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Hamlet, a Masterful Mistake
How well can a person know himself? Or, who can confidently and honestly proclaim that he perfectly knows his characters and personalities? Though not known as a philosopher or a psychologist, Williams Shakespeare seems to address this issue in his legendary work. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is arguably one of the best known English literatures in history. Despite the fact that many people acknowledge the play for its well written plot with different themes such as vengeance or justice, some scholars seriously disagree. In fact, “Samuel Johnson characterizes Shakespeare’s plots as ‘often so loosely formed … and so carelessly pursued’ ” (qtd. in Kumamoto 202). Furthermore, the article, Hamlet the Actor, indicates that, “Nothing happens in Hamlet, as anyone who has read the play will know” (Pearce 1). Then, “T.S. Eliot singles out Hamlet as ‘puzzling, and disquieting,’ due to, among its faults, ‘superfluous and inconsistent scenes’ ” (qtd. in Kumamoto 202).
According to Brian Pearce, “Most of the significant action of the play takes place before the play begins, or takes place off stage or occurs in the final scene” (1). It is true that the death of Hamlet’s father, which is main reason for all the chaos, is not included in any of the scenes. The suicide of Ophelia, which triggers Laertes’ plan to kill Hamlet, happens off stage. Finally, most readers have trouble to understand the protagonist’s emotions and thoughts. Hamlet constantly changes his decision, becomes mad in one scene and comes back to normal in another. It even seems like, “Shakespeare had not found the adequate way of expressing the emotion that Hamlet feels” (Pearce 1). Therefore, T.S. Eliot declares that, “The play is most certainly and artistic failure” (2).
However, there is one aspect in the story that keeps the spotlight on. Some critics point out that, “Coriolanus … with Anthony and Cleopatra [is] Shakespeare’s most assured artistic success”...