Introduction

            Drama is more like an extended version of epics and long poems. It is the preferred form where the stories are told through characters and stages. In fact, what makes drama as a form of literature is the liberty that it gives to the dramatist; the ideas can be presented over a vast horizon with endless possibilities to showcase the intuitions of human beings. These intuitions may be positive or negative but overall, they are entertaining enough to provide durable impact over the audience. In the context of dramatic art, William Shakespeare is the master playwright of all times. He has created some of the finest personalities that are certainly one of their own kinds. Known for his tragedies, Shakespeare has produced the complex psychologies of human beings through his tragic heroes like Hamlet and Macbeth.

If the above theory of complex psychology is applied to Hamlet, he tends to show how impacts of internal and external conflicts may result in the ultimate downfall of human beings. In spite of his belonging to the highest class of society, the tragic end to which, the hero advances in the play is quite a subject of analysis. Hamlet’s tragedy is ideal in the sense that his psychology is the outcome of the effects that he receives from the outer world in the form of external forces affecting his mentality. However, he is also internally responsible for the catastrophe that he meets with because he generalizes the events of the world without looking at the specific nature of the event i.e. he indulges in idealizing the happenings of the world instead of practically examining the gravity of situation.

Hamlet and his Grief: An Opening Account of Internal Conflicts

            At first, it is noteworthy in the context of Hamlet that Shakespeare has used the technique of human intuition to derive that desired tragic effect in the play. From the very first appearance of the protagonist in the play, the mood of the audience is set towards something ‘big to happen’ later. The audience is introduced to Hamlet in the Royal Court of Denmark, wearing the black, the dress of mourning. The context of his mourning and grief is given by Claudius, the new king of Denmark who has now taken over the throne after the so called ‘unnatural death’ of Hamlet’s father, the Sr. Hamlet. Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle has also married to Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude which he tells the courtiers in the opening speech.

However, a precise overview of Hamlet’s mentality shows that the source of his grief is not limited to his father’s untimely death only. Claudius suggests to him that he should leave his concerns behind and move on in life as he cannot remain in grief throughout his life. He questions Hamlet why ‘the clouds are still hanging on him’ (1.2.67). Hamlet’s reply shows that he is ‘quite under the sun’ (1.2.69). These two initial expressions show some sort of revelation that is upon Hamlet. The suggestions given by his uncle and by his mother work no further—they do not provide any positive effect on him. Instead, he is happy under his grief because his grievances for the world stem from the actions of his mother.

Moreover, he is not only puzzled by the death of his father, but also he is extremely disappointed by the sudden marriage of Claudius and Gertrude. The starting point, the opening appearance of Hamlet in the play, therefore, makes him someone emotionally vulnerable. In the same scene, his psychology is revealed when his mother questions that if his black dress is a common wear, why it ‘seems’ so particular with him. Hamlet’s vehement response to this concludes in the words, But I have that within which passes show, These but the trappings and the suits of woe” (1.2.88-89). Therefore, it is not merely a passing show for Hamlet to wear black dress; his mornings and inner frustration—which he cannot mention in court—is way bigger than the people in court think.

The same expressions from Hamlet are seen in his first soliloquy when he opens up his mind to the audience. His very existence in the world is not so valuable for him and he wishes if he could end his life before seeing the marriage of his uncle and his mother. His extremely negative psychology, a sort of permanent hatred, is seen in his generalized expression “frailty, thy name is woman” (1.2.150). It is definitely his anger and frustration towards the marriage of the two but he holds a generalized opinion towards entire female gender that they are weak and emotionally vulnerable. He criticizes the act of marriage of his mother by recalling the manner in which, she mourned the death of her husband. It is merely two months and she has forgotten everything, even the personality comparison (1.2.144). The disappointment and anger are the two most prominent emotions that audience views in the protagonist in the opening part of the play. The same feeling is responsible for the desired impact that ghost of Hamlet’s father produces to set the course of further tragedy in the play. The expression which Hamlet gives after discovering that his father’s ghost is wandering in the outskirts of the castle structures his possible alternative at psychological level, “My father’s spirit—in arms! All is not well. I doubt some foul play” (1.2.277-278)

The Appearance of Ghost and Antic Disposition: Formulation of Complex Psychology

            Later, the encounter of Hamlet with his father’s ghost serves the purpose of structuring the psychological tragedy of the protagonist. Hamlet is shocked to hear about his father’s ghost and decides to meet him. In this encounter, some shocking truths are revealed including the manner in which, Sr. Hamlet died. Because of his closeness to his father, Hamlet finds it very embarrassing that his uncle is not a worthy king. Instead, he is a killer and must be punished for killing his brother so unnaturally. The state of curiosity is too high to resist for him, Haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift, as meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge” (1.5. 35-37). The audience feels that the revenge will be done quickly because of the love that Hamlet holds to his father. But reality is quite different and interesting one (Firouzjaee & Pourkalhor, 2014).

Moreover, the encounter shows how Sr. Hamlet was killed and what he wishes from his son now. It is just the revenge that can satisfy the spirit now and Hamlet promises him the same but, however, the way he decides to avenge upon his father’s murder is peculiar. He decides to have antic disposition, a madness driven from emotions which would lead him to his revenge, How strange or odd some’er I bear myself (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on)” (1.5.190-193). Now, there are different dimensions that lead to this critical thinking of Hamlet to be mad and behave strangely to take revenge. It simply delays the action but at the same time, it explains the psychology of Hamlet as a noble scholar who decides to verify the information that Ghost has provided (Sharma, 2017).

Moreover, there are possibilities that the ghost may be the outcome of his own emotional follies driven from the death of his father’s grief. So, it is advisable—as he thinks it—for him to be in the perfect frame of mind before moving on the path of revenge. At this point he mentions putting on “an antic disposition” (I.5 175), which signals he is only playing to be mad; therefore explaining his behaviour only by means of his lunacy seems insufficient. What is clear about this scene is that Hamlet wants to keep the secret of the Ghost to himself. He tells Horatio to mind his own business (though he is aware it offends him), for now he trusts the Ghost: “It is an honest [genuine] ghost, that let me tell you” (I.5 138), “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your [Protestant] philosophy” (I.5 169), “Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio” (I.5 136) – even if the cellarage scene was designed to convince Marcellus that the Ghost came from Hell, Hamlet does not believe that: the only place in Shakespeare’s England from which Hamlet’s departed father could have returned is Catholic Purgatory (anglistiku, fakultet & Zagrebu, 2015).

The overall first half of the play showcases Hamlet as a man of pure psychological instincts. He is like his father; he is dutiful, religious and belongs to the sexual purity species of human beings. He tries to carry forward the fate of his father and ensures that the same ideology of pure culture is adopted in his personality. However, this adoption of purity simply leads to his dejection and disappointment. He is unable to cope up with the practical living standards of the rest of the world, which makes him somewhat a person of his own kind. It is also the source of his grief and possibly, he applies madness to his behavior because he would not act of say things in sanity that he does in madness. In fact, Hamlet suffers from a mental paralysis after his encounter with ghost. He is in between the crossfire of conflicts, internal and external ones. The internal conflict emerges when he views the injustice done to his father (Bryan, 2015).

Additionally, the external conflict is driven on behalf of his mother, uncle, his beloved and on behalf of the madness that he owns willingly. The transformation of Hamlet from a great and noble scholar to a violent madman is simply the result of these conflicts. He is unable to manage the thought that the world around him is filled with wrongdoers and he has to adjust his character in between them. The approach that he takes to deal with the characters around him may sound wrong to some scholars but it is a part of his personality that he cannot resist. He would like to escape his inner conflicts by dying, but suicide is a sin and his disillusionment with Ophelia and the Mousetrap scene releases his anger, and he becomes capable of violence (Sharma, 2017).

 

The Aspect of Purity: Delay in Action of Revenge

            Further in the same context, Hamlet becomes able to show violence but there is purity involved in his violent acts. He is driven from self motifs to kill Claudius but he grants him life when Claudius is praying (3.3.40-44). It is right time, as per the neutral perspective, to take revenge of his father’s murder. But the glitch takes place at the time of Hamlet’s encounter with Claudius in this scene. Owing to his purity of soul, Hamlet does not find it apt to kill Claudius here. After the mousetrap incident, Hamlet has the entire motif and evidences against Claudius. However, he cannot permit his uncle to go to heaven because he is praying. His sins will be forgiven, if he dies while praying therefore; it is not the right time, as per Hamlet’s assumption, to kill his uncle, “And so he goes to heaven, and so am I revenged. That would be scanned: A villain kills my father, and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven. Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge” (3.3.79-84). There is a feeling in Hamlet’s perception, the feeling that leads him to ‘scan’ the process of revenge.

This scanning further results in the morality and ethics in his revenge. He is not the kind of person who believes in revenge by any means but by the means that make revenge ideally perfect to Claudius. It is nothing but the ethical purity of his personality that leads to delay in act of revenge. Hamlet is no longer interested in taking revenge in this scene, once he realizes that the act of killing here would make his uncle a saint. Therefore, he decides to kill him at the time when he is involved in some foul activities like incest or drinking. Hamlet is held responsible for all the delays that he causes in the act of revenge whether it is the adoption of antic disposition, mousetrap scene organization or leaving Claudius alone in the praying scene. He makes conditions too tough to handle towards the end of the play, resulting in his own death along with the accomplishment of revenge (Bryan, 2015).

Conclusion

            To conclude, Hamlet is one of the finest psychological tragedies that have been ever produced. Shakespeare makes Hamlet’s character as an ideal tragic hero on the grounds of his birth, noble thinking and having nature to generalize things as tragic flaw. His psychology is driven from perfected lens from which, he sees the follies of the world. This thinking leads him into various troubles and ends in tragedy. He is trapped in internal and external state of conflicts which are unavoidable and quite hard to manage at the same time, making him similar to a fine man victimized by his own thoughts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet: Prince of Denmark (Ed. Mowat & Werstine). N.d. Folger Shakespeare Library. https://www.folgerdigitaltexts.org/download/pdf/Ham.pdf

Dr. Sharma S. A Psychological Analysis of Major Shakespearean Tragedies. Pune Research: An International journal of English. 2017. http://puneresearch.com/media/data/issues/5a11b42c1a876.pdf

Apt, Bryan. A Wave of Destruction: Time’s Inexorable Effects in Hamlet and Macbeth. Master’s thesis, Harvard Extension School. 2015. https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/24078347/APT-THESIS-2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Odsjek za anglistiku, Filozofski fakultet & Sveučilište u Zagrebu. The Fantastic in Shakespeare: Hamlet and Macbeth. Listopad.  2015. http://darhiv.ffzg.unizg.hr/id/eprint/5728/1/The%20Fantastic%20in%20Shakespeare%20Hamlet%20and%20Macbeth.pdf

Hassan Abedi Firouzjaee & Dr.Omid Pourkalhor. Revisiting Shakespeare: A Study of Human Nature in Hamlet and Macbeth. International Journal of English Literature and Culture. 2014. https://www.academicresearchjournals.org/IJELC/PDF/2014/September/Firouzjaee%20and%20Pourkalhor.pdf