Considering 'Hamlet' as a tragedy

Considering 'Hamlet' as a tragedy

1. 'It is the emotional truth of the struggle rather than the metaphysical truth of the worldview that is at the centre of [Shakespeare's] plays' 2David Scott Kastan

   • We see Hamlet struggling with the weight of his burden, and most of the play is taken up not with the act of revenge or the death of of our hero, but his tortured path of indecision
     • Act 3 Scene 1
     • End of Act 2 Scene 2
     • Comparing himself to Laertes Act 4

2. Characters may commit themselves to a confident sense of the tragic world they inhabit; but the plays inevitably render that preliminary understanding inadequate, and the characters struggle unsuccessfully to reconstruct a coherent worldview from the ruins of the old

   • Hamlet father dies- this is then turned on his head when the ghost tells him he was actually murdered. Hamlet then struggles to come to terms with this- should he trust the ghost (whole madness thing)

3. 'It would not be surprising if an audience inwardly driven by by envy were to delight in the fall of one greater than they'

   • Modern audiences- make us question things
     • On a subconsience level enjoyable- dont necessarily realise this
     • Agree with this interpretation more

4. 'Fall from prosperity to retchedness'

   • Claudius- King to death