INTRODUCTION
This unit introduces us to the play of the greatest dramatist in literary history. He is William Shakespeare. He is well respected and his plays are widely read and referred to because of the wisdom they contain. Hamlet is one of his tragedies. In fact, it is acclaimed to be one of the best.
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3.1 Summary of the Play
The King of Denmark was killed by his brother, Claudius, who married the late King’s wife within two months of assassinating him. The action of the queen, Gertrude, and her marriage to the brother of her slain husband within a short time is condemned by everyone. So this action of Claudius confirms the people’s opinion that he killed his brother so as to become the king of Denmark and marry his widow. The lawful heir to the throne, Hamlet, is therefore shut out of the throne, which he is entitled to as a matter of right.
The result is that the Hamlet is troubled by the ignominy of his mother’s marriage and the loss of his father whom he loves so much. His mind is troubled and he develops apathy towards his favorite pastimes like reading of books, sports and princely exercises .What is more worrisome is not even that his throne has been usurped, but that his mother has not treated the memory of his father with respect and has to remarry a murderer within two months of his brutal murder. It is this singular stupid maternal action, much more than ten kingdoms, that dispirited the prince.
He heard rumours that a ghost like the dead father had been sighted by the palace guards for two consecutive nights. And his apprehension increases when he learns that the ghost dresses in the attire worn by the late king and that the outward appearance of the ghost looks sorrowful but that it did not make any speech and disappears when the morning cock crowed. He decides to keep watch with the guards. The ghost appears and gives him sign to move to another location with him and Hamlet determines and moves with the spirit while his friends dissuade him to no avail.
At a quiet place, the spirit tells him that he is the ghost of the late king who was murdered in cold blood by Claudius. Indeed, Claudius murdered him to inherit his widow and his crown by creeping into his garden in the afternoon when he was asleep and poured a poisonous liquid into his ears, which killed him immediately; thus, he was cut off at once from his crown and his queen by a brother’s hand. He therefore urges Hamlet, the young prince, to avenge this cruel murder. Hamlet resolves in his privacy to do the bidding of the ghost. He gave his friends the details of the conversation but asks them to keep it a secret. Hamlet, fearing that the new king may discover his intent and prompting of the ghost, decides to feign madness.
He appears henceforth as a mad man in his speeches, dressing and behaviour. He feigns this madness so masterly and craftily that the king and the queen are deceived into thinking that it is love for Ophelia that is driving him so mad. He writes many love letters to Ophelia, and sends rings to her to cover his pretence of insanity.
He is poised to avenge his father’s death. In the process, he kills Polonius, who is sent by Claudius to eavesdrop during the meeting between Hamlet and his mother. Ophelia his girlfriend who is Polonius’ daughter runs mad. Leartes, his brother vows to avenge their father’s death.
But the mission is not an easy one because of high security presence around the king. Also, Hamlet is noble-hearted and the murder of a creature makes him sad. He wonders whether the ghost’s command is right or wrong. He wants further proof. So, he organizes a play that presents a story that is similar to the account of the ghost about the murder of his late father. This play is presented before the new king in the form of a play-within-the-play.
The king calls for light and develops a sudden sickness and quickly leaves the theatre, and that brings the play to an abrupt end. Hamlet is now convinced. He then tells Horatio that he believes everything the ghost said. Hamlet was later invited to a private meeting by his mother. In the meeting, the mother tells him that his behaviour has troubled them, herself, and his uncle. Meanwhile, Claudius sent Polonius to secretly watch and get the details of the meeting, because he is sure that the queen would not tell him everything that transpired.
But Hamlet confronts his mother and accuses her of living in sin. In the course of accusations and the argument that follows, his mother insists on calling Polonius and is prevented by the prince. She shouts for help and a voice is heard behind the curtain, “Help, the queen!” Hamlet draws his sword and strikes, thinking that it is the king but it is Polonius who dies.
Incidentally, Polinius is Ophelia’s father. The shock of his death at the hands of her beloved drives her mad and she dies later. Her brother Leartes, decides to avenge the two deaths. The king seizes the opportunity to use him to kill Hamlet. They agree to kill Hamlet with a poisoned foil during a fencing match to be organized for Leartes and Hamlet. Before the match, the king offers a cup of poisoned wine to Hamlet but he declines. His mother who is not aware of the poison drinks the wine and dies as the match is going on. During the match, the foils are exchanged and both of them are wounded. Hamlet stabs the king with the poisoned foil, and forces him to drink the remaining poisoned wine.
As they all die, Fortinbras comes back from Poland, takes over Denmark and promises to restore peace while Horatio arranges for the burial.
3.2 Themes
The main theme of the play is the “natural streak of evil in nature” of the royal house of Denmark which threatens its existence. This evil in nature taints everything that is good in Denmark, disrupts its equilibrium and brings it to ruin. This sin against nature is manifested in the murder of the late king by his brother, young Hamlet’s feigned madness, his mother’s hasty marriage to Claudius and the eventual death of Hamlet, Leartes, Claudius and the Queen.
Enclosed in this main theme are the themes of betrayal and revenge. Hamlet feels betrayed by his mother and uncle and that both betrayed his late father. However, his mother’s betrayal hurts him more for his father loved his mother so much that even in death he (late king) intercedes for her. Olivia feels betrayed by Hamlet. The entire play revolves around Hamlet’s decision and move to revenge his father’s death.
3.3 Style
The Shakespearean style used in this tragic play is unique as Hamlet tries to avenge the death of his father, the late king of Denmark who was murdered by his uncle, Claudius. The aftermath or consequences of this venture plunge the entire state into a state of cataclysm. The style and dramatic technique adopted therein are as follows.
1. Plot/Structure
The play has a linear and casual plot. It is presented in a five-act structure. The action follows a chronological, logical sequence from the beginning to the end except for the interruption for the “Mousetrap” . Each action leads to the other and they all contribute to the progress of the entire play. However, there are sub-plots but they are equally essential to the play. All of them depend casually upon each other with their climax coming together to re-inforce each other and their denouement (resolution) is interdependent. The play is hinged on conflicts. These are the struggles or conflicts between Claudius and Hamlet, between Hamlet, Polonius and Leartes, and between Claudius’s regime and Fortinbras’. The interesting and unique thing is that they are tightly woven together casually and logically from the beginning to the end.
2. Suspense
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s best constructed plays. It begins at the Castle of Elsinore in Denmark and its exposition carries one of the greatest suspense in dramatic history. It reveals the present, takes us back to the past (flashback) and also foreshadows the future. The suspense is steady till the end of the play. Hamlet knows that his father’s spirit is not happy, but feels that probably he died in sin. This fact leads to his indecision which sustains the suspense throughout the play and also to the anticlimax of the play when he dies eventually.
3. Soliloquy and Aside
Soliloquy is employed to reveal the inner workings of the minds of characters in this play, Shakespeare uses it in its finest form especially in the character of Hamlet. The audience, through this technique, shares in Hamlet’s psychological disturbances and the innermost aspects of his character. It helps to reveal Hamlet’s character and also serves as a form of significant commentary on the events. The first soliloquy, for instance, reveals Hamlet’s predicament.- to be or not to be, to kill or not to kill the king- this is a weighty issue that burden him.
Soliloquy is a very important technique used in this play. Although Hamlet’s soliloquies do not represent the greater part of the play, but the main action which is the revenge plot, depends to a great extent on the working out of Hamlet’s private mental processes. Almost everything he does or does not do, is the result of one soliloquy or the cause of another. You will notice that when Hamlet stops soliloquizing, when he turns from private thought to definite public action, the play comes quickly to an end.
Aside is a dramatic convention that enables a character speak to himself or make a comment on the action or speech of another character. That other character is not expected to hear it but others could. Sometimes, an aside is directed to a particular character on another character’s speech or action. In the example below, Polonius, in an aside, calls the king’s attention to what Hamlet said:
Queen. Come hither, my dear Hamlet, sit by me.
Ham. No, good mother, here’s metal more attractive.
Pol. [aside to the king] O ho! Do you mark that?
Ham. [lying at Ophelia’s feet] Lady, shall I lie in your lap?( Act 111, Scene11)
4. Play-Within-the-Play
The play-within-play is a short but complete play incorporated into the main play. A good example of this in Hamlet is the “Mousetrap” which presents a story that is similar to the way the late king was killed. This is another major device used by the playwright as a searchlight directed to Claudius, to examine his soul and mind. It serves as a point of recognition. Hamlet recognizes his uncle as the murderer of his father, Claudius on his part sees Hamlet as a big threat to him and his kingdom. Therefore, the king determines to eliminate him while Hamlet convinces himself that Claudius is responsible for his father’s death vows to kill him.
5. Foreshadow
The appearance of the ghost and the directive it gives to Hamlet foreshadows the tragic catastrophe at the end of the play. Its subsequent appearances help to propel Hamlet to action.
6. Language
The play is written in verse and not in prose. It is written in blank verse which “…has no end rhyme; its rhythm is particularly suited to drama because it so closely resembles the rhythm of normal English speech” (Introduction to Hamlet by A. L. Rowse, p xvii).
7. Setting
The playwright captures the beauty of the environment. It is however a turbulent and fearful environment which symbolically reflects the turbulent state of Hamlet’s mind. You see that just as the kingdom of Denmark is about to collapse, Hamlet’s consciousness is also on the brink of collapse. The play is set in Denmark. The actions take place mainly in the Castle of Elisnore. It is not easy to locate the historical setting as the play is based on the legend of Hamlet which is found in the folk literature of Iceland and Denmark
8a. Characterization
The characters are round/realistic/multi-dimentional. Hamlet, for instance, grows from innocence and indecision to maturity and takes a definite decision to revenge his father’s death. It is difficult to predict his actions. The perfection of character development in this play is reflected in a pattern of events as the characters take over the plot and change as it progresses.
8b. Character Analysis
Hamlet
He is the tragic hero of the play. He is the son of Queen Gertrude and King Hamlet, murdered by his brother, Claudius. The ship that was to carry him to England to be executed suffered in the hands of the sea- pirates and he sees himself rescued by fate and comes back home to avenge the death of his father in the hand of (king Claudius) who had planned and executed these evils. The Ghost urges Hamlet to avenge but could not guide him to live to tell the story; rather, the story is relayed to the entire Danish people by Horatio his bosom friend. Ophelia says of Hamlet “what a noble mind is here o’erthrown”. Thus Hamlet is noble minded, gentle but dignified. Hamlet is a moralist who condemns his mother’s “quick but unthoughtful” second marriage to the king. He also criticizes the king’s life of pleasure and debauchery. Hamlet is a philosopher and a deep thinker. He refuses to kill Claudius when he had the opportunity because Claudius was praying at that time, and he feels that Claudius will go to heaven, if he is killed at his prayer moment.
His love of Ophelia is incontestable to the point of jumping into her grave possibly to be buried with her. While Hamlet feigns madness, Ophelia’s madness is caused by an emotional turmoil and that of Hamlet a deranged mind occasioned by the tragic death of his father, the late king. Thus, Hamlet and Ophelia share the same experience in this respect. Hamlet is one who can wilt in the face of hardship and difficulties; thus, he contemplates committing suicide when he reflects on the futility of life and the whole melancholic situation that have engulfed him.
Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, is a scholar and is very intelligent and these virtues guide him to escape from the wiles and evil machinations of Claudius. Hamlet feels that, though the Ghost’s directives should be followed, there is no need to be credulous and sheepish, rather the advice of the apparition had to be subjected to a test by staging a drama on the theme of murder and seeing how the king will react to it. Hamlet is a good student of drama and he usually quotes easily the lines of plays he has studied.
Claudius, King of Denmark
He murdered his brother, the late king and becomes the king and married his brother’s wife. He is a schemer who knows what he wants and how to get it, but his last plot to kill Hamlet boomeranged and he died in the process. He married Gertrude after eliminating her husband, though he later regrets his actions, but refuses to give up the throne and his illegal wife. He does not seriously atone for his sins but plans complete liquidation of the dynasty of the former king by plotting and executing the death of the Prince. He is a selfish ruler who wastes his kingdom’s resources in revelries and drunken orgies. The king is vulgar and coarse-natured and is not a man of the people as one can say of the former king. When Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes and Hamlet die, it is the body of Hamlet that Fortinbras asks to be brought to the foyer and not that of the king. His reign as a king is marked by violence and turbulence because he is a hypocrite who came to power by murdering his brother, the late king. Claudius has the ability to seduce with smile and cunning.
Queen Gertrude
She is the wife of both the late king and the present one. Her hasty marriage to King Claudius which was condemned by her son, Hamlet, brings out clearly her weakness of character for she lacks the moral strength to say ‘no’ to evil. She is capricious as she emotionally changes from the grief of her late husband to savour the happiness of her second marriage to Claudius. No doubt, Gertrude loves her son, Hamlet but does not do much to warrant the return of his love. Many examples abound in the play to show that Gertrude would do everything possible to preserve the love she has for Hamlet. The king for instance sends Polonius to eavesdrop and find out the outcome of the meeting between Gertrude and Hamlet because the king is sure that Gertrude would not disclose to him all that transpired in the meeting.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
i. What is Hamlet’s tragic flaw?
ii. What is play-within-play?
4.0 CONCLUSION
Hamlet remains one of the best tragedies written by Shakespeare. It is full of philosophies about life and living that have timeless relevance. You may have heard people say from time to time, “to be or not to be, that is the question”. I hope you have identified where it is in the play and its significance in the dilemmas inherent in the plot of the play.
5.0 SUMMARY
Hamlet shows Shakespeare’s skill as a playwright and a stage director. It is a remarkable play because of its thematic concern and unique form. The play condemns immorality, murder and vaulting ambition.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. Hamlet is a tragic hero. Discuss.
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS
Clarke, Waldo (1976). A Short History of English Literature. London: Evans.
Hagler, A. M. (1959). A Source Book in Theatrical History. New York: Dover.
Iwuchukwu, Chinweikpe (2004). The Mastery of Literature. Lagos:
Macckho Ricckho.
Shakespeare, William (1984). Hamlet. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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