The Comedy of Hamlet

1182 Words3 Pages

How does the use of comic relief best contrast the tragedy of Hamlet? In great works of literature a comic relief is used as contrast to a serious scene to intensify the overall tragic nature of the play or to relieve tension. As illustrated in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, intense scenes are joined with character’s banter and vacuous actions as to add a comic relief. In Hamlet, Polonius acts as a comic relief by his dull and windy personality, Hamlet uses his intelligence and his negativity toward the king and queen to create humor, while on the other hand Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are a comic relief by their senseless actions and naïve natures. Polonius, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are all used as a comic relief to increase the ultimate tragic nature of the play.

Polonius is a comic relief because of his self-absorbed, dull personality.

Polonius is over-eager and tries to give unwanted advice, during the play he is tactless and often rude. For instance, Polonius is a comic relief during his conversation with Gertrude and Claudius regarding Hamlet’s madness. Polonius rambling through his conversation contrasts with Gertrude’s seriousness of wanting to find out the reason to Hamlet’s madness. As Polonius begins to deliver to the king and queen the results of his investigation, he makes this statement, “My liege, and madam, to expostulate/ What majesty should be, what duty is,/ What day is day, night is night, and time is time,/ Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time;/ Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,/ And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,/ I will be brief. Your noble son is mad. . . .”(IIii,86-92) . Polonius’ speech is windy and nonsensical he wastes ti...

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...d that he's been insulted for being stupid. Hamlet uses his intelligence and morbid sense of humor to portray the show how sad the play really is.

In conclusion, a comic relief is used to relieve tension and to contrast serious scenes to increase the ultimate tragic nature of the play. Polonius uses his self absorbed dull personality to create humor in his scenes. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern act as the fool by their tactless actions and dialogue, their lightheartedness makes the tragic parts of the play seem all the more tragic. And finally Hamlet uses his morbid humor to intensify scenes of sorrow while he also bitterly teases others to relieve tensions at times. The comic relief in Shakespeare’s Hamlet contrasts intense scenes as to make them more intense.

work Cited

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Harold Jenkins. London: Methuen, 1982. Print.

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