Hamlet Rules

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In William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the character of Hamlet must avenge his fathers death by murdering his uncle. Set in the late middle ages mainly taking place in Elsinore, a city located in Denmark, the play focuses on the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet as he attempts to avenge his father's death, his father being King Hamlet, via killing his uncle Claudius.With the help of his friend Horatio and his deceased father's ghost who was wrongfully murdered by his own brother in order to achieve the throne to Denmark we see our hero successful in his endeavours, but at the cost of his, and many others lives. The plays main character Prince Hamlet, or Hamlet for short, is written as a traditional tragic hero, this in tune follows with the overall …show more content…

William Shakespeare's Hamlet conforms to the definition of a tragedy by following the key rules of what a play, or any story in general needs to contain in order to be defined as a tragedy. In order for a play to bare the title of tragedy it must adhere to a set of rules already established on what makes a play fit into the category of a tragedy, and Hamlet just so happens to conform to these sets of rules. Rules like internal conflict are shown throughout the play as we see Hamlet constantly having a problem with his mother's new marriage to his uncle, this evidence can also be quoted by Hamlet himself, stating, “ She married. O, most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not, nor it cannot come to good. But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue. (1.2.161-164), this shows that Hamlet not only takes issue with his mother’s quick remarriage, but is …show more content…

The character Hamlet can be defined as the quintessential tragic hero, as Hamlets call to action couldn't be any more valiant (his call to action being to avenge his father's wrongful death) but at the end of the play Hamlet meets his death with the accomplishment of his goal. In conjunction with the ending Hamlet does not get to see the results of his actions, due to his indecisiveness. The reversal of fortune is another characteristic of a tragic hero which is prevalent in the character of Hamlet, in a sense it can be classified as a hero to zero.Getting to the last few acts of the plays we see that many are starting to lose respect in Hamlet as quoted by Hamlets mother when describing Hamlet as “Mad as the sea and wind when both contend which is the mightier. In his lawless fit, behind the arras hearing something stir, whips out his rapier, cries ‘A rat, a rat, and in this brainish apprehension, kills the unseen good old man.

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