Hamlet, Agamemnon and Prufrock all display Hamartia; a tragic flaw, by doing things that are out of the norm, acting out violently and/or unreasonable which in turn, hurts the ones they love. All three characters did things that most people would think of as crazy, like killing someone, acting frantic or getting yourself killed by evading a question. Although these things might be looked down upon or even questioned, they have been taken place in either reality or somebodies mental world which in turn has created these great pieces of literature. Hamlet, is flawed because he is unable to take action. For example; when Hamlet was feeling like death would be the answer to all of the world’s pain and heartache that it is “heir to”, he couldn’t
In the play Hamlet, Hamlet is described as daring, brave, loyal, and intelligent. However, he is always consumed by his own thoughts, this being his tragic flaw. There are numerous times Hamlet does not act when he should, like his inability to act on his father's murder, his mother's marriage, and his uncle's assuming of the throne.
Hamlet's tragic flaw was that he either considered things too much, or he acted on impulse but out of passion and not reason, which leads to his downfall. Hamlet was an over thinker and a complex philosopher who wanted revenge on his father’s death. Things don’t go as planned as Hamlet’s two opposite flaws change things. One of Hamlet’s flaws, procrastination, is shown in the prayer scene when he has the opportunity to kill Claudius and get revenge on his father’s death, and he doesn’t take it. His second flaw completely opposite from the first, was acting on impulse out of passion making him kill the wrong man, Polonius. Hamlet’s acting out of passion and anger not only killed the wrong man but it was also Ophelia’s father, causing her to
Prince Hamlet's decision to feign madness does not follow the traditional method of a tragic hero's flaw being associated with an internal weakness such as having too much pride, ambition, or passion that causes his fall from happiness into destruction. For example, the Greek philosopher Aristotle defined the tragic hero with Oedipus as the archetype: a great man at the pinnacle of his power who, through a flaw in his own character, topples, taking everyone in his jurisdiction with him. In contrast, Prince Hamlet pretends to feign madness because he wants to have more time to plot his plan of revenge, which includes spying on his mother and uncle. He admits his decision as he tells Horatio, "How strange or odd some'er I bear myself- / As I perchance hereafter shall think meet / To put an antic disposition on" (1.5.170-72). Once more the
Hamlet's flaw is intact. Hamlet has a friend, Horatio, who knows of the murder of Hamlet's father. Hamlet could trust Horatio with his plans and opinions. Horatio acted as an advisor to Hamlet, but he did not tell Hamlet that he was heading in the wrong direction. Because of this Hamlet's heart pounded hard with the thought of revenge. The flaw was there and the stage was set for tragedy. There was no way for Hamlet to change his destiny. "Haste me to know `t, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thought of love May sweep to my revenge."
Shakespeare’s character, Hamlet, is known for his indecisive personality. It is a trait that humanizes Hamlet in the sense that every man is flawed. However, this feature is Hamlet’s main
Hamlet is a suspenseful play that introduces the topic of tragedy. Throughout the play, Hamlet displays anger, uncertainty, and obsession with death. Although Hamlet is unaware of it, these emotions cause the mishaps that occur throughout the play. These emotions combined with his unawareness are the leading basis for the tragic hero’s flaws. These flaws lead Hamlet not to be a bad man, but a regular form of imperfection that comes along with being human.
He is a hero who makes sure his story would be known that he has conquered the ambitious Claudius. However, in the process, he lost everyone he loves including his own life. Hamlet is in fact a tragic hero. According to Aristotle’s definition of tragedy, a tragic hero is a great person who has the potential for greatness but is defeated. This protagonist must come into conflict with a force who or which directly opposes to what he should want. He must also suffer from a tragic flaw, which inevitably brings about his own downfall. In Hamlet, Hamlet is the protagonist who suffers from the flaw of inaction while he is faced against Claudius. To conclude, because of Hamlet’s great inability to act earlier, his lies and deceptive acts have all prolonged his primary goal which has resulted in his tragic death.
One of the elements that can be compared in the plays “Hamlet”, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, and “Agamemnon” is hamartia. Attempt has been made to analyse the main characters’ personality traits and provide the reader with specific examples that help to clarify how hamartia is present in each of the three plays. In order to analyse all the three characters’ personalities and their roles in the plays, it would be best to know first what hamartia means to further connect them with this element. By definition, hamartia is a flaw in the hero’s personality that allows them to commit certain tragic or fatal
William Shakespeare was a writer known for his comedies and tragedies. Throughout many of his tragedies his character suffer from hamartia, which is the fatal flaw associated with the downfall of a tragic hero. Three major characters of Shakespeare's that demonstrate this characteristic are Hamlet, King Lear and Macbeth. In many ways these characters all have many similarities, but one above the rest had a harder fall. Hamlet faced many obstacles in his life at a younger age than most. Dealing with real world issues including death and family troubles without overanalyzing, and his lack of life experience lead to his tragic downfall. Hamlet is the character whose flaw was most fatal compared to Lear and Macbeth.
With Hamlet’s tragic flaw being his inability to act, he is plagued throughout the play by his immense intelligence and philosophical nature, which causes him to overanalyze each situation, rendering him unable to carry out any action in response. This is evident in the play by the frequent delay of acting out his father’s revenge due to the uncertainty of the evidence pertaining to his uncle’s crime. Hamlet’s inability to act creates a discourse between hamlet and his consciousness, generating an abundance of stress, which causes him to become increasingly frustrated as the play progresses. This frustration leads to him at moments in the play to behave in a rash and impulsive way or acting in an inappropriate manner, contradicting his methodical and reserved disposition. It is the consequences of these “inappropriate” actions that resurfaces at the plays end, to haunt the character, as Hamlet’s inability to act while using his renowned logic and intelligence ultimately leads to his eventual demise at the plays conclusion, due to his inability to act both “effectively” and “appropriately” in critical situations.
With Hamlet being generally labeled as the best tragic hero ever created, it is ironic that his tragic flaw has never been as solidly confirmed as those of most of his fellow protagonists. There is Macbeth with his ambition, Oedipus with his pride, Othello with his jealousy, and all the others with their particular odd spots. Then there is Hamlet. He has been accused of everything and of nothing, and neither seems to stick. Flaws are carved out of obscure conversations when he may or may not be speaking truthfully and alleged from instances of his own self-discipline. They are bored into him with the bits of psychological drills invented long after Shakespeare's hand crafted
Hamlet’s biggest flaw was that he was so indecisive throughout the story. He makes it hard for himself to avenge his father’s death by passing up on numerous opportunities to kill Claudius. His hesitation would not only lead to his death, but the death of many others in the story. Hamlet was called upon a ghost which who he believed, was his dad, to avenge his father’s death. Hamlet finds out that his dad (King Hamlet) was poisoned by his uncle Claudius, so Claudius could rule Denmark.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is an interesting play in many ways. The character Hamlet is particularly intriguing in regards to his fatal flaw. Hamlet’s fatal flaw is a specific trait that forces him to postpone killing the king and it is this trait that drives Hamlet mad (Shakespeare 1.4.23-38). This Shakespearean tragedy is open to many interpretations of Hamlet’s fatal flaw. Two recent film productions of the play, Kenneth Branaugh’s Hamlet and the Zeffirelli’s Hamlet, each show a different fatal flaw in Hamlet. Branaugh shows his fatal flaw to be that Hamlet over thinks everything. Zeffirelli accentuates the Oepipus Complex in Hamlet meaning that Hamlet is jealous over his mother. Branaugh and Zeffirelli both use different methods to
Hamlet's fatal flaw is his delay in avenging his father's death. Hamlet is still devastated by his father's death when the ghost appears to him, and he is unable to
The tragic flaw of a human being is usually checked with the method he or she reacts with to the circumstances that life throws upon him or her. Contemporary society appears to be fixated on giving gatherings of people cases of such individuals who, in spite of the affliction of their lives, that still transcend. In fact, maybe nobody is more fit for indicating triumph over struggles than Sophocles and William Shakespeare. In both Oedipus and Hamlet, for example, the primary characters struggle with many obstacles and consequences and find themselves with unimaginable problems furthermore and are compelling to choose what the correct decision will be. This develops to Oedipus and Hamlet becoming motivated, courageous people and also becoming dishonest to themselves throughout the two books. Shakespeare and Sophocles’ plays show that sometimes when dealing with consequences and the obstacles there are different ways to react instead of leading to a tragedy. Oedipus and Hamlet’s motivation in dealing with problems is evident when the two primary characters want to find out the murderers of their father’s. Their courageous actions develop them towards having one goal, which was to kill the former King, and show courageous traits towards other people. They become dishonest to their themselves and is showed throughout the two books, which then causes misfortune for both of them in the end. Despite the resemblances of the two, Hamlet is in control of his activities, and he very