Hamlet, one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays, follows Hamlet as he searches for meaning in his life following the death of his father. Hamlet seeks revenge on his uncle after it is revealed that Hamlet’s father was murdered by Hamlet’s uncle and mother to ascend the throne of Denmark. Comedy is a major aspect of Hamlet, and Hamlet is often referred to as a tragedy-comedy hybrid. Hamlet’s character himself is comedic in many scenes, such as the scene when Hamlet poses as a madman and interviews his father’s ghost or the scene where Hamlet pretends to be insane in front of Ophelia. Hamlet also contains many instances of satire.
The use of satire is employed through Hamlet mocking Polonius while speaking with Ophelia, Polonius believing that Hamlet does not love him because Hamlet has always been honest with him before he left for Wittenberg University. Additionally, Hamlet uses mockery on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern after they are unable to give Hamlet any information about what his father told them before he died. Hamlet even insults the king in front of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by saying that Hamlet will treat the king as if he were a lord, Hamlet’s friend. Hamlet also contains many elements of situational comedy.
Hamlet’s conversations with himself are comedic because Hamlet is impersonating two people at once, Ophelia often makes fun of Hamlet for how serious Hamlet takes everything, Hamlet even tells her to stop acting since she isn’t doing it right. This leads into another instance of situational comedy when Hamlet decides to take on the appearance of Catholic man named “Rosencrantz” so that he can be sent to England instead of Hamlet. Hamlet’s use of situational comedy is used to create comic relief throughout Hamlet, but Hamlet relies on situational comedy so heavily that Hamlet would not be complete without it.
While Hamlet does contain many instances of comedy, tragedy plays an important role in the play as well. While Hamlet tries to find meaning after he receives news that his father has died, Ophelia finds herself unable to deal with Hamlet’s attitude toward her. She becomes incapable of distinguishing reality from fiction and ultimately drowns herself shortly after she is found by two men who are looking for Ophelia because they saw her drowning in a river earlier that day. This scene contains much sadness since Ham loved Ophelia during Hamlet’s time in Wittenberg University and Hamlet’s father also cared for Ophelia as well.
Hamlet later finds out that his mother, Gertrude married Hamlet’s uncle shortly after Hamlet left which leads Hamlet to believe his father was murdered by Hamlet’s uncle and Gertrude. Hamlet remains on a mission of revenge until he finally receives news that he is going to die himself. He collapses on the ground, speechless and unable to continue with the fight against his Uncle Claudius which ultimately led to Hamlet’s death. William Shakespeare uses comedy throughout Hamlet in order to help introduce tragedy into the play.
The use of comedy creates tension within the play because it allows readers or audience members to sympathize with Hamlet before tragedy is introduced. Hamlets comedic lines are used to allow readers or audience members to better understand Hamlet’s personality and they also help create a link between Hamlet and the reader or viewer that ultimately helps tragedy become more profound for readers or audiences because it becomes more relatable since they have invested so much time into Hamlet as a character.
Hamlet is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies. It deals with Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, who discovers that his uncle Claudius murdered his father to become king, and Hamlet’s mother Gertrude quickly married him. Hamlet becomes very upset by this act of treachery and decides to put on an act for his family to prove he is insane so he can find out what they are doing behind closed doors. To do this Hamlet pretends to be ill-mannered and mad which makes his mother, Gertrude worry for Hamlet’s sanity.
Hamlet’s madness eventually leads to the death of many characters including Hamlet himself who is killed by his father’s ghost during a duel with Hamlet’s uncle Claudius after Hamlet kills Polonius. Hamlet’s ghost is also seen in Hamlet’s play within the play that Hamlet puts on to prove his uncle Claudius killed Hamlet’s father. Hamlet’s madness helps him find out all the information required to kill his uncle and become king.
The use of this comic relief makes Hamlet more relatable to audiences as it builds sympathy for Hamlet who otherwise may have just come across as a horrible person, without showing what Hamlet has been through. This is used in Shakespeare’s tragedy because at times Hamlet seems like he will go insane with grief and anger but then does something silly or random which shows that Hamlet’s true feelings lie elsewhere and that underneath his crazy exterior he is sane and capable of logical thinking when necessary.
The character Hamlet is a very dark and depressed man. Hamlet has just lost his father, and he has to deal with the fact that his mother married Hamlet’s uncle Claudius within a few months of Hamlet Senior dying. In addition, Hamlet is currently attending university in Wittenberg when he gets news from his beloved friend Horatio that Hamlet’s father is dead and Hamlet Junior needs to come home immediately. Hamlet Senior was a really good friend of Hamlet’s, so Hamlet has a very hard time dealing with the death of this man.
On top of that, Hamlet also finds out that his mother Gertrude married Hamlet’s uncle Claudius shortly after Hamlet Senior died, which makes Hamlet feel extremely upset for reasons he doesn’t understand at first. In addition, Hamlet learns from Horatio that not only did Hamlet Senior die but he also passed away under very odd circumstances – it seems as if there might have been foul play involved in order to kill him!
This drives Hamlet even crazier than he already was because Hamlet wants to take revenge for Hamlet Senior but Hamlet Jr. is a very intellectual person and he doesn’t know how to go about getting to the bottom of this mystery in order to find out who killed Hamlet Senior. In addition, Hamlet has been dealing with some emotional stuff lately because Hamlet fell in love with Ophelia when Hamlet was still in school, but Hamlet’s father forbade Hamlet from seeing her.
In fact, at one point Hamlets tells Ophelia that she should get off his back because he thinks it would be wrong if they were together! However, just before Hamlets returns home from university we see that the death of his father actually brought Hamlets and Ophelia closer because Hamlet wrote a letter to Ophelia that stated that their relationship is now allowed.
Hamlet still loves Ophelia but he also feels betrayed by her because Hamlet realizes that she has been seeing Hamlet’s uncle (the one who married Hamlet’s mother after Hamlet’s father died), which Hamle tt isn’t too happy about at first. However, Hamlet does meet his old childhood friend – Horatio- right when Hamlet returns home from university, and this makes Hamlet feel much better. Then, later on in the play we learn that it was actually Polonius (Ophelia’s dad) who told Hamlet’s father not to let him be with Ophelia.
