HAMLET’S HEROISM

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hornback, Bert G. “Hamlet's Heroism.” Dec. 1994, pp. 291–297.

Hamlet’s Heroism, written by Bert G. Hornback goes in depth with Hamlets character,

but this time from a completely different perspective. These pages that have been selected

highlight how Hamlet was honorable rather than obsessed when it came to killing Claudius. This

point of view argues that Hamlet is one of gods students, which translates to seeing murder as a

sin or a terrible thing. Within the text, Hornback states that Hamlet was having a personal issue

with actually committing the act of murder. Which would explain why he took so long to

actually do the deed when it came to Claudius. This would bring up the question “Why didn’t

Polonius have the same treatment?” This may have been simply because Hamlet did that in the

heat of the moment. It was an action that based on impulse and maybe even a hint of

fear/anxiety, all mixed in with a wounded mind. Soon after the murder of Polonius, Hamlet

verifies that there is no real excuse for what he had just done as he says “Thus bad begins,” also

“and worse remains behind”. This shows that our prince may actually HAVE feelings. This

underlines his tones of regret and might just be a turning point for this character. His senseless

act might have just been enough to set him over the edge, leading to an eventual down fall for

several characters.