Hamlet: A Shakespeare’s Tragedy

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, the main character Hamlet mourns the death of his father while pretending to be insane, considers life and death, and seeks vengeance. McGinn explains why Hamlet is a tough character to grasp using philosophical themes from Shakespeare’s Philosophy. Hamlet is grappling with his new status as Prince of Denmark, as well as the expectations that come with the title. He begins to question his identity and the roles he has taken on as the play progresses. According to McGinn, “we construct ourselves as having a particular identity by imagining and enacting certain roles,” (McGuinn 46), thus Hamlet has constructed himself in a play and can only act when he occupies a role. I agree with McGinn that Hamlet is unaware of his true identity and is constantly playing a role in order to gain one.

Although McGinn proves points as to why Hamlet is a difficult character to understand I would also have to disagree with his claim.

The question of whether Hamlet is acting the part of a madman or if he is indeed mentally ill, is a well-known point of contention. According to McGinn, Hamlet fabricates himself to play a role since he is unaware of his genuine role. McGinn states that “…Hamlet is facing the problem of the nothingness of the self, and his way out of this nothingness is through an essentially theatrical construction of the self” (McGinn 45). In his theatrical act, Hamlet makes an effort to create a sense of self in the face of this emptiness. He assumes a variety of

personas during the play, from the crazy to the vengeful hero, in order to control people around him and realize his objectives. Hamlet’s deceased father begs him to seek retribution, and he responds, “As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on” (Shakespeare 1.5.170-171). Since Hamlet has no idea who he is, he plays the part of a lunatic to make Claudius believe he is harmless and unable to exact retribution for the death of his father. Shakespeare’s idea of playing a character in one’s own life is important to Hamlet because it gives him a way to hide his true motivations and mask his own emotions. By taking on an “antic disposition,” Hamlet can protect himself from the dangerous situation he is in and potentially convince Claudius to admit to the murder of Hamlet’s father.

Hamlet is unsure of how he feels. McGinn states “Think of the adolescent, unsure of the kind of person he or she wants to be: the process of acquiring an identity consists in playing a role, and hence involves theatrical skills.” (McGinn 47). Hamlet is conflicted with how he feels and how he is supposed to feel which leads him to obsess with playing a role. In both his concern with the “play within the play” and his portrayal of insanity, Hamlet is the ideal performer.

Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is as much a suicidal man’s reflections as it is an analysis of whether one might rebel against their scripted part on life’s stage. Should he assassinate the man who murdered his father? However, after being poisoned fatally, Hamlet is more convinced than ever that there is a divine providence that governs man’s existence and that events occur as they should when he states “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends” (Shakespeare 5.2.10) and fulfills his “job” by killing Claudius.

In Hamlet, in order to avenge his uncle, who has taken the kingdom and married his mother, Hamlet is depicted as an actor who is attempting to learn the truth about the death of his father. Although Hamlet performs a play within a play in an effort to uncover his uncle’s guilt,

this does not imply that he is “acting” in the sense of taking on a part. Instead Hamlet is using the play as a means of revealing his uncle’s duplicity and proving his own suspicions regarding the demise of his father. He is portrayed as a severely tormented individual who battles his own feelings of uncertainty, hesitation, and misery throughout the entire play. He is not merely acting; rather, he is debating the nuances of his predicament and seeking to act in accordance with his moral convictions. In short, while Hamlet does utilize acting as a tool in his pursuit for retribution, he is not simply “acting” in the way that an actor would on a stage. Instead, he is a nuanced person who fights for justice and the truth.

McGinn states “…then we get Hamlet’s predicament: a mixture of grief and brilliance leading to confusion and inaction.” (McGinn 51).Within the play, Hamlet’s predicament is a mix of sadness and brilliance which results in bewilderment and immobility in the play, Hamlet is unable to deal with his loss after the passing of his father because of his intense grief. He is also a very analytical and clever guy, which leads him to question and examine everything around him. Hamlet eventually becomes confused and immobile due to his own thoughts and feelings as a result of this tragic and brilliant combination. He struggles between the need for vengeance and the uncertainty of what to do. He eventually grows more and more hesitant and unsure, which ultimately brings him to ruin.

Throughout the play, Hamlet engages in different sorts of performance and pretense, from his pretended madness to his play within a play aimed to prove his stepfather’s guilt. Hamlet’s performances show his incapacity to make a decision and his retreat into a theatrical persona.

There are various ways to understand Hamlet’s actions and motivations. However, ultimately each reader must come to their own conclusions. While some contend that Hamlet uses his performances to subtly control the other characters, others may believe that he uses them to work

through his own feelings and aspirations. In the end, there is no one right answer because of the depth of Hamlet’s character and the play’s themes.

Written by Sonia Vandari

Works Cited

McGinn, Colin. Shakespeare’s Philosophy: Discovering the Meaning Behind The Plays, HarperCollins, New York, 2006, pp. 47–59.

William Shakespeare. Hamlet. The Norton Introduction to Literature, edited by Kelly J. Mays, Portable 13th Edition., W. W. Norton, 2022, pp. 906-1005.