Hamlet Tragic Flaw

In this play “Hamlet” written by William Shakespeare, there are many soliloquies that are said by Hamlet to depict various meanings of his thoughts, feelings, and actions that are inside of him. More specifically the soliloquy in Act 3, Scene 1, in lines 57-91 starts off with the famous saying known as “To be, or not to be”. Throughout this soliloquy, Hamlet is asking himself the question of whether it is better to live or not to live. In life, we are faced with many situations where we feel the need to give up our life and not face the problems. Only by facing all the troubles, will a person become stronger and more courageous to handle anything in life. By believing in one’s self, can man have the courage to follow what they think is right. Killing yourself or giving up is never a solution in life. This soliloquy reveals Hamlet’s fearful personality by showing that his decision-making process is slow and that he fears risks or uncertainty. These character traits are depicted thoroughly by Hamlet throughout the play.

In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet, a studious young man and Prince of Denmark, struggles to face the death of his father and the task to kill his father’s murderer, Claudius. He was once known as a charming, smart young man before his father’s death. However, Hamlet experiences depression and anger at the world, causing him to look outwardly on society but failing to look inwardly on himself. The death of his father and the task for vengeance leads him to question whether or not he should follow through in killing Claudius. He becomes a man of thought rather than a man of action. In addition, the delay of King Claudius’ murder leads the readers to believe that he wishes not to kill him; he

Troubled by his father's death, Hamlet, prince of Denmark wants revenge. He is motivated to kill, with his friend Horatio by his side he has the confidence and courage to overcome any obstacles he faces. Hamlet's circumstances cause him to go insane, leading to the deaths of Polonius, Laertes, Claudius; also he indirectly causes the deaths of his girlfriend, Ophelia; his mother, Gertrude;and the messengers, Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern. Amidst all this chaos and death, he is also responsible for the fall of Denmark. Hamlet's motivations, madness, depression and mental state contribute to his demise.

Does Hamlet have a tragic flaw? If so, what is it and how does it effect his surroundings and how does it effect Hamlet himself? What is the outcome of his flaw?

Throughout the play, Hamlet is dealing with conflict within himself. When Hamlet finds that he must take revenge on Claudius, he is unsure whether there is any point in having to kill, to take another human life, and whether he would be able to handle this. Hamlet fights inside himself. Is this right? Is this his duty? He considers suicide again, "To be or not to be, that is the question." Hamlet shows his philosophical nature, and talks himself out of the idea of suicide, fearing the unknown beyond. He is thoughtful and intelligent and not first a man of action.

In his mature, adult mind, he knows that he must avenge his father, but there lives an innocent child in his conscience who does not want to commit murder; and Hamlet perceives this as cowardice. It seems as though Hamlet is struggling with what he knows he must do, and actually doing it. While instead of pursuing his father’s revenge, he lets his emotions dictate his actions (in this case, his lack of action). So, in self-justification, he tucks away his apprehension and decides to seek proof of Claudius’s murder of Hamlet’s father. Furthermore, Hamlet is beginning to question his identity as a “pigeon-livered coward.” What is more noteworthy, however, is that both soliloquies exhibit Hamlet to be an immature boy, as he speaks on impulses of emotion, rather than logic itself.

When Hamlet is first asked to avenge his fathers’ death his loyalty invades his thoughts and emotions leading to iritic behavior from Hamlet as form of procrastination, as he is unsure of the information he given by the possible ghost of his late father. Shakespeare has made use of the stylistic features of rhetorical questions and biblical language to communicate Hamlets morals and fears to act on his loyalty, “And I shall couple hell?”. “To be or not to be, that is the question, Whether ‘Tis nobler in the mind to suffer”, Shakespeare has used this rhetorical question within a soliloquy to question whether to live or not to live, then states that it is more noble to suffer life passively then conclude in suicide. Shakespeare has applied dualism to this question within his play, to act on loyalty or to suffer without revenging his father’s death. Shakespeare unlike Hosseini has created a revenge tragedy through the overwhelming theme of revenge, which expresses the true price of Hamlets inaction to act on loyalty, in which the play ends the death of many characters including hamlet and his mother

Hamlet, unlike Fortinbras and Laertes, did not follow what his advisor told him without questioning why he should take the advice. As time passes, Hamlet still has not acted out the revenge he promised his father. Out of disgust for his irreverence for his father he says, ?why, what an ass am I! This is most brave, that I, the son of a dear father murdered, prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, must like a whore, unpack my heart with words and fall a-cursing like a very drab? (II.ii.594-598). This statement prompts one to believe Hamlet has been convinced by his father?s words to act, but does not want to do so hastily. Hamlet questions the validity of his revenge by devising a plan to provide evidence of King Claudius? guilt. Hamlet took advantage of his position at the local theater by instructing his actors

Logic is man 's most valuable asset; it is what pushed humanity past other species and helped develop humankind into what it is today. Without such logic and reasoning, humanity would not have evolved into the strongest and most powerful beings alive. It is what has enabled us to dominate the world, create civilization, unlock the secrets of the universe through math and science and reveal the true nature of man through art. One of art’s most beloved benefactors, William Shakespeare, crafted his most famous character, Hamlet, to be the living embodiment of this God-given reason. However, we learn throughout Hamlet’s eponymous play the irony in the

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

It is better not to put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Many consequences can arise when one procrastinates. An example of this is found in Shakespeare’s Hamlet through the depiction of the central character. Although Hamlet is characterized as daring, brave, loyal, and intelligent, he is overwhelmed by his own conscience. The tragic hero is defined as one whose downfall is brought about due to their tragic flaw. Hamlet’s inability to act on his father’s murder, his mother’s marriage, and his uncle assuming of the thrown are all evidence of his tragic flaw of procrastination.

Hamlet's fatal flaw is his inability to act. Unlike his father, Hamlet lets his intelligence rather than his heroism govern him. When he has a chance to kill Claudius, and take vengeance for his father's murder, he hesitates, reckoning that if he kills the man while he is at prayer, Claudius would have asked for pardon from the Lord and been forgiven of his sins, therefore allowing him to enter Heaven. Hamlet decides to wait for a better opening. His flaw of being hesitant in the end leads to his own death, and also the deaths of Gertrude, Ophelia, Laertes, and Claudius.

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

focussing on his purpose. As a matter a fact, a whole act is used to

A fatal flaw refers to the key element in the precipitous decline of a plan or person. It is an event that could cause an unexpected problem and prevent an opportunity from accomplishing its goals and objectives. Fatal flaws can be associated with assumptions which are difficult to establish. In literature, fatal flaw is associated with a protagonist who has a serious character flaw which leads to their downfall. (Evans, 158). In the play Hamlet, Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his heart. He is a very clever person because he would make devious plans on finding out if King Claudius murdered his father or not. He becomes hesitant in carrying out revenge on King Claudius because Hamlet lacks willpower and passion. His incapability to act is indeed the tragic flaw. He had an opportunity to kill King Claudius when praying in his chamber but he made excuses as to why he could not destroy him. This indecisiveness leads to his downfall. He again is sent to England by Claudius where he goes through many ordeals before his flaws lead to Claudius, Gertrude and his death.