Actions In Hamlet

In Shakespearean literature, the tragic hero is defined as “a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.” While not evil or unrighteous, their poor decision making skills create a terrible downfall usually for both themselves and the people around them. In Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, the actions of the characters are justified by the situations that occurred in their lives prior to these actions, but does not excuse them from what they have done. These actions have purpose and meaning which is very important in understanding a character's motif. However, these actions may not have necessarily impacted any other character negatively, but perhaps shocked the audience. Hamlet, not …show more content…
His father was murdered by his own uncle and his mother remarried the new King. Near the beginning of the play, Hamlet’s father appears as a ghost and tells Hamlet, “Murder most foul, as in the best it is. But this most foul, strange and unnatural” (1.5. 27-28). Hamlet’s thirst for revenge was dire and he was willing to do anything to quench it. His hatred towards his uncle was the coals in the fire of revenge. As the play progresses, Hamlet becomes more and more irrational. In Act 3, Hamlet ends up killing Polonius assuming it was really Claudius. Hamlet did not have quarrel with Polonius, but he was unfortunately caught in the crossfire. As previously stated, this does not excuse Hamlet’s actions, but it does further explain why he did it. Hamlet also played mind games with Ophelia because he was so distraught. Seeing his mother so quick to marry polluted his thoughts on women as a whole - therefore explaining why Hamlet was writing love notes prior to everything that happened and then is quick to tell Ophelia that he never cared for …show more content…
It is almost swept under the rug and ignored for a while until it is further explained. This shocked the audience because of how much of an important character she truly was. Gertrude finds Laertes and reveals “ One woe doth tread upon another’s heel, So fast they follow.—Your sister’s drowned, Laertes” (4.7. 159-160). Though it is not clearly stated whether or not Ophelia simply took her life or drowned, the church refuses to give her a proper burial because they claim it to be suicide. Her feelings for Hamlet were strong and true, which made it that much worse when he told her that he never loved her. At the beginning of the play, Polonius refused to let Ophelia be affiliated with Hamlet in any way due to his status, and assumed that he only wanted her for sex. They truly fight to be with one another. Then, out of nowhere, Hamlet tells her he no longer cares for her and never has. This confuses and upsets Ophelia greatly, especially because Hamlet begins making sexual remarks towards her not long after. Later on in the play, Ophelia finds out that her once adoring prince has murdered her own father. Manipulated by both her father and Hamlet, her heart is stretched and pulled until it finally breaks for