Who’s there whispered in the dark?
This question begins a tale of
conspiracy, deception and moral ambiguity. And in the play where
everyone has something to hide, its answer is far from simple.
Written by William Shakespeare between 1599 and 1601, Hamlet
depicts it’s particular character haunted by the past, but
immobilized by the future. Mere months after the sudden death of
his father, Hamlet returns from school stranger to his own home,
and deeply unsure of what might be lurking in the shadows. But his
brooding takes a turn when he’s visited by a ghost that bears his
father’s face. The phantom claims to be the victim of a murder most
foul, and convinces Hamlet that his uncle Claudius usurped the
throne and stole queen Gertrude’s heart. The prince’s mourning
turns to rage, and he begins to plot his revenge on the new king and
his court of conspirators. The play is an odd sort of tragedy, lacking
either the abrupt brutality or all consuming romance that
characterize Shakespeare’s other work in the genre. Instead it
plumbs the depths of its protagonist’s indecisiveness and the tragic
consequences thereof. The ghost’s revelation draws Hamlet into
multiple dilemmas. What should he do? Who can he trust? And what
role might he play in the course of justice? These questions are
complicated by a tangled web of characters, forcing Hamlet to
negotiate friends, family, court counselors and love interests, many
of whom possess ulterior motives. The prince constantly delays and
dithers of how to relate to others and how he should carry out
revenge. This can make Hamlet more than little exasperating, but it
also makes him one of the most human characters Shakespeare
ever created. Rather than rushing into things, Hamlet becomes
consumed with the awful machinations of thinking itself. And over
the course of the play, his endless questions come to echo
throughout our own racing minds. To accomplish this, Shakespeare
employs his most introspective language, from the use up in kings
blazing contemplation of heaven and hell, to the prince’s own
cackling meditation on mortality. Shakespeare uses melancholic
monologues to breathtaking effect. This is perhaps best exemplified
in Hamlet’s most famous declaration of angst: to be, or not to be,
that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the
slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a
sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? This monologue
personifies Hamlet’s existential dilemma being torn between
thought and action, unable to choose between life and death. But
his endless questioning raises yet another anxiety: is Hamlet’s
madness part of a performance to confuse his enemies? Or are we
watching a character on the brink of insanity? These questions
weigh heavily on Hamlet’s interactions with every character, and
since he spends much of the play facing inward, he often fails to see
the distraction left in his wake. He’s particularly cruel to Ophelia, his
doomed love interest was brought to madness by the prince’s
erratic behavior. Her fate is one example of how tragedy could have
been easily avoided, and shows the ripple effect of Hamlet’s toxic
mind gains. Similar warning signs of tragedy are constantly
overlooked throughout the play. Sometimes these oversights occur
because of willful blindness such as when Ophelia’s father dismisses
Hamlet’s alarming actions as mere love sickness. At other points,
tragedy stems from deliberate duplicity, as when a case of mistaken
identity leads to yet more bloodshed. These moments leave us with
the uncomfortable knowledge that tragedy evolves from human
error. Even if our mistake is to leave things undecided. For all these
reasons, perhaps the one thing we never doubt is Hamlet’s
humanity. But we must constantly grapple with who the real Hamlet
might be. Is he a noble son avenging his father? Or a mad prince
creating courtly chaos? Should he act or observe, doubt or trust?
Who is he? Why is he here? And who’s out there, waiting in the
dark? Here’s a question for you: do you prefer Shakespeare’s
comedies or his tragedies? Register your vote by clicking one of
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