Why is the image of Hamlet an eternal image? There are many reasons, and at the same time, each individually or all together, in a harmonious and harmonious unity, they cannot give an exhaustive answer. Why? Because no matter how hard we try, whatever research we do, we are not subject to “this great mystery” - the mystery of Shakespeare's genius, the mystery of a creative act, when one work, one image becomes eternal, and the other disappears, dissolves into nothingness, so and not touching our soul. And yet, the image of Hamlet beckons, does not give rest ...
W. Shakespeare, Hamlet: A History of Creation
Before embarking on a fascinating journey into the depths of the soul of Hamlet, we recall the summary and history of writing the great tragedy. The plot of the work is based on real events described by Saxon Grammatik in the book “The History of the Danes”. A certain Horvendil, a wealthy ruler of Jutland, was married to Herut, had a son, Amlet and a brother, Fengo. The latter envied his wealth, courage and glory, and once in front of the eyes of all the courtiers he brutally cracked down on his brother, and subsequently married his widow. Amlet did not submit to the new ruler and, in spite of everything, decided to take revenge on him. He pretended to be crazy and killed him. After some time, Amlet himself was killed by his other uncle ... Look - the resemblance is obvious!
The time of action, the place, the action itself and all the participants in the unfolding events - there are many parallels, however, the problems of the Shakespeare tragedy do not fit into the concept of “the tragedy of revenge” and go far beyond it. Why? The thing is that the main characters of the Shakespearean drama, headed by Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, are ambiguous in nature and significantly different from the whole heroes of the Middle Ages. In those days, it was not customary to think much, reason, and even more so, to doubt the adopted laws and ancient traditions. For example, blood feud was considered not evil, but a form of justice restoration. But in the image of Hamlet we see a different interpretation of the motive of revenge. This is the main distinguishing feature of the play, the starting point of all that unique and amazing that is in the tragedy, and that has been haunting for several centuries.
Summary of the play
Elsinore is a magnificent castle of Danish kings. Every night, the night watch observes the appearance of the Phantom, as reported by Horatio, a friend of Hamlet. This is the ghost of the late father of a Danish prince. At the "dead time of the night" he confesses to Hamlet his main secret - he did not die by his death, but was treacherously killed by his brother Claudius, who took his place - the throne and married the widow - Queen Gertrude.
The inconsolable soul of the slain demands revenge from his son, but Hamlet, bewildered and stunned by everything he heard, is in no hurry to act: what if a ghost is not a father at all, but a messenger of hell? He needs time to be convinced of the truth of the secret told to him, and he pretends to be crazy. The death of the king, who in Hamlet’s eyes was not only a father, but also an ideal of man, then hasty, despite mourning, the wedding of his mother and uncle, the Ghost’s story is the first lightning of the revealed imperfection of the world, this is the plot of the tragedy. After it, the plot develops rapidly, and with it the main character himself changes dramatically. In two months he turns from an enthusiastic young man into an indifferent, melancholy "old man." This is the subject of "V. Shakespeare, "Hamlet", the image of Hamlet "does not end there.
Cunning and betrayal
Claudius is suspicious of the disease of Hamlet. To check if his nephew had really lost his mind, he conspired with Polonius, the faithful courtier of the newly made king. They decide to use unsuspecting Ophelia, Hamlet's lover. For the same purpose, the prince's old faithful friends, Rosencrantz and Guildensten, are called into the castle, who are not so devoted, and readily agree to help Claudius.
Mousetrap
A theater troupe arrives in Elsinore. Hamlet persuades them to play in front of the king and the queen's performance, the plot of which accurately conveys the story of the Phantom. During the performance, he sees fear and confusion on the face of Claudius, and is convinced of his guilt. Well, the crime is solved - the time has come to act. But Hamlet is not in a hurry again. “Denmark is a prison”, “time is dislocated”, evil and betrayal reveal themselves not only in the murder of the king by their own brother, they are everywhere, from now on this is a normal state of the world. The era of ideal people is long gone. Against this background, blood feud loses its original meaning, ceases to be a form of "rehabilitation" of justice, because it essentially does not change anything.
Path of evil
Hamlet is at a crossroads: “To be or not to be? - that's the question". What is the use of revenge, it is empty and meaningless. But even without quick reckoning for the evil done, it is impossible to live on. It is a duty of honor. Hamlet’s internal conflict leads not only to his own suffering, to his endless speculations about the futility of life, to thoughts of suicide, but, like boiling water in a clogged vessel, boils and spills into a series of deaths. The prince is directly or indirectly guilty of these killings. He kills Polonius, who overhears his conversation with his mother, mistakenly mistaking him for Claudius. On the way to England, where Hamlet was supposed to be executed, he substitutes a discrediting letter on board the ship, and instead his friends - Rosencrantz and Guildenster - were executed. In Elsinore, Ophelia, who has gone mad with grief, dies. Laertes, brother of Ophelia, decides to avenge his father and sister, and challenges Hamlet to a court duel. The tip of his sword is poisoned by Claudius. During the fight, Gertrude dies, having tasted the poisoned wine from the bowl, which was actually intended for Hamlet. As a result, Laertes, Claudius, is killed, and Hamlet himself dies ... From now on, the Kingdom of Denmark is ruled by the Norwegian king Fortinbras.
The image of Hamlet in tragedy
The image of Hamlet arises just when the Renaissance is approaching its sunset. At the same time, other, no less vivid, “eternal images” appear - Faust, Don Quixote, Don Juan. So what is the secret of their longevity? First of all, they are ambiguous and multifaceted. In each of them lies great passions, which, under the influence of certain events, sharpen to an extreme degree this or that trait of character. For example, Don Quixote's extreme lies in his idealism. Hamlet’s image, however, brought to life, one can say, the last, extreme degree of introspection, self-digging, which does not push him toward quick decision-making, decisive actions, does not make him change his life, but rather paralyzes. On the one hand, events giddy succeed each other, and Hamlet is a direct participant in them, the main character. But on the one hand, this is what lies on the surface. And on the other? - He’s not a "director", he is not the main manager of the whole action, he is just a "puppet". He kills Polonius, Laertes, Claudius, becomes the culprit of the death of Ophelia, Gertrude, Rosencrantz and Guildensten, but all this happens by the will of fate, by tragic accident, by mistake.
Renaissance Exodus
However, again, not everything is so simple and straightforward. Yes, the reader gets the impression that the image of Hamlet in the Shakespeare tragedy is filled with indecision, inaction and weakness. And again, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Under the impenetrable thickness of the water, something else is hidden - a sharp mind, an amazing ability to look at the world and oneself from the side, the desire to get to the very essence, and, in the end, to see the truth, no matter what. Hamlet is the real hero of the Renaissance, great and strong, putting spiritual and moral self-improvement in the first place, glorifying beauty and boundless freedom. However, it is not his fault that the ideology of the Renaissance is experiencing a crisis at its late stage, against which he is forced to live and act. He comes to the conclusion that everything he believed in and what he lived with was just an illusion. The work of revising and reassessing humanistic values results in disappointment, and as a result ends in tragedy.
Different approaches
We continue the theme of what is the artistic image, the characteristic of Hamlet. So what is the root of the tragedy of Hamlet, the prince of Denmark? In different eras, the image of Hamlet was perceived and interpreted in different ways. For example, Johann Wilhelm Goethe, a passionate admirer of the talent of W. Shakespeare, considered Hamlet to be a beautiful, noble and moral person, and his death comes from the burden imposed on him by fate, which he could neither bear nor relieve.
The famous English poet, S. T. Coldridge, draws our attention to the complete lack of will of the prince. All the events taking place in the tragedy, without a doubt, should have caused an unprecedented surge of emotions, and subsequently an increase in activity and decisiveness of actions. It could not be otherwise. But what do we see? Thirst for revenge? Instant execution of your plan? Nothing of the kind, on the contrary - endless doubts and senseless and unjustified philosophical reflections. And here it is not a lack of courage. It’s just the only thing he’s capable of.
Weakness of will attributed to Hamlet and V.G. Belinsky. But, according to the prominent literary critic, it is not his natural quality, rather conditional, due to the situation. It comes from a spiritual split, when life, circumstances dictate one thing, and inner convictions, values, and spiritual abilities and opportunities are different, completely opposite.
V. Shakespeare, “Hamlet”, the image of Hamlet: conclusion
As you can see, how many people - so many opinions. The eternal image of Hamlet is surprisingly diverse. We can say a whole picture gallery of mutually exclusive portraits of Hamlet: a mystic, an egoist, a victim of the Oedipus complex, a brave hero, an outstanding philosopher, a woman-hater, the highest embodiment of the ideals of humanism, a melancholic, not adapted for anything ... Is there an end to this? More likely no than yes. As the expansion of the universe will continue indefinitely, so the image of Hamlet in the tragedy of Shakespeare will excite people forever. He broke away from the text itself a long time ago, left the narrow framework of the play for him, and became that “absolute”, “supertype” that has the right to exist outside of time.