WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S 'HAMLET' : A SAGA OF TRAGEDY

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56815/IJMRR.V1.I3.2022/32-36

Abstract

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, widely known as Hamlet by Shakespeare, is popular for its tragic elements as well as its themes of revenge and internal conflict of the protagonist that has created a story worthy of applause. In this paper, a thorough analysis of Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a tragedy is presented. The motivation for the study was to analyse the different elements
present in the play that establishes it as a unique tragedy through the amalgamation of diverse elements of the ancient and the modern. Thus, the true nature of it as a tragedy can be manifold which is considered the research problem in this paper. An empirical study design is adopted for the article, using Formalism as the primary critical theory to analyse each part of the text and unearth
the elements of tragedy- both in the ancient Greek and modern Shakespearean sense. The results of the paper indicate that Hamlet is a unique synthesis of the ancient notions of tragedy and a modern tragic hero with internal conflicts and self-doubt as well as a revenge tragedy by virtue of its primary theme. It is concluded that Hamlet is rooted in ancient Greek principles in terms of plot and dramatic devices yet the theme makes it a revenge tragedy and its modified character sketch establishes it as a tragedy of thought.