Ashley Erickson

Carter 6B
AP Literature
February 10th, 2015
Final Essay: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
In the tragic Shakespearian play of Hamlet, the main character, Prince Hamlet,
could best be interpreted as a melancholic character due to his impulsive frame of mind
as well as his pragmatic attitude. Hamlet is struck with several different controversies;
first starting with his fathers mysterious death, then leading up to his mothers quick and
definite decision to marry Hamlets uncle, King Claudius. Hamlet not only loses his
father and his mother, but struggles with losing his own sanity due to the events and the
mistrust he has within his own family.
In the first soliloquy that Hamlet presents in the play, he admires his father and
not only grieves over his death, but holds a vengeance over his mother for marrying
Hamlets uncle so suddenly and hastily. So excellent a kingso loving to my mother
(H: I. ii. 344). Hamlets melancholic character is visibly portrayed in this soliloquy given
his depressed spirit that continues to dwell on his trivial family situation. Dealing with
death in the first place is not an easy circumstance to overcome quickly, but throughout
the rest of the play, he is stuck in this mindset of negativity and despair due to his fathers
fatal outcome.
In Act two scene two, it is clear that Hamlet is letting his desire for revenge get
the best of him. The melancholic disease progresses as he states, Remorseless,
treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain! O, vengeance! (H: II. ii. 1655). This soliloquy

reveals the violent side of Hamlets character. At this point of the play, it is extremely
apparent that he plans to take revenge on his dishonest uncle who he now believes has
most certainly taken the life of King Hamlet.
In the last Act of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Hamlets truest of
intentions are brought to the surface and he does nonetheless but chooses to take action
on what he believes must be done. Hamlets melancholic dynamic is still present,
pertaining to scene four where he states, How stand I then, that I have a father killd, a
mother staindfight for plot (H: IV. iv. 2847). Hamlets vengeance has been plotted
and played out by this point of the tragedy. His actions result to this Elizabethan time
period of melancholic disease due to his violent outbursts, all stemmed from both his
fathers death as well as his abstract love for his mother, Queen Gertrude.
Hamlet suffers so many internal conflicts in this play; ideally being that his heart
is not only broken over his fathers death as well as mothers unintentional betrayal, but
that his entire mind has gone astray from anything that does not revolve around the
concept of revenge. His tactics of this vengeance builds up in each and every Act
presented in the play, starting from his encounter with the ghost in Act one to the sword
fight in Act four which ends it all. Shakespeare uses soliloquies throughout the moralistic
play so that he may expose Hamlet and his melancholic characteristics that contribute to
the conclusion of the play itself.