Heroism in Hamlet

In the play, Hamlet, the playwright, William Shakespeare, attempts to communicate to his audience numerous themes such as revenge, love, murder, and betrayal among others. However, to achieve this, he uses numerous characters, such as Hamlet, Gertrude, Laertes, Polonius, Claudius, Ophelia and others. Hamlet is depicted as the chief character, due to his numerous contributions to the development of this play. However, through his actions, most people stipulate him as a hero while others see him as an anti-hero. This paper pays high attention to the identification of adjectives that are used to describe a hero or heroic actions, and reasons why Hamlet is a hero.

A hero is expressed through numerous attributes such as courage, brave deeds, success, moral actions, and a chieftain of special strength. For example, when Hamlet, together with a couple of players, performed the play, “The Murder of Gonzago” in order to ascertain whether his uncle, King Claudius actually killed his father, he decides not to kill him at that moment even though he had a good opportunity to so (Shakespeare, 1843). In addition, his action of planning this play, displayed that he was truly genius since, in the end, he achieved what he wanted-to test the sincerity of the Ghost.

Consecutively, Hamlet courageously denounces adultery and incest, in the kingdom of Denmark. For example, he confronts Queen Gertrude, his mother, for accepting to be inherited by his uncle, King Claudius. He says to his mother, “O shame! Where is thy blush? How can you live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed; stew`d in corruption; honeying, and making love” (Shakespeare, 1843).

Conclusion

It is, therefore, evident that Hamlet can be described as a hero due to his heroic acts. For example, he planned and succeeded in ascertaining that Claudius killed his father, he refused to kill him at that moment, and confronted his mother for propagating incest and adultery.

References

Shakespeare W. (1843). Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Tragedy. Princeton University, London.