William Shakespeare is one the greatest playwrights in English literature. His most famous tragedy Hamlet belongs to the genre of Revenge Tragedy. The term ‘Revenge Tragedy’ takes us to Seneca who created dreadful and tragic incidents, gory actions, and yelling speeches. The Revenge Tragedy is basically based on killing and crime with different causes. The task of revenge is placed on the succeeding kin. There is so much gross, terror, and bloodshed when the killing is retaliated, and the revenger and all others who are involved in the crime die together in one bloody and violent ending. Based on these points, Hamlet, without any doubt, follows the tradition of revenge tragedy.
Hamlet, at the start of the play, is in great
despair because of his father’s death. Hamlet’s father was murdered by his evil
brother Claudius. More than that Hamlet is also deeply saddened when he learns
that his mother has married his father’s murderer i.e. Claudius. So in this way
the basic plot is established for this tragedy.
The supernatural element is a major characteristic
of revenge tragedy. In most of the revenge tragedies, the dead’s ghost
discloses the crime or offense carried out and the identification of the
murderer and passed the responsibility of avenging the murder. In the same way,
Hamlet is commanded by the ghost of his father with the responsibility of
revenging the murder.
Hamlet finds himself in a distinctive and disturbing
situation, one which casts doubt on the basic morals and ethics of his life. He
can no more trust society and believe in religion. And, last but not least,
Hamlet cannot go in for philosophy, which cannot define ghosts or serve his
moral questions. All these conflicts are going on in Hamlet’s mind and besides
these, he is also saddened by the death of his father, his mother’s incestuous
marriage, and the duty passed on him by the ghosts of his father, Hamlet is
clearly upset and shattered. He most probably is not insane but he is slowly
heading towards madness which we can see during many of the exceedingly extreme
and heated moments in the play like his encounter with Ophelia in Act 3 Scene 1
and his long conversation with his mother in Act 3, Scene 4.
In Hamlet, there are aggressive and violent scenes
that are portrayed keeping in mind the Revenge Tragedy convention. For example,
there is Hamlet’s madness, and also Ophelia’s madness and her suicide, Hamlet’s
killing of Polonius, eavesdropping scene, Claudius planning of sending Hamlet
back to England with instruction to kill him on England soil, an aggravated
Laertes and Hamlet fighting in the graveyard, and finally the many deaths that
transpire in the closing scene of the play.
Hamlet almost consists of all the characteristics of
a Seneca revenge play, but Shakespeare has treated the revenge theme so
uniquely which makes the play Hamlet beyond a mere Revenge Tragedy. Although
Hamlet is a tragedy of “bloodshed and terror”, the dealing of the theme is not
as gross and coarse as that of the traditional Revenge Tragedy. These
characteristics have been purified to upraise Hamlet beyond mere melodrama. The
supernatural element in Hamlet is not ‘gross’ but functions as a tool of
justice to penalize the wrong-doer. Also, Shakespeare’s dealing with the motive
of duty – a son’s responsibility of taking revenge against his father’s murder
– is more complicated than others. In other revenge tragedies, in taking
revenge against the murder, the tangible things perform as obstacles. But in
Shakespeare’s play Hamlet the protagonist’s own moral sense and his ethics are
the obstacles. In addition to all these, the language of the play also
minimizes the tone of brutality and transforms Hamlet into a superior work of
art. If we categorize Hamlet a mere “Revenge Tragedy” then it would be an
injustice to the work, it would disregard its aesthetic supremacy over other
plays of this category. The language of the play invokes a distinct world in
keeping with great tragedy, the all-inclusive issues it takes up and aims to
solve, the complicated nature of its protagonist – all these elements raise
Hamlet beyond what is traditionally termed “Revenge Tragedy”.
No comments:
Post a Comment