Shakespeare’s Tragedy

Tragedy the noblest form of drama, tells in dignified language a moving story which usually ends with death. Its propose it to be give pleasure to the audience not by delighting them as in comedy, but by moving them to deep spiritual experience by relaxing in them a storm of pity and terror that will expend itself and succeeded by ‘calm of mind’.

Shakespearean tragedy translates a moral vision in to dramatic form, and thus it is a way of knowing, that this way is different from that of science is obvious, from tragedy deals with things of the imagination, and its kind of truth must be emotionally experienced.

But the experience of tragedy may bear a closure relation to that of religion than usually has been recognized.

Different as the method of tragedy may be from that of religion, both pursue the same kind of knowledge.Tregady and religion seek by different means the same affirmation of the order, and in each there is a large emotional component which can never be in science.

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A Vision which comprehended on order or meaning in newspaper everyday, without dramatic significance.

Tragedy must impose upon the raw material of human experience a pattern in which the relation of human suffering to human joy becomes apparent, and out of this must come the feeling of reconciliation, with which every of Shakespeare’s tragedy ends and which critics of most divergent views have recognized. Shakespeare wrote a number of tragedies which are different from each other, out of them, “HAMLET” is the outstanding tragedy.

Hamlet is the first tragedy of Shakespeare which is published in between 1599 and 1601.Hamlet is a universal tale. Shakespeare takes the old tale of a hero who sacrifices himself in the cause of justice and turns it on its head. Hamlet is confused and indecisive hero, he is unable to act. He achieves something only when some external calamity forces him to react.

He is preoccupied with thoughts of death and suicide. tragedy revolves around love, death and betrayal in which the hero himself is Hamlet is a story of quest for identity and self-knowledge. Characters are presented in this tragedy with an abnormal state of mind, but Shakespeare suppressed this abnormal state of mind. In Shakespeare tragedies Hamartia is the main element, which leads the downfall of characters. Hamartia works as a spiritual force which is inherited in characters and leads them towards destruction.

In sixteen and seventeen century it was a common tradition to borrow ideas and beliefs from other literary works and Shakespeare also taken story of Hamlet from other sources which includes a twelfth century Latin history of Denmark, a prose work by the French writer and Thomas Kyd’s Ur-Hamlet.

In original story Hamlet’s uncle murders his father and marries his mother and claiming the throne, the prince then Kills his uncle in revenge. But Shakespeare version is different because his hero is a Philosophical Minded prince who delays taking action because his knowledge of his uncle’s crime is so uncertain.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a revenge play which is influenced by “Seneca”, the father of this genre. Shakespeare uses the themes of violence, killing and bloodshed in order to satisfy the need of Elizabethan audiences. These elements made it Renaissance play, as a Renaissance character he doubts on the appearance of ghost and thinks that it may be his devil attempt to contempt him for doing the crime.

Hamlet is wondering about the purpose of his life that is why he states that ‘To be or not to be’, he has many reasons to be questioning his existence. His father has been murdered by his uncle, his friends are sent to spy on him, his lover is unable to see him and he feels that his life is pointless and aimless this is why he utters this soliloquy.

Everyone in Hamlet is leading a fearful life, Hamlet’s mother has just lost a husband, his uncle if feeling guilty for murdering his brother and his lover Ophelia is forbidden by her father to meet Hamlet. This soliloquy is not only relevant to the characters of Hamlet but to all people, no matter to what country, century and tribe people belong they all experienced to some degree what Hamlet endured.

A person who has just lost a father or undergone a divorce can relate his or her life to Hamlet, they also questions their lives and afterlives. Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s feelings to express his own as well as those of all people, because of this Hamlet became a classic. Hamlet characters represent people in all circumstances.

He questions everything and has experienced grief, depression betrayal and anger. As Hazlitt states about Hamlet That “it is we who are Hamlet”. The themes of revenge and death can relate to everyone. As Hamlet represents everyone that is why this soliloquy in which he questions his life become extremely famous.

The romantic critics of the nineteen century were more interesting in the character of Hamlet rather than the plot of the story. For them, Hamlet was one of the greatest artistic creations ever drawn by an author or playwright. They saw Hamlet as an individual torn apart by doubt and fearful of taking action. As an idealist, Hamlet was unable to deal with the harsh realities of life; as a result, he paid a tragic penalty.

These critics often quoted Hamlet's own words in support of their interpretation. Hamlet is the story of Psychoanalysis. Many critics are of the view that Hamlet suffers from Oedipus Complex. In ancient Greek mythology, Oedipus is the unconscious instrument of an old curse, a destiny to murder his father and marry his mother. Today, many psychologists feel that there are many sons who have developed erotic feelings for their mothers and, as a result, they resent and hate their fathers.

Normally these feelings are repressed in unconscious but after 9sometime they again emerges because of certain situations. The Psychoanalysts believes that Hamlet suffers from Oedipus complex because of his huge possessiveness towards his mother and he urges his mother not to have intercourse with Claudius and they also argues that it is also Oedipus Complex which prevents Hamlet from committing himself to Ophelia.

Shakespeare portrays Hamlet with the same types of behaviors and frustrations in person that Sigmund Freud explained in his sychoanalysis theory. When the relationship between Hamlet and his mother is properly analyzed, Freud's oedipal complex theory comes to mind. Oedipal complex is a theory created by Freud that states that "The child takes both of its parents and more particularly one of them, as the object of its erotic wishes”.

Because of this desire to be with the parent of the opposite sex, a rivalry is formed with the parent of the same sex. In the play, Hamlet shows great hostility toward his uncle Claudius because his mother's remarriage to him. He is disgusted by his mother's ffection toward Claudius because he believes it is incestuous. It can also be inferred the Hamlet is more concerned with the marriage of his mother han the death of his father because Hamlet does not mention or express any concern over how his father died until he sees the ghost.

This its in with the oedipal complex because it can be said that unconsciously Hamlet believes that because of his father’s death his mother hould be his. Claudius marring his mother does not fit in with what Hamlet wants and takes his object of desire away from him. Hamlet confronts his mother about her relationship with Claudius and her involvement in the murder of King Hamlet. Hamlet is actually more concerned with his mother's sexual relationship than anything else including avenging his father.

Hamlet concentrates on his mother’s sexual relationships with his uncle by giving many sexual allusions and associating his mother with them. Hamlet’s feelings are hidden in his subconscious; he wishes he had done everything that Claudius had done such as killing his father and taking the place as King. The main focus is to find traces of Oedipus complex in Hamlet.

LITERARY CRITICISM IN HAMLET

The general assumptions about the character of Hamlet are that he suffers from Oedipus complex. His deep attachment with his mother and his intense hatred for his uncle are the symbolic signs of this dilemma.

Many authors and readers have suspected that Hamlet suffers from Oedipus complex, which he is secretly attracted towards his mother and desires for sexual relationship with his mother and because of this he expresses extreme hatred for his uncle.

Goethe says that Hamlet represents the type of man whose power of direct action is paralyzed by an excessive development of his intellect. Hamlet is far from being represented and a person incapable of taking an action. He, in his temper, kills Polonius with sword and sends the  wo courtiers to death that had been planned for himself.

Then the question arises what prevents him in fulfilling the task given to him by his father's ghost? The answer is that it is the peculiar nature of the task. Hamlet is able to do anything except take revenge on the man who did away with his father and took his place with the mother. Hamlet finds his desire of killing own father and sleeping with own mother fulfilled by Claudius's murder of his fath