Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Critical Study of Significance of Violence

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Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Critical Study of Significance of Violence
Hamlet is one of the most memorable characters in all Shakespearean plays for his indecisive, perplexed, and vindictive personality traits. He is a stereotypical Shakespearean tragic hero who suffers from the hamartia of irresolution. Shakespeare’s use of Hamlet’s soliloquies is one of the most critically appraised techniques as it brings out the internal conflict raging within Hamlet. Nonetheless, the use of violence is another less critically appreciated tool that Shakespeare effortlessly employs to shape Hamlet’s typical behavior. The murder of his father is the violent spur that drives him to his dilemma; similarly, the murder of Polonius by Hamlet is another way of exposing his characteristic hamartia, and ultimately the killing of Claudius, Hamlet, and Laertes is the culmination of violence that comprehensively expose Hamlet’s motives and personality. Therefore, the following paragraphs provide substantial textual evidence to validate that Shakespeare’s use of violence is another way of exposing Hamlet’s complex personality.
The motive and spur behind Hamlet’s unprecedented rage and the ensuing confusion and psychological dilemma is the murder of his father, King Hamlet. In Act I Scene 5, the ghost of the deceased king informs Hamlet about the violent killing of his father; indeed, this act of violence in the past is the factor that motivates Hamlet to take revenge and consequently shapes his complex personality by instilling confusion and psychological war between his conscience and his indecisive nature (Shakespeare 56). Indeed, this regicide is the very act of violence that drives Hamlet towards his psychological and later physical conflict. In this regard, a renowned critic claims that the deceased king’s ghost is in no way a peaceful and benign personality and, therefore, the ghost is the one who instigates Hamlet into the act of violence (England 49). Nevertheless, it is evident that this hidden act of violence creates havoc in Hamlet’s otherwise benign, genial, and intellectual mind and molds his character into a more complex one.
Hamlet’s use of practical violence is a prerequisite to developing his character and lends it a new intriguing hue and tone. It is observable that before Hamlet starts committing blood-curdling physical violence, Shakespeare has exposed only his psychological dilemma in the form of his intense soliloquies marked by unimaginable rage and confusion. However, the projection of Hamlet’s physically violent side is made possible only by thrusting him into an act of violence, and these acts bring about more hidden details of his universally acknowledged complex personality. According to one scholar, Hamlet’s character manifests a personal quest for an inspiring vision, and Shakespeare’s primary purpose in making his character complicated is to enlighten the audience about the significance of civility and the harm of violence (Appelbaum 98). This scholar makes it crystal clear that the use of violence is imperative not only to project new dimensions of Hamlet’s character but also to facilitate readers in co...