything in a new way. Questions began to arise in Hamlet’s mind with unprecedented acuteness: what is life worth? what is death? Is it possible to believe in love and friendship? is it possible to be happy? Is it possible to destroy evil?
Previously, Hamlet believed that man is the center of the Universe. But under the influence of misfortunes, his view of life and nature changed dramatically. The hero admits to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that he “lost all his cheerfulness and abandoned his usual activities.” His soul is heavy, the earth seems to him a “deserted place,” the air “a cloudy and pestilential accumulation of vapors.” Even earlier, we heard Hamlet’s sorrowful exclamation that life is a wild garden in which only weeds grow and evil reigns everywhere. Honesty in this world has disappeared: “to be honest, given the way this world is, means to be a person drawn from tens of thousands.” In the famous monologue “To be or not to be?” Hamlet lists the troubles of life: “the oppression of the strong,” “the slowness of judges,” “the arrogance of the authorities and the insults inflicted on uncomplaining merit.” And worst of all is his country, where he lives: “Denmark is a prison... And an excellent one with many locks, dungeons and dungeons...”.
The shocks Hamlet experienced shook his faith in man and gave rise to a duality of his consciousness. The best human qualities were inherent in Hamlet's father: “He was a man, a man in everything.” Reproaching his mother for betraying his memory, Hamlet shows her his portrait and reminds her how wonderful and truly noble her first husband was:
How incomparable is the charm of these features;
Brow of Zeus; Apollo's curls;
A gaze like that of Mars - a powerful thunderstorm;
His posture is that of the messenger Mercury...
The complete opposite of him is the current king Claudius and his entourage. Claudius is a murderer, a thief, “the king of motley rags.”
From the very beginning of the tragedy, we see Hamlet shocked. The further the action develops, the more obvious the mental discord experienced by the hero becomes. Claudius and all the abomination that surrounded him are hated by Hamlet. He decides to take revenge. At the same time, the hero understands that evil is not in Claudius alone. The whole world has succumbed to corruption. Hamlet feels his destiny: “The age is shaken - and worst of all, / That I was born to restore it.”
Hamlet often talks about death. Soon after his appearance, he betrays a hidden thought: life has become so disgusting to him that he would commit suicide if it were not considered a sin. The hero is concerned about the mystery of death itself. What is it - a dream or a continuation of the torments of earthly life? Fear of the unknown, of a country from which no one has ever returned, often makes people shy away from the fight and fear death.
Hamlet's contemplative nature and his intelligence are combined with the desire for physical perfection. He is jealous of his reputation as the best swordsman. Hamlet believes that a person should be a harmonious fusion of various virtues: “What a masterful creature is man! How noble in mind! How limitless and wonderful in his abilities, appearances and movements! How precise and wonderful in action!... The beauty of the universe! The crown of all living things!
Falling in love with an ideal person makes disappointment in the environment and in himself especially painful for Hamlet: “Not one of the people pleases me...”, “Oh, what kind of rubbish I am, what a pitiful slave.” With these words, Hamlet mercilessly condemns human imperfection, no matter in whom it manifests itself.
Throughout the play, Hamlet is tormented by the contradiction between his own extreme confusion and a keen sense of human capabilities. It is Hamlet's optimism and inexhaustible energy that gives his pessimism and suffering that extraordinary power that shocks us.
Dramaturgy of the 16th - 17th centuries was an integral and perhaps the most important part of the literature of that time. This type of literary creativity was the closest and most understandable to the broad masses; it was a spectacle that made it possible to convey to the viewer the feelings and thoughts of the author. One of the most prominent representatives of dramaturgy of that time, who is read and reread to this day, performances based on his works are staged, and philosophical concepts are analyzed, is William Shakespeare.
The genius of the English poet, actor and playwright lies in the ability to show the realities of life, to penetrate the soul of every viewer, to find in it a response to his philosophical statements through feelings familiar to every person. The theatrical action of that time took place on a platform in the middle of the square; the actors could descend into the “hall” during the play. The viewer became, as it were, a participant in everything that was happening. Nowadays, such an effect of presence is unattainable even when using 3D technologies. Them higher value in the theater the word of the author, the language and style of the work were received. Shakespeare's talent is manifested largely in his linguistic manner of presenting the plot. Simple and somewhat ornate, it differs from the language of the streets, allowing the viewer to rise above everyday life, to stand for a while on a par with the characters in the play, people of the upper class. And the genius is confirmed by the fact that this has not lost its meaning in more late times- we get the opportunity to become for some time accomplices in the events of medieval Europe.
Many of his contemporaries, and after them subsequent generations, considered the tragedy “Hamlet - Prince of Denmark” to be the pinnacle of Shakespeare’s creativity. This is a work by a recognized English classic became one of the most significant for Russian literary thought. It is no coincidence that Hamlet's tragedy has been translated into Russian more than forty times. This interest is caused not only by the phenomenon of medieval drama and the literary talent of the author, which is undoubtedly. Hamlet is a work that reflects the “eternal image” of a seeker of truth, a moral philosopher and a man who has stepped above his era. The galaxy of such people, which began with Hamlet and Don Quixote, continued in Russian literature with the images of “superfluous people” by Onegin and Pechorin, and further in the works of Turgenev, Dobrolyubov, Dostoevsky. This line is native to the Russian seeking soul.
History of creation - The tragedy of Hamlet in the romanticism of the 17th century
Just as many of Shakespeare’s works are based on short stories from early medieval literature, he borrowed the plot of the tragedy Hamlet from the Icelandic chronicles of the 12th century. However, this plot is not something original for the “dark time”. The theme of the struggle for power, regardless of moral standards, and the theme of revenge are present in many works of all times. Based on this, Shakespeare's romanticism created the image of a man protesting against the foundations of his time, looking for a way out of these shackles of conventions to the norms of pure morality, but who himself is a hostage existing rules and laws. The crown prince, a romantic and philosopher, who asks the eternal questions of existence and, at the same time, is forced in reality to fight in the way that was customary at that time - “he is not his own master, his hands are tied by his birth” (Act I, scene III ), and this causes an internal protest in him.
(Antique engraving - London, 17th century)
England, in the year the tragedy was written and staged, was experiencing a turning point in its feudal history (1601), which is why the play contains that certain gloom, real or imaginary decline in the state - “Something has rotted in the Kingdom of Denmark” (Act I, Scene IV ). But we are more interested in the eternal questions “about good and evil, about fierce hatred and holy love,” which are so clearly and so ambiguously spelled out by the genius of Shakespeare. In full accordance with romanticism in art, the play contains heroes of clearly defined moral categories, an obvious villain, a wonderful hero, there is a love line, but the author goes further. The romantic hero refuses to follow the canons of time in his revenge. One of the key figures of the tragedy, Polonius, does not appear to us in an unambiguous light. The topic of betrayal is discussed in several storylines and is also offered to the viewer. From the obvious betrayal of the king and the queen’s disloyalty to the memory of her late husband, to the trivial betrayal of student friends who are not averse to finding out secrets from the prince for the king’s mercy.
Description of the tragedy (the plot of the tragedy and its main features)
Ilsinore, the castle of the Danish kings, the night guard with Horatio, Hamlet's friend, meets the ghost of the deceased king. Horatio tells Hamlet about this meeting and he decides to personally meet with his father's shadow. The ghost tells the prince the terrible story of his death. The king's death turns out to be a vile murder committed by his brother Claudius. After this meeting, a turning point occurs in Hamlet’s consciousness. What is learned is superimposed on the fact of the too-quick wedding of the king’s widow, Hamlet’s mother, and his murderer brother. Hamlet is obsessed with the idea of revenge, but is in doubt. He must see for himself. Feigning madness, Hamlet observes everything. Polonius, the king's adviser and the father of Hamlet's beloved, tries to explain to the king and queen such changes in the prince as a result of rejected love. Previously, he forbade his daughter Ophelia to accept Hamlet's advances. These prohibitions destroy the idyll of love and subsequently lead to depression and insanity of the girl. The king makes his attempts to find out the thoughts and plans of his stepson; he is tormented by doubts and his sin. Hamlet's former student friends, hired by him, are with him inseparably, but to no avail. The shock of what he learned makes Hamlet think even more about the meaning of life, about such categories as freedom and morality, about the eternal question of the immortality of the soul, the frailty of existence.
Meanwhile, a troupe of traveling actors appears in Ilsinore, and Hamlet persuades them to insert several lines into the theatrical action, exposing the king of fratricide. During the course of the performance, Claudius betrays himself with confusion, Hamlet’s doubts about his guilt are dispelled. He tries to talk to his mother, throw accusations at her, but the ghost that appears forbids him to take revenge on his mother. A tragic accident aggravates the tension in the royal chambers - Hamlet kills Polonius, who hid behind the curtains out of curiosity during this conversation, mistaking him for Claudius. Hamlet was sent to England to hide these unfortunate accidents. His spy friends are going with him. Claudius gives them a letter for the King of England asking them to execute the prince. Hamlet, who managed to accidentally read the letter, makes corrections in it. As a result, traitors are executed, and he returns to Denmark.
Laertes, the son of Polonius, also returns to Denmark; the tragic news of the death of his sister Ophelia as a result of her insanity due to love, as well as the murder of his father, pushes him into an alliance with Claudius in the matter of revenge. Claudius provokes a sword fight between two young men, Laertes' blade is deliberately poisoned. Without stopping there, Claudius also poisons the wine in order to make Hamlet drunk in case of victory. During the duel, Hamlet is wounded by a poisoned blade, but finds mutual understanding with Laertes. The duel continues, during which the opponents exchange swords, now Laertes is also wounded with a poisoned sword. Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude, cannot stand the tension of the duel and drinks poisoned wine for her son's victory. Claudius is also killed, leaving only Hamlet's only true friend Horace alive. The troops of the Norwegian prince enter the capital of Denmark, who occupies the Danish throne.
Main characters
As can be seen from the entire development of the plot, the theme of revenge fades into the background before moral quests Main character. Committing revenge is impossible for him in the expression that is customary in that society. Even after being convinced of his uncle’s guilt, he does not become his executioner, but only his accuser. In contrast, Laertes makes a deal with the king; for him, revenge is above all, he follows the traditions of his time. The love line in tragedy is only an additional means of showing moral images of that time, to highlight Hamlet’s spiritual search. The main characters of the play are Prince Hamlet and the king's advisor Polonius. It is in the moral foundations of these two people that the conflict of time is expressed. Not the conflict of good and evil, but the difference in the moral levels of two positive characters is the main line of the play, brilliantly shown by Shakespeare.
An intelligent, devoted and honest servant of the king and fatherland, a caring father and a respected citizen of his country. He is sincerely trying to help the king understand Hamlet, he is sincerely trying to understand Hamlet himself. His moral principles are impeccable at the level of that time. Sending his son to study in France, he instructs him in the rules of behavior, which can still be cited without changes today, they are so wise and universal for any time. Worried about his daughter's moral character, he exhorts her to refuse Hamlet's advances, explaining the class difference between them and not excluding the possibility that the prince was not serious about the girl. At the same time, according to his moral views corresponding to that time, there is nothing prejudiced in such frivolity on the part of the young man. With his distrust of the prince and the will of his father, he destroys their love. For the same reasons, he does not trust his own son, sending a servant to him as a spy. His surveillance plan is simple - to find acquaintances and, having slightly denigrated his son, lure out the frank truth about his behavior away from home. Overhearing a conversation between an angry son and mother in the royal chambers is also not something wrong for him. With all his actions and thoughts, Polonius appears to be an intelligent and kind person; even in Hamlet’s madness, he sees his rational thoughts and gives them their due. But he is a typical representative of society, which puts so much pressure on Hamlet with its deceit and duplicity. And this is a tragedy that is understandable not only in modern society, but also in the London public of the early 17th century. Such duplicity provokes protest by its presence in modern world.
A hero with a strong spirit and an extraordinary mind, searching and doubting, who has become one step above the rest of society in his morality. He is able to look at himself from the outside, he is able to analyze those around him and analyze his thoughts and actions. But he is also a product of that era and that connects him. Traditions and society impose a certain stereotype of behavior on him, which he can no longer accept. Based on the plot of revenge, the whole tragedy of the situation is shown when a young man sees evil not just in one vile act, but in the entire society in which such actions are justified. This young man calls on himself to live in accordance with the highest morality, responsibility for all his actions. The family tragedy only makes him think more about moral values. Such a thinking person cannot help but raise universal philosophical questions for himself. The famous monologue “To be or not to be” is only the pinnacle of such reasoning, which is woven into all his dialogues with friends and enemies, in conversations with random people. But the imperfection of society and the environment still pushes him to impulsive, often unjustified actions, which are then difficult for him and ultimately lead to death. After all, the guilt in the death of Ophelia and the accidental mistake in the murder of Polonius and the inability to understand Laertes’ grief oppresses him and fetters him with a chain.
Laertes, Ophelia, Claudius, Gertrude, Horatio
All these persons are introduced into the plot as Hamlet’s entourage and characterize ordinary society, positive and correct in the understanding of that time. Even considering them from a modern point of view, one can recognize their actions as logical and consistent. The struggle for power and adultery, revenge for the murdered father and first maiden love, enmity with neighboring states and obtaining lands as a result of knightly tournaments. And only Hamlet stands head and shoulders above this society, bogged down to the waist in the tribal traditions of succession to the throne. Hamlet's three friends - Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - are representatives of the nobility, courtiers. For two of them, spying on a friend is not something wrong, and only one remains a faithful listener and interlocutor, a smart adviser. An interlocutor, but nothing more. Hamlet is left alone before his fate, society and the entire kingdom.
Analysis - the idea of the tragedy of the Danish prince Hamlet
Shakespeare's main idea was the desire to show psychological portraits of his contemporaries based on the feudalism of the "dark times", a new generation growing up in society that could change the world for the better. Competent, searching and freedom-loving. It is no coincidence that in the play Denmark is called a prison, which, according to the author, was the entire society of that time. But Shakespeare's genius was expressed in his ability to describe everything in halftones, without slipping into the grotesque. Most of the characters are positive people and respected according to the canons of that time; they reason quite sensibly and fairly.
Hamlet is shown as an introspective man, spiritually strong, but still bound by conventions. The inability to act, the inability, makes it similar to “ extra people"Russian literature. But it carries within itself a charge of moral purity and the desire of society for the better. The genius of this work lies in the fact that all these issues are relevant in the modern world, in all countries and on all continents, regardless of the political system. And the language and stanza of the English playwright captivate with their perfection and originality, forcing you to reread the works several times, turn to performances, listen to productions, look for something new, hidden in the depths of centuries.
Why is the image of Hamlet an eternal image? There are many reasons, and at the same time, each individually or all together, in a harmonious and harmonious unity, they cannot give an exhaustive answer. Why? Because no matter how hard we try, no matter what research we conduct, we are not subject to “this great secret” - the secret of Shakespeare’s genius, the secret creative act, when one work, one image becomes eternal, and another disappears, dissolves into oblivion, without ever touching our soul. And yet, the image of Hamlet beckons and haunts...
W. Shakespeare, “Hamlet”: history of creation
Before you go to an amusing trip deep into Hamlet's soul, let's remember summary and the history of writing the great tragedy. The plot of the work is based on real events described by Saxo Grammaticus in the book “The History of the Danes.” A certain Horvendil, a wealthy ruler of Jutland, was married to Geruta, had a son Amleth and a brother Fengo. The latter was jealous of his wealth, courage and fame, and one day, in front of all the courtiers, he brutally dealt with his brother, and subsequently married his widow. Amlet did not submit to the new ruler and, in spite of everything, decided to take revenge on him. He pretended to be crazy and killed him. After some time, Amlet himself was killed by his other uncle... Look - the similarity is obvious!
The time of action, the place, the action itself and all the participants in the unfolding events - there are many parallels, however, the problematic of William Shakespeare’s tragedy does not fit into the concept of “revenge tragedy” and goes far beyond its limits. Why? The thing is that the main characters of Shakespeare's drama, led by Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, are ambiguous in character and differ significantly from the solid heroes of the Middle Ages. In those days, it was not customary to think much, reason, and even more so, doubt accepted laws and ancient traditions. For example, it was considered not evil, but a form of restoration of justice. But in the image of Hamlet we see a different interpretation of the motive of revenge. This is the main distinguishing feature of the play, the starting point of everything unique and amazing that is in the tragedy, and that has haunted us for several centuries.
Elsinore - majestic of kings. Every night the night guard observes the appearance of the Ghost, which is reported to Horatio, Hamlet’s friend. This is the ghost of the Danish prince's late father. In the “dead hour of the night” he confides to Hamlet his main secret - he did not die a natural death, but was treacherously killed by his brother Claudius, who took his place - the throne and married the widow - Queen Gertrude.
The inconsolable soul of the murdered man demands revenge from his son, but Hamlet, confused and stunned by everything he heard, is in no hurry to act: what if the ghost is not the father at all, but a messenger of hell? He needs time to be convinced of the truth of the secret told to him, and he pretends to be crazy. The death of the king, who in the eyes of Hamlet was not only a father, but also an ideal man, then the hasty, despite the mourning, wedding of his mother and uncle, the story of the Ghost - these are the first lightnings of the emerging imperfection of the world, this is the beginning of the tragedy. After it, the plot develops rapidly, and with it the main character himself changes radically. In two months he turns from an enthusiastic young man into an indifferent, melancholic “old man.” This concludes the topic “V. Shakespeare, Hamlet, the image of Hamlet does not end there.
Deceit and betrayal
Claudius is suspicious of Hamlet's illness. To check whether his nephew has actually suddenly lost his mind, he conspires with Polonius, a loyal courtier of the newly-crowned king. They decide to use the unsuspecting Ophelia, Hamlet's beloved. For the same purpose, the prince’s old devoted friends, Rosencrantz and Guildensten, are also called to the castle, but they turn out to be not so loyal and readily agree to help Claudius.
Mousetrap
A theater troupe arrives in Elsinore. Hamlet persuades them to perform a performance in front of the king and queen, the plot of which exactly conveys the story of the Ghost. During the performance, he sees fear and confusion on Claudius's face, and is convinced of his guilt. Well, the crime has been solved - it's time to act. But Hamlet is again in no hurry. “Denmark is a prison”, “time is dislocated”, evil and betrayal reveal themselves not only in the murder of the king by his own brother, they are everywhere, from now on this is the normal state of the world. era ideal people long gone. Against this background, blood feud loses its original meaning, ceases to be a form of “rehabilitation” of justice, because, in essence, it does not change anything.
Path of Evil
Hamlet finds himself at a crossroads: “To be or not to be? - that is the question". What is the use of revenge, it is empty and meaningless. But even without quick retribution for the evil committed, it is impossible to live further. This is a duty of honor. Internal conflict Hamlet leads not only to his own suffering, to his endless discussions about the futility of life, to thoughts of suicide, but, like boiling water in a sealed vessel, it boils and pours out into a whole series of deaths. The prince is directly or indirectly guilty of these murders. He kills Polonius, who overhears his conversation with his mother, mistaking him for Claudius. On the way to England, where Hamlet was to be executed, he replaced a letter discrediting him on board the ship, and his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenster were executed instead. In Elsinore, Ophelia, who has gone mad from grief, dies. Laertes, Ophelia's brother, decides to avenge his father and sister and challenges Hamlet to a court duel. The tip of his sword is poisoned by Claudius. During the duel, Gertrude dies after tasting poisoned wine from a cup that was actually intended for Hamlet. As a result, Laertes and Claudius are killed, and Hamlet himself dies... From now on, the Danish kingdom is under the rule of the Norwegian king Fortinbras.
The image of Hamlet in the tragedy
The image of Hamlet appears just as the Renaissance is approaching its end. At the same time, other, no less vivid, “eternal images” appear - Faust, Don Quixote, Don Juan. So what is the secret to their durability? First of all, they are ambiguous and multifaceted. In each of them lie great passions, which, under the influence of certain events, sharpen one or another character trait to the extreme. For example, the extreme of Don Quixote lies in his idealism. The image of Hamlet brought to life, one might say, the last, extreme degree of introspection, soul-searching, which does not push him to quickly make a decision, to decisive action, does not force him to change his life, but, on the contrary, paralyzes him. On the one hand, events dizzyingly follow each other, and Hamlet is a direct participant in them, the main actor. But this is on the one hand, this is what lies on the surface. And on the other? - He is not the “director”, he is not the main manager of the whole action, he is just a “puppet”. He kills Polonius, Laertes, Claudius, becomes responsible for the deaths of Ophelia, Gertrude, Rosencrantz and Guildensten, but all this happens by the will of fate, by tragic accident, by mistake.
Exodus of the Renaissance
However, again, not everything is so simple and unambiguous. Yes, the reader gets the impression that the image of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s tragedy is filled with indecision, inactivity and weakness. Again, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Under the impenetrable thickness of water, something else is hidden - a sharp mind, an amazing ability to look at the world and oneself from the outside, the desire to get to the very essence, and, in the end, to see the truth, no matter what. Hamlet is a real hero of the Renaissance, great and strong, putting spiritual and moral self-improvement first, glorifying beauty and boundless freedom. However, it is not his fault that the ideology of the Renaissance, at its later stage, is experiencing a crisis, against the background of which he is forced to live and act. He comes to the conclusion that everything he believed in and lived by is just an illusion. The work of revising and revaluing humanistic values turns into disappointment, and as a result ends in tragedy.
Different approaches
We continue the topic of what Hamlet’s characteristics are. So what is the root of the tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark? In different eras, the image of Hamlet was perceived and interpreted differently. For example, Johann Wilhelm Goethe, a passionate admirer of William Shakespeare’s talent, considered Hamlet to be a beautiful, noble and highly moral being, and his death stems from the burden placed on him by fate, which he could neither bear nor throw off.
The famous S. T. Coldridge draws our attention to the complete lack of will of the prince. All the events occurring in the tragedy, without a doubt, should have caused an unprecedented surge of emotions, and subsequently an increase in activity and decisiveness in action. It couldn't be otherwise. But what do we see? Thirsting for revenge? Instant execution of your plans? Nothing of the kind, on the contrary - endless doubts and meaningless and unjustified philosophical reflections. And this is not a matter of lack of courage. It's just the only thing he can do.
Weakness of will was attributed to Hamlet and But, according to the outstanding literary critic, it is not his natural quality, but rather a conditional one, determined by the situation. It comes from a mental split, when life and circumstances dictate one thing, but internal beliefs, values and spiritual abilities and possibilities dictate something else, absolutely the opposite.
W. Shakespeare, “Hamlet”, the image of Hamlet: conclusion
As you can see, how many people - so many opinions. The eternal image of Hamlet is surprisingly multifaceted. One might say, a whole picture gallery of mutually exclusive portraits of Hamlet: a mystic, an egoist, a victim of an Oedipus complex, a brave hero, an outstanding philosopher, a misogynist, the highest embodiment of the ideals of humanism, a melancholic person, not suited for anything... Is there an end to this? More likely no than yes. Just as the expansion of the Universe will continue endlessly, so the image of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s tragedy will excite people forever. He long ago broke away from the text itself, left the narrow framework of the play for it, and became that “absolute”, “supertype”, which has the right to exist outside of time.