Hamlet Tragedy Analysis

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Perhaps one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, Hamlet is quoted often in a variety of settings. Nearly every educated person in America or otherwise can recognize and place the famous “To be or not to be.” (III.i.63) However, it is apparent that many of those who take time to read the full work are disappointed by its gruesome, tragedy of an ending. They must be unacquainted with the idea that a tragic play ends with a tragedy. In truth, the conclusion of Hamlet is a logical one brought to pass by Hamlet’s promise to the ghost, his own self-destructive behavior, and his desire to fixate on a possible resolution. The exposition of Hamlet leads quickly to a morbid vow. Hamlet promises, to an apparition that is seemingly identified as his own deceased father, to kill his murderous uncle in order to avenge his father’s death. Their encounter concludes with the words “I have sworn’t.”(I.v.117)…show more content…
While Hamlet does not care of his own life, his father’s death lacked a solid ending to grief. According to him, his father was “[b]ut two months dead: nay, not so much, not two” (I.ii.138) and yet his mother, and his uncle, had already moved on. In his mind, he has been left behind to grieve his father alone, seeking his own conclusion. Vengeance is an easy resolution to those who are too blinded by emotion to see reason. Hamlet fits very clearly within these parameters, and with no real support he has no one to guide him out of this mindset. Throughout the course of the play he is pulled deeper into the quest for revenge, and by the end it is far too late for him to turn around. Even if he were to realize his mistake, as a character he is far too proud to admit that, nor would he be willing to forgive his uncle. Hamlet would much rather be responsible for the deaths of a dozen people than to admit he was in the
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