Hamartia and Catharsis in Hamlet

             The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare is one of the best tragedies ever written. Hamlet is a prince whose hamartia sets in motion a series of tragic events among his family and the family of the woman he loves. The rising action causes very strong emotions to build in the audience, the climax of the play leads to Hamlet’s complete downfall, and the play has a cathartic ending which provides an emotional release for the audience.

According to Aristotle’s Poetics, “Tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action, but of events inspiring fear or pity” (Aristotle). In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the plot involves relatives and close friends: Claudius has murdered his brother, King Hamlet; Prince Hamlet kills the father of the woman he loves; Ophelia goes mad and falls into the stream, killing herself; Claudius accidentally poisons the woman he loves, Hamlet’s mother Gertrude; and Ophelia’s brother kills Hamlet. The intimacy of these relationships heightens the audience’s pity for Hamlet, and the fact that Hamlet falls from royalty makes his descent that much more poignant.

Hamlet wants to be absolutely certain that the ghost’s allegation is true before exacting revenge upon Claudius. Once Claudius’ reaction to the play supports the ghost’s allegation, Hamlet is driven to seek revenge and justice. He has an opportunity to kill Claudius immediately after the play, but decides that killing Polonius during prayer would send him straight to heaven. Hamlet is doing his best to effectively manage the uncertainties in his life, to find justice where there may be none, to consider the actions he may take. He ponders the meaning of death and what comes after. He is likable, if somewhat gloomy, but is at times consumed by the emotion of it and unable to act rashly. He is someone that audiences can identify with: we have all done this.

An argument might be made that Hamlet’s tragic flaw is that he believed in ghosts. If he had not believed the ghost of King Claudius, he would never have sought revenge for the murder of his father; however, this argument would not have directly led to the tragic events of this play. Another argument might be that his indecisiveness is his flaw; unfortunately, this is supported because the series of tragic events do not unfold when he is being indecisive.

It is an act of rashness in an otherwise thinking man that is Hamlet’s hamartia. When Hamlet speaks to his mother in her room, he is angry that she does not see the situation his way and frightens her with his passion. When Gertrude calls out in fear, Hamlet rashly kills the man he hears behind the tapestry, only to learn that it is not Claudius. Hamlet’s action sets in motion events that lead to the deaths of seven more people including himself. In a sense it also leads to the death of Denmark itself, as the only royal left standing at the end is the Prince of Norway who happens onto the scene at the same time as the British ambassadors.

Catharsis comes when Fortinbras happens upon all the dead bodies in the palace, is briefly informed of what has happened, and says “Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage, for he was likely, had he been put on, to have proved most royal; and for his passage, the soldier’s music and the rite of war speak loudly for him” (Shakespeare 287). After all of the tragic events, the audience is allowed release from the emotions they have been building up through the play: Hamlet is treated as a hero by Fortinbras.

Works Cited

Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. Project Gutenberg. Web. 13 March 2014.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster. Paperback, 2012. Print.

Identifying Four Types of Phrases in Sentences

This week we had a quiz on phrases and clauses. I am adept at using phrases in my sentences, but apparently not so great at identifying their names; so I’m going to take this time to discuss the phrases covered in the quiz. The four phrases in the quiz were: participial, infinitive, prepositional, and gerund. All phrases consist of a head word plus the complements of that head word.

A participial phrase begins with an –ing word. It functions in a sentence as an adjective so it describes a nearby noun. For example, in the sentence “Clearing his throat, Michael began the wedding toast,” the participial phrase “Clearing his throat” describes what Michael, the noun, is doing. Of course, phrases can appear at the end of a sentence too, as in “I voted for the contestant wearing the red sash.” The participial phrase is “wearing the red sash” and it describes the contestant, a noun.

In an infinitive phrase, the head word is combined with the complement, which is often its direct object, and may have a modifier such as an adverb. Infinitive forms of verbs almost always begin with to and are followed by the simple form of the verb. In the sentence “I like to read books,” the infinitive is “to read” and the infinitive phrase is “to read books.”

The head word in a prepositional phrase is obviously, a preposition. Its complement can be a noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause and it may also have modifiers. When it functions as an adjective it answers the question which one? When it functions as an adverb, it answers one of these questions: How? When? Where?

In the sentence “We went out to dinner at Modesto,” the prepositional phrase “at Modesto” serves as an adverb and answers the question “Where did we go to dinner?” In the sentence “The dog on the bed is chewing a bone” the prepositional phrase “on the bed” serves as an adjective and answers the question “Which dog?”

A gerund phrase always functions as a noun so these phrases are subjects, subject complements, or objects in the sentence. For example, the sentence “Running through the sprinkler is a lot of fun when it’s 100 degrees outside” contains the gerund phrase “Running through the sprinkler,” which replaces the noun in the sentence. It’s easy to confuse a gerund phrase with a participial phrase because they both begin with –ing words. I know that from personal experience; that’s the trouble I had with the quiz this week. To see how similar they can appear, compare these two similar phrases (the first one is the participial phrase), both consisting of the words “Whistling a tune”:

1.      Whistling a tune, Barb thought about the romantic dinner she had on Valentine’s Day.  – Participial phrase describing the proper noun.

2.      Whistling a tune is a sign that the whistler is happy. – Gerund phrase where “whistling a tune replaces the noun and serves as the subject of the sentence.

After looking more closely at these four phrases and their functions, I will be able to keep them straight in the future. I’m also thankful that this week’s quiz was not graded although I’d pass that quiz with flying colors now.

Work Cited

Clark, Mary M. The Structure of English for Readers, Writers, and Teachers, Glen Allen: College Publishing, 2003.

Narratives and Poetic Register

In the chapter six of The Structure of English for Readers, Writers, and Teachers, Mary M. Clark says “the social meaning or register of a word is the social context in which the word is normally used…. The basic choices for register are formal, informal, and neutral, but there are also more specific registers such as medical (laryngology), legal (habeas corpus), or educational (heterogeneous grouping)” (Clark 119). This made sense; however, I was not expecting Clark to say “the author has chosen vocabulary from the poetic register” (Clark 130) when describing a passage from James Joyce’s Araby. The idea of poetic register took me by surprise. Is there a social context for poetry even when the work is not a poem? Did Joyce intend this context or did it come naturally to him? Beyond having a special audience or choosing from the basic choices, do writers conscientiously consider register in their narratives? I had a lot of questions. I also wondered what it might mean for me as a writer and poet.

I did a few internet searches for tone, social context, register, and diction. I was unable to find analysis of Joyce’s writing that answered any of my questions. I did learn that Joyce was a high modernist and a poet as well as a novelist. It would not surprise me to learn that a poetic narrative would come naturally to him as a poet but I have no proof of it. For the time being, that question will remain unanswered. Whether Joyce intended a poetic register in Araby, the poetic words, the alliterative devices and the use of metaphor support a poetic narrative in the passage.

I can’t say whether writers intend to use a poetic register. I know that as a writer I have intentionally written in specific registers: formal, informal, neutral, and technical. I have thought about the speech of individual characters; I haven’t given thought to the idea of a narrative being written in a specific register. I shall certainly do so from now on.