Hamlet Soliloquies

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Akin to many Elizabethan dramas, there has been much discussion regarding the concept of tragedy in “Hamlet”. One definition of tragedy offered by the Oxford English Dictionary is ‘a serious play with an unhappy ending’. However, the concept is broader and more complex than the definition aforementioned. Aristotle is believed to have offered the first (and perhaps the most suitable) definition. According to Aristotle’s Poetics, a tragedy must involve a reversal of fortune of the main character. This character must be of great character and dignity so that his downfall is all the more spectacular which leads to the audience feeling pity and fear; two essential traits required for a drama to be defined as a tragedy. This downfall is triggered by a fatal mistake, or as Aristotle defined, Hamartia. One wouldn’t expect all these qualities to be detected within two mere soliloquies; the entire work is what makes a tragedy. However, the whole work can only be approached through analysis of individual elements and two of these elements are the soliloquies in Act I Scene 2 and Act III Scene 1. The protagonist’s tragic position is very much a prevalent theme in these two extracts.

The fact that Hamlet is a man of high social status automatically makes him a ‘great’ character, one the audience can sympathise with and thus an essential condition for tragedy is met – in the Aristotelian sense at least. Shakespearean tragedy however, is not an exact mirror of that outlined by Aristotle. Poetics outlined that the drama should largely focus on action. In “Hamlet” however, Shakespeare has the audience learning about the central character through soliloquies rather than action. Soliloquies allow the audience, and readers, to delve deep into the m...

... middle of paper ...

...and in that sense he is a tragic figure.

In these two soliloquies, Hamlet is very much shown to be in a tragic position. The death of his father, the feeling his mother has betrayed him and his dislike to Claudius all establish a pathos towards the protagonist. His thoughts of suicide as a means of escape may enrage a religious contemporary audience but it’s more likely that audiences and readers would feel even more sympathy for Hamlet. In this sense, Hamlet is shown to be a very tragic figure in the soliloquies in Act I, Scene 2 and Act III, Scene 1.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=B6EJWEHWiRwC&pg=PA9&dq=dramatic+impact+of+soliloquy&cd=3#v=onepage&q=dramatic%20impact%20of%20soliloquy&f=false

Shakespeare’s Soliloquies. Wolfgang Clemen. Routledge Publishers (2005), p. 9

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