Why Does Shakespeare Use Of Flashback In Hamlet

Hamlet, It’s Not Your Typical Tragedy

Written by the great William Shakespeare, Hamlet is a classic play that, like many of his works, is considered one of the greatest tragedies written in the world. Telling the story of a prince named Hamlet who has lost his father and had his throne taken by his uncle, a person who has also married Hamlet’s mom, it’s one of the longest plays Shakespeare has written with death counts that never end along with containing a climax that is essentially a glorious affair of death. Furthermore, it is recognized for its usage of deaths early on as the play essentially starts with the description of death of King Hamlet, a character that is the roots of all that is developing throughout the play. However, Hamlet

shouldn’t be judged based on its ordinary classification of tragedy as it can, in actuality, be a spectacular mystery, drama, and thriller due to the many themes and literary devices that are present throughout the play in order to seek justice and truth, the two central agendas of the play.
A major theme that is presented throughout the play is deception, a device that helps Hamlet establish himself. Starting its inception after the revelation of who is the ghost and who might have killed it, Hamlet tells Horatio, “How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on), That you, at such times seeing me, never shall… note that you know aught of me” (act 1, scene 5). This enables the play to start Hamlet’s act of a madman that is presented throughout the play to seek the truth of whether the uncle truly killed King Hamlet, or the father who has taken the form of ghost; if he did, should he pay for his sins. This portrayal can be clearly seen when Hamlet speaks to his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, his love Ophelia, his mother Queen Gertrude, King Claudius, and Polonius with intensity that blurs the line between reality and fantasy. This authenticity of it can be clearly seen in the aftermath of the famous soliloquy, “ to be or not be” in act 3, scene 1, a speech that is also a decoy to the persons who watch him but expressing the evolution of death in Hamlet’s mind, where he stops himself mid-speech to speak to a another character in his madness form when he exclaims, “Soft you now, The fair Ophelia!—Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remembered.” This invokes a rageful act of Hamlet where he chastises Ophelia for falling for him with full emotions even though he is not going to be perfect for her when he exclaims, “ if thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry.” However, the reader is eventually shown the reality when Hamlet, like a scholar and with trust, speaks to Horatio in act 3, scene 2 regarding the upcoming play when he explains to Horatio “Give me that man That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him In my heart’s core, ay, in my heart of heart, As I do thee.—Something too much of this.— There is a play tonight before the king. One scene of it comes near the circumstance Which I have told thee of my father’s death. I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot, Even with the very comment of thy soul Observe mine uncle. If his occulted guilt Do not itself unkennel in one speech, It is a damnèd ghost that we have seen, And my imaginations are as foul.” This empowers the play to advance the plot of the story as Hamlet has now shown his reliance on Horatio to help him achieve the truth he seeks that could reveal itself during the upcoming performance he has staged. Moreover, this act not only helps Hamlet, but also becomes a safety device for Queen Gertrude when she tries to save her son in act 4, scene 1 by describing him “mad as the sea and wind when both contend which is mightier,” rather than reveal what had happened in the previous scene. This all empowers the readers to understand that the art of deception is the plot device that is driving the plot as it not only helps complete the agendas of the play, but also organize to where the hints of other themes can present themselves, making the backbone of tragedy that is established in the play.
Many believe that the play is started through tragedy as it discusses narration that detail the recent death of King Hamlet, but they fail to notice the brewing themes of power, corruption and death that are found throughout the play. It is so as when Horatio, friend of Hamlet and employ of kingdom, meets the ghost, he notes in act 1, scene 1, “As thou art to thyself. Such was the very armour he had on When he the ambitious Norway combated,” giving the notion that the king was of great power as when he had battled Fortinbras, the king of Norway, the “valiant Hamlet (For so this side of our known world esteemed him) Did slay this Fortinbras.” This enables to show that even though dead, the king is still spoken of and the guards are afraid of him as they call for Hamlet the prince rather than deal with it themselves. Furthermore, when the ghost reveals his murderer in act 1, scene 5, he notes, “Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother’s hand Of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatched, Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin… Let not the royal bed of Denmark be A couch for luxury and damnèd incest,” showing the audience that his brother had him cut off his power, bringing in corruption to the kingdom. Moreover, the reign of the new king is filled with unprincipled and dishonest power as he calls upon Hamlet’s friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on the prince, make arrangements on getting the young prince killed by sending him to England for his own security, and backing the duel between Laertes and Hamlet as a final ditch effort to finally end the story of madman Hamlet. However, this power that the royal king fights for brings his own demise as his pawns die when Hamlet is able to switch letters that order his death during journey to England, Hamlet finishing his revenge on the uncle when he stabs and makes the king drink poison that killed the queen, a character that the king admired during the play and was one of the reasons for the treason on his brother. This theme of power and lust enables the reader to comprehend that the real antagonist of the play is power, as the desire of it led to the unrest set in Denmark, and if given an overview of the time the play was written, it can noticed that the usual heirs of the crown were the sons, but it is the uncle that gains it which can showcase the dilemma.
However, the often usage of flashback that is used throughout the play makes the essential drive of revenge keep its momentum as the play progresses.

This is so as many of the events that are key plot points to the play use flashback as their foundation which eventually enables progress to surround. For example, the play makes its foundations from a flashback that Hamlet was told by the ghost in act 1, scene 5, “Now, Hamlet, hear. 'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forgèd process of my death Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown.” These foundations show the murder of the ghost by the uncle which enable Hamlet to develop acts that can bring forth the king to represent his guilts in front of him, leading to the creation of the play. This leads to a truth to be finally revealed as in act 3, the king unexpectedly stops the play during its performance and prays to god afterwards, “Oh, my offence is rank. It smells to heaven. It hath the primal eldest curse upon't, A brother’s murder.” This enables the truth to finally seize its place and let the role of justice bring forth its antics as this dialect enables the play to set in motion the brewing of the climax starting with the death of Polonius - an event that advances the stage in the story as it has brought Hamlet to seek his revenge in anyway possible and setting in motion a natural occurrence of deaths. This enables the readers to understand that while flashbacks give a background of what is happening in the story, they also provide the needed foundations for the drama to set its place and let the play bring forth its excellence to receive its title of the

tragedy.
With the elements of theme and flashbacks, one can easily understand that Hamlet is not the typical tragedy that it’s given the title of. The themes of deception and power set forth the points of mystery and thriller in the play as the search of answers beats Hamlet’s heart to lose itself on what is real or fantasy while power equip the stage to bring forth the antagonist of the story, leading to the creation of the foundations of the play. This permits the climax to submerge all these key ideas to glorify its “tragedy” as it uses them to attain the driving force needed for the agendas to be completed as all truth is presented in the climax which leads justice to perish those who have committed sins throughout the play, enabling the title of “tragedy” to take the stage. So while Shakespeare has written hundreds of tragedies, Hamlet is a play that deserves an increase in its recognition as the tragedies that are presented in the play are baseless without the foundations of theme and flashback as they allow the story to also take in a direction in the world of drama, mystery, and thriller, capacitating the play to attain many interpretations as the ambiguity that is found throughout enable the story to finally end with its glory.