William Shakespeare wrote the fascinating tragedy Hamlet more than 400 years ago. However, centuries later, after being translated into all the languages of the world, the play about the Danish prince is still popular and plays a big role in education. The play focuses on the themes of mortality, madness, and heroism, as well as suicide and family vengeance. The tremendous popularity and the role of Hamlet lie within the highlighted eternal problems which all humans experience and can relate to.
The first striking problem of Hamlet is the one of choice, which may be considered a reflection of the main conflict of the tragedy. For every person, this problem, especially if it is related to a moral choice, is always difficult. Without a doubt, every person has their own set of values that will guide their actions, and if a person complies with ethics, he or she will think twice before committing amoral actions. However, in Hamlet, a different process is observed in which the main character kills several people, and his actions cause ambiguous feelings (Gray 108). Hamlet is torn between the choices since the character does not understand himself and his thoughts.
Another eternal problem that arises in Hamlet and makes it important is the one of a personal dilemma. The famous monologue “To be or not to be?” embodies the spiritual doubts of a person making a difficult moral choice; it shows the destructive spiritual struggle between idealistic concepts and cruel reality. Being tormented by various questions, Hamlet is in the “different dimension of a human being” he tries to solve this personal dilemma, as well as retrieve the answers (Sharma 79). With the murder of his father, the obscene marriage of his mother, the betrayal of friends, and the frivolity of his beloved, Hamlet “feels cheated of justice and robbed of life’s joys” (Sharma 80). Nothing has changed since the times of Shakespeare; people think and feel the same, pondering about justice and cruel reality, meaning that the problems in Hamlet are still relatable.
Another problem in Hamlet is a constant feeling of contradiction: the consciousness of Hamlet clearly says what he should do, seek revenge, but the hero lacks the determination. The thoughts of Hamlet are focused on mortality, the fragility of human life, and death. The character tries to understand the definition of death, whether it is a dream or a continuation of struggles and tortures of life. Hamlet is considering suicide; the anguish is unbearable, and the prince could take his life if it was not considered a sin (Sharma 81). Discussions about death and human life in the sphere of education are quite frequent, making the tragedy one of the immortal works.
Finally, the reader sees an eternal problem of madness due to an intolerable sight of evil that triumphs and dominates in this world. In the end, Hamlet makes a decision and takes responsibility for the evil in this world, all the misunderstandings of life, and all the suffering of people. The main character is acutely aware of his loneliness and, realizing his powerlessness, still goes into battle “like a soldier” (Shakespeare 142). Such reflective and stoic characters always win the hearts of readers, making them paragons of human pluck and wisdom.
Hence, the power and importance of Hamlet’s role lie not in his actions but in his feelings, which the reader experiences together with him. In the play, Shakespeare creates an image of an unpretentious person who is at a crossroads; this character is full of doubts and repentance. According to Shakespeare, a person must always be in a search for truth and answers yet stay simple, and this aligns with the opinion of the readers, which makes the play so renowned and popular in education and culture.
Works Cited
Gray, Patrick. “Choosing between Shame and Guilt: Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, and King Lear”. Shakespeare and the Soliloquy in Early Modern English Drama, edited by David Cousins. Cambridge University Press, 2018, pp. 105-118.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Pearson, 1998.
Sharma, Lalita. “Hamlet: A Tragedy of Melancholic Prince”. Journal of Rajasthan Association for Studies in English, 2017, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 12-168.