Hamlet's duality

Hamlet has many characteristics. This is best shown in his soliloquies. One of his famous soliloquy is ‘to be or not to be.’ Hamlet has shown many sides of him: he is melancholy; he is critical; he is full of hatred for his uncle and his mother’s sexuality and yet his position as a tragic hero is supreme.

What clearly has been stated in Hamlet is that he had the feeling that he could not cope anymore. He desperately wanted to escape from his life, because he hated it so much. ‘Thaw and resolve itself into a dew,’ he mentioned. Which means he wishes that his ‘flesh would melt. ’ Furthermore, his mother’s treachery against his father ribs the very last breath out of Hamlet’s being. He is enraged that his uncle married his mother after a small period of time. Hamlet tortures himself by recalling his precious moments with his father’s tenderness towards his mother. After having a little chat with the ghost, Hamlet his anger had grown inside and gave him the motivation to do what had to be done: killing his uncle. After a while Hamlet could not kill his uncle therefore Hamlet had to create a mask because he had to act insane because then his uncle had to leave to England.

The insanity became useful at that time because it gave him power to get rid of his father’s killer: his uncle. Because of his weaknesses and his flaws he became a tragic hero. It is his character which leads him to death, his own death, because of his major weakness. He portrays a person with irresolution, the uncertainty of how to act, which is shown in many soliloquies and merely when he had to make a decision whether or not to kill his uncle.

Hamlet, who is devastated of his father’s death cannot follow his task through. Hamlet’s delay in punishing Claudius, his uncle, causes his own death but also causes death of many other people. He is too late to achieves his outcome, which is therefore a tragedy. And that makes him a hero.