The Archetypes In Hamlet

Of the thirty-seven plays he wrote, William Shakespeare’s tragedies are his most popular and enduring works. The majority of his tragedies have had incredible impact and are studied more often in schools. Shakespeare’s tragedies often feature characters built around archetypes and his most famous tragedy, Hamlet, is no exception. Hamlet makes use of archetypes like the tragic hero, the villain, the suppliant, and the foil in order to create characters that are familiar while also building upon them in new ways. As evidenced by the title, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Hamlet is the hero of this tragedy. Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, has recently been murdered as the play opens. When the ghost of King Hamlet tells Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (I.v.31), Hamlet spends the rest of the play debating whether or not to …show more content…
However, Claudius is a very different villain from those seen in Shakespeare’s other major tragedies. While Iago of Othello and Edmund of King Lear are ruthlessly cruel and calculating and Macbeth serves as both tragic hero and villain, Claudius is neither evil for evil’s sake nor a mix of hero and villain. Despite having killed the former King Hamlet and later plotting with Laertes to kill Hamlet, Claudius never seems like a significant threat to Hamlet. Simply put, “Claudius…is hopelessly outclassed by his nephew” (Bloom 386). While Iago destroys Othello’s world and Edmund helps bring about the destruction and deaths of Lear’s entire family, Claudius, at best, sets Denmark into some turmoil that hardly rivals the chaos of King Lear and Macbeth and is constantly outsmarted by Hamlet. Hamlet sees straight through Polonius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern (who were sent by Claudius to spy on Hamlet), finds out about Claudius’ plan to have him executed in England and escapes back to Denmark, and ultimately stabs and poisons