Tragic Character Results in Tragic Life

江敏

【Abstract】As one of Shakespeares the four famous tragedies， Hamlet is the most remarkable one. This article aims to analyze the tragedy aspects in Hamlet from the aspects of plot， character and conflict. In Hamlet， it described a disordered world where there was discrepancy in ideality and reality， and also a world with strong self-consciousness， which reflected the main parts uncertainness and complication in the period of Renaissance. On behalf of humanists， Hamlet confirms humans value and dignity， and also the wisdom and power， but faced with the evil reality， all his dreams are destroyed completely. He just gets the spiritual victory with the cost of his life. As the mitigation of the time， Hamlet shows that it is destined for humanists to fail and result in tragic life.

【Key words】Tragic characters； humanism； tragic life

I. Brief Introduction of the Story

It is a story of a princes revenge for his fathers death in Denmark. After the King of Denmark died and young prince Hamlet who was making further education abroad came back to his country， Hamlet learned from the ghost of his father the fatal secret of his death at the hands of Claudius， his uncle， who married the widow， so Hamlet vowed to revenge. He began to pretend to be mad and break his engagement with Ophelia. To catch his uncles conscience， he arranged a play which was drawn by him. Claudius realized it and sent off Hamlet to England under the escort of the treacherous courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstein， to be put to death. On the way， he rose in the night， unsealed their murderous commission， rewrote it and sealed it with his fathers ring， having worded it so that they themselves should be the victims when they reached England. In a fight with pirates Hamlet boarded their ship， and was conveyed by them back to Denmark， where he told his adventures to his friend Horatio. Meanwhile， Ophelia died because of her fathers death and her lover Hamlets drifting apart of her. At Ophelias grave Hamlet encountered Laertes， her brother； Leartes was very angry and asked to fight with Hamlet. Then Claudius arranged a sword match for them， in which Hamlet was killed by the poison sword， Laertes was wounded to die. The Queen （Hamlets mother） died from the poison wine which was prepared for Hamlet by Claudius. Before death， Laertes told the truth. Finally Hamlet killed Claudius with the cost of his life.

II. Tragic Characters of Hamlet

The most prominent character of Hamlet is the performance of his indecisiveness. Since the ghost of Hamlets father tells Hamlet the truth of the death， the task to revenge is engraved on Hamlets mind deeply and he vows to revenge. He loves his father so sincerely and deeply. In his mind， his father symbolizes the top of human virtue. Therefore， Hamlet has a strong desire to revenge. Hamlet expresses his firm belief if revenge with roar and swearword. However， Hamlet shows the complex concerns for this seemingly simple act. He has great opportunities to kill his enemy on several occasions， but under this concern， the plan falls by the wayside. Even when he encounters the enemy in pray for their sins， the idea of revenge just flashes and then turns him to consider whether he should do. Because of the religion and superstitious belief， killing the enemy who is repenting is to send the evil person to the heaven. It means that he returns good for evil. Then the idea of revenge turns into a struggle.

III. The Tragedy of Hamlet

It is destined for Hamlet to end with his death， which is caused by both internal and external course； it is not comprehensive to emphasize either of them. As one of his challengeable enemy， Claudius is on behalf of the evil force； his crime is collected with all the societys darkness. Hamlet is eager to wipe out such evil force and revenge for his fathers death. But it can not be solved only by having Claudius died， of course to achieve which is not easy. To remove the evil force which commonly exists in the society and to reverse the situation is more difficult. Judging from the objective aspect， Hamlets enemy is not only Claudius， and also some villains. As a new style of thought of a newly emerging capitalist class， humanism just exists as a power of thought at that time， which is far away to match with the feudal evil force. The bourgeoisie revolution in England happened in the 17th century， judging from the feature of the time， Hamlets death is destined. Judging from the character of him， Hamlet has the most weakness which dominates his action. Because of his social position as a prince， there is no communication with people. Although he has sympathy on them， he also learns people are angry to the evil force， and they also keep hope on him， he is unwilling to corporate with people. What he believes is his own ability； whats more， in his mind he is the only person who can complete such hard task， which is the root of Hamlets social tragedy. So Hamlets tragedy is of an advanced humanists failure to struggle with powerful evil force of him， of the time， which has strong classic meaning.

IV. Conclusion

With abundant and vivid plots， Hamlet reveals an important thought： Character determines fate. Hamlets tragic character results in his tragic life. With this character， Hamlet is suffering from the idea of revenge and revenge has become his all. While all of these causes him be coldhearted to his coward mother， turn a blind eye to his beloved woman， personally kill his lovers father and eventually lead himself fall into the trap laid by his enemy. In the end， Hamlets dream to revenge comes true， but all the good things are broken： Hamlets great ambition， his valuable life and the survival of his vulnerable mother.

References：

[1]Bradley.AC.Lecture IV：Hamlet.London：Macmillan，1922.

[2]Cartwright Kent.Remembering Hamlet，University Park，Penn：Pennsylvania State University Press，1991.

[3]Michael Mangan.A Preface to Shakespeares Tragedy.Peking University Press，2001.

[4]William Shakespeare.Hamlet，Prince of Denmark.The Oxford Standard Authors Edition.1601.

[5]Stanley Wells.Shakespeare Studies.Cambridge：Cambridge University Press，1986.