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Khalid Alhamami

English 111 Online

November 11, 2020

“Hamlet”

Hamlet as a tragic Hero

Due to how much of his thoughts and feelings we can observe, Hamlet has been named

the first modern hero. This provides us a privileged place: nobody has such perspectives into

what is going on in the mind of Hamlet in the play itself. The first characteristic that Hamlet

reveals of a tragic hero is that he is a high-ranking individual who breaks a law. Hamlet is the

Prince of Denmark, and when his father died, he was in line for the throne; but his mother

remarried, taking away the possibility of Hamlet becoming king. Being the Prince of Denmark

has taken the life of Hamlet to the public eye, as numerous individuals like and respect Hamlet in

Denmark. Laertes also describes how high in rank Hamlet is to Ophelia that he cannot even

marry whoever he wants: “His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own; ... Whereof he is the

head” (1378). Eventually, Hamlet also kills Laertes and Claudius, but throughout the course of

the play, he violates the law many times, which demonstrates the trait of a tragic hero that a high-

ranking individual breaches a law. Another characteristic of a tragic hero that Hamlet reveals is

that by breaking a law, he poses a danger to society and makes people uncomfortable. For

example, Hamlet suspects that he has been playing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern for quite some

time: “Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? ... yet you cannot play upon

me” (1417). Thus, after Hamlet discovers a letter sentencing him to death, he modifies the letter

to state that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are to be sentenced to death instead. Consequently,
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through all this distress created by Hamlet, Hamlet undoubtedly poses a danger to society and

can be observed as a tragic hero due to his acts and wrongdoings.

Research

A hero can be defined as the principal character of a literary work as a literary device,

according to my point of view. As the principal character of a play, story, or novel, the term hero

has been used not only in the classical context but also in modern literature. I think Hamlet fits

my definition of a hero, as he is the play's principal character. On top of that, in light of more

modern realizations of heroism, I have analyzed what aspects of Hamlet's character can be

defined as heroic. To begin with, his deliberation and inaction stem from a willingness to make

the correct decision (although it can be regarded that the heroic aspects of his character are

negated). His apology for his conduct to Laertes can also be regarded as a hero's trait. His

intention to avenge his father may have been seen less as a heroic act, and more as what

Elizabethan audiences expected of him, but he succeeds (ultimately) in doing so (although it

could be debated that he is simply only driven into action by the death of his mother, not by the

death of his father, or rather the danger to his own life that Claudius shows). Hence, his success

helps him to fulfill his arc as a revenge hero, while his death brings this story to an abrupt end

and presents him more as a tragic hero than a revenge hero.

Moving on, it has been described in the article that “Hamlet save his own principled,

moral honor and at the same time bring to justice his father's murderer” (Hornback). What I

inferred from the article is that Hamlet is inherently good: a good son seeking to avenge his

father (even though his religious values forbid revenge). Nevertheless, he, not surprisingly, has a

tragic flaw nature of which many contests. Finally, my opinion is that his tragic flaw is inaction

and of course, Hamlet is a hero.

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Works Cited

Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Chapter 37: William Shakespeare: “Hamlet’s Soliloquy”

LITERATURE: AN INTRODUCTION TO FICTION, POETRY, DRAMA, AND

WRITING, 13th ed., Pearson, 2016.

Hornback, Bert G. “Hamlet's Heroism.” Colby Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 4, 1994.