Hamlet Essay, Research Paper

Hamlet: A Tragic Hero

Hamlet, a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, once again gave me an opportunity to understand and gain more knowledge on how Shakespeare regarded most of his main characters as tragic heroes themselves. Since the play Hamlet was totally full of tragedy, it certainly was portrayed by once again a tragic hero named Hamlet.

Upon watching Tanghalang Pilipino’s Hamlet at the CCP, the first thing I was able to notice was the portrayal of the Hamlet’s character. As in right from the start, I was able to see how the character Hamlet was played as a brave, clever, and loyal protagonist with a very emotional soul. He had a totally sensitive nature that made him as emotional and bad-tempered as he was in the beginning of the play. Due to his sensitive nature as well as his loyalty to his father, he wasn’t able to control his emotions and mourned for his father a lot. He even pitied himself for letting his father die because that was the main cause why his mother was about to get remarried again. In addition to that, he became so angry with the set up as well as with his mother because she was about to marry Hamlet’s uncle. Nevertheless, Hamlet proved to be a tough character in terms of being brave and courageous with his plans. He was still able to go to England even though it was a very big risk for him. He knew his life would be in danger but he still went on with his plans. Hamlet was also quite witty in dealing with Claudius. He was able to fake his insanity in the beginning in order to get more information on Claudius and his schemes. Hamlet, however, also had a flaw in his character. He seemed to be stuck to the past and couldn’t get around in doing anything because he can’t move on with the miserable events that had happened to him. Even though he was already a fully grown individual, he still attended school in England which shows a sign that he still can’t move on. He also wasn’t able to fully recover from his father’s death that was actually the reason why he wasn’t able to succeed in his plans in killing Claudius. He still kept pretending he was insane even though he already knew that Claudius was the one who killed his father. Hamlet’s inability to act, and his dramatic imagination drove him insane as the play went on. He became less rational causing him to move further away from reality which was also the main cause that led him to his death.

Hamlet might have died in the end as most tragic heroes do, but what made him the tragic hero in the play were his actions and his free will to become what he wanted himself to be. Hamlet had his own good characteristics which made him truly a hero as well as he had bad traits which also led him to his downfall and death. From the portrayal of Hamlet being intentionally insane to his death, he exercised his free will to the fullest and gained the sympathy of the audience. A tragic hero can really be seen out of Hamlet.