(301 words) The medieval legend of Prince Hamlet, revised by Shakespeare, laid the foundations for many fundamentally new problems in literature, filling the tragic world with new characters. The main one is the image of a thinking humanist.

The Prince of Denmark is a largely ambiguous character, an image that embodies all the complex inconsistency of the human soul, torn by doubts and the problem of choice. Thinking and analyzing his every action, Hamlet is another victim of the tragedy of life that is characteristic of many of Shakespeare’s plays. Having its own backstory in literary respect, the tragedy brings to the surface a whole range of themes, universal and literary.
Hamlet is a revenge tragedy. Shakespeare here turns to the most ancient crime - fratricide, creating the image of Hamlet as an avenger for the death of his father. But the deep, doubtful character hesitates. A highly moral worldview and a primitive thirst for retribution, largely based on the existing order, the conflict of duty and morality become the cause of Hamlet’s torment. The plot of the tragedy is constructed in such a way that the motive of revenge on Claudius slows down and moves into the background, giving way to deeper and more insoluble reasons and contradictions.

Hamlet is a tragedy of personality. The Shakespearean age is the time of the birth of humanist thinkers who dream of fair relations between people, built on universal equality. However, they are powerless to make such a dream come true. “The whole world is a prison!” - the hero repeats the words of another great humanist of his time, Thomas More. Hamlet does not understand the cruel contradictions of the world in which he lives; he is sure that man is the “crown of creation,” but in reality he encounters the opposite. The boundless possibilities of knowledge, the inexhaustible powers of Hamlet’s personality are suppressed in him by the environment of the royal castle, by people living in rough complacency and the ossified atmosphere of medieval traditions. Acutely feeling his foreignness, the discrepancy between the inner world and the outer world, he suffers from loneliness and the fall of his own humanistic ideals. This becomes the cause of the hero’s internal discord, which will later take the name “Hamletism,” and leads the plot of the play to a tragic denouement.

Hamlet faces a hostile world, feeling his inadequacy in the face of evil, becomes a symbol of a tragic humanist, an opponent - a loser in whom disappointment and awareness of insignificance own strength give rise to internal conflict that is destructive in its power.

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On the History of Foreign Literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

"Image of Hamlet

in W. Shakespeare's tragedy "Hamlet"

Completed by: student

030 gr. 71RYA

Introduction 3

1. The image of Hamlet at the beginning of tragedy 4

2. Hamlet's ethics of revenge. The culmination of the tragedy. 10

3. Death of the main character 16

4. Ideal hero Vozrozhdeniye 19

Conclusion 23

References 23

Introduction

Shakespeare's tragedy “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” (1600) is the most famous of the plays of the English playwright. According to many highly respected art connoisseurs, this is one of the most profound creations of human genius, a great philosophical tragedy. It concerns the most important issues of life and death, which cannot but concern every person. Shakespeare the thinker appears in this work in all his gigantic stature. The questions posed by the tragedy are of truly universal significance. It is not without reason that at different stages of the development of human thought, people turned to Hamlet, looking for confirmation in it of their views on life and world order.

As a true work of art, Hamlet has attracted many generations of people. Life changes, new interests and concepts arise, and each new generation finds in tragedy something close to itself. The power of the tragedy is confirmed not only by its popularity among readers, but also by the fact that for almost four centuries it has not left the theater stage.

The tragedy "Hamlet" heralded a new period in Shakespeare's work, new interests and moods of the writer.

According to the words “Every drama of Shakespeare is a whole, separate world, having its own center, its own sun, around which the planets and their satellites revolve,” and in this universe, if we have in mind the tragedy, the sun is main character, who will have to fight the entire unjust world and give his life.

The most attractive thing in tragedy is the image of the hero. “It’s wonderful, like Prince Hamlet!” – exclaimed one of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, Anthony Skoloker, and his opinion was confirmed by many people who understand art over the centuries that have passed since the creation of the tragedy (1; P.6)

To understand Hamlet and sympathize with him, you don’t need to find yourself in his life situation - to find out that his father was villainously killed, and his mother betrayed her husband’s memory and married someone else. Even with the dissimilarity of life situations, Hamlet turns out to be close to readers, especially if they have spiritual qualities similar to those inherent in Hamlet - a tendency to peer into themselves, to immerse themselves in their inner world, acutely perceive injustice and evil, feel other people's pain and suffering as if it were our own.

Hamlet became a favorite hero when romantic sensibility became widespread. Many began to identify themselves with the hero of Shakespeare's tragedy. The head of the French romantics, Victor Hugo (), wrote in his book “William Shakespeare”: “In our opinion, Hamlet is Shakespeare’s main creation. Not a single image created by the poet disturbs or excites us to such an extent.”

Russia also did not remain aloof from the Hamlet hobby. Belinsky argued that the image of Hamlet has universal significance.

The image of Hamlet at the beginning of the tragedy

At the beginning of the action, Hamlet has not yet appeared on stage, but he is mentioned, and this is more significant than it seems at first glance.

Indeed, the night guards are the king's guards. Why don’t they report the appearance of the Phantom, as they should - “according to the authorities” - to someone close to the king, at least Polonius, but attract Horatio, a friend of the prince, and he, convinced that the Phantom looks like the late king , advises telling this not to the current king, but to Hamlet, who has no power and has not yet been declared heir to the crown?

Shakespeare does not structure the action according to the Danish guard duty regulations, but immediately directs the audience's attention to the figure of the Danish prince.

He highlighted the prince with a black suit, sharply contrasting with the colorful clothes of the courtiers. Everyone dressed up for the important ceremony marking the beginning of a new reign, only one in this motley crowd in mourning attire was Hamlet.

His first words, a remark to himself, apparently spoken on the proscenium and addressed to the audience: “He may be a nephew, but certainly not dear” - immediately emphasizes that not only in his outfit, but with his whole being, he does not belong to the submissive and servile host those who surround the king.

Hamlet restrained himself when answering the king and his mother. Left alone, he pours out his soul in a passionate speech.

What feelings fill Hamlet's soul when he first appears on stage? First of all, the grief caused by the death of his father. It is aggravated by the fact that the mother so quickly forgot her husband and gave her heart to another. The parents' relationship seemed ideal to Hamlet. But a month later she was already married again, and “she had not yet worn out the shoes in which she walked behind the coffin,” “and the salt of her dishonest tears on her reddened eyelids had not disappeared.”

For Hamlet, the mother was the ideal of a woman, a natural feeling in a normal, and especially in such a good family as Hamlet surrounded.

Gertrude's betrayal of her husband's memory outrages Hamlet also because in his eyes the brothers are incomparable: “Phoebus and the satyr.” Added to this is the fact that according to the concepts of the Shakespearean era, marriage with the brother of the late husband was considered a sin of incest.

Hamlet's very first monologue reveals his tendency to make the broadest generalizations from a single fact. Mother's behavior

leads Hamlet to make a negative judgment about all women

With the death of his father and his mother's betrayal, for Hamlet there came a complete collapse of the world in which he had lived until then. The beauty and joy of life has disappeared, I don’t want to live anymore. It was just a family drama, but for the impressionable and strongly feeling Hamlet it was enough to see the whole world in black:

How insignificant, flat and stupid

It seems to me that the whole world is in its aspirations! (6; p. 19)

Shakespeare is faithful to the truth of life when he portrays Hamlet’s emotional reaction to what happened in this way. Natures endowed with great sensitivity deeply perceive terrible phenomena that directly affect them. Hamlet is just such a person - a man of hot blood, a large heart capable of strong feelings. He is by no means the cold rationalist and analyst that he is sometimes imagined to be. His thought is stimulated not by abstract observation of facts, but by deep experience of them. If from the very beginning we feel that Hamlet rises above those around him, then this is not the rise of a person above the circumstances of life. On the contrary, one of Hamlet’s highest personal advantages lies in the completeness of his sense of life, his connection with it, in the awareness that everything that happens around him is significant and requires a person to determine his attitude towards things, events, and people.

Hamlet experienced two shocks - the death of his father and the hasty second marriage of his mother. But a third blow awaited him. From the Phantom he learned that his father's death was the work of Claudius. As the Phantom says:

You should know, my noble boy,

The snake is your father's killer -

In his crown. (6; p. 36)

Brother killed brother! If it has already come to this, then the rot has corroded the very foundations of humanity. Evil, enmity, and betrayal have crept into the relationships of people closest to each other by blood. This is what struck Hamlet most of all in the Ghost’s revelations: not a single person, even the closest and dearest, can be trusted! Hamlet's anger turns against both his mother and his uncle:

Oh, the woman is a villain! O scoundrel!

O baseness, baseness with a low smile! (6; p. 38)

The vices that corrode human souls are hidden deeply. People have learned to cover them up. Claudius is not the scoundrel whose abomination is already visible in his very appearance, as, for example, in Richard III, the main person in Shakespeare's early chronicle. He is “a smiling scoundrel, hiding the greatest heartlessness and cruelty under the mask of complacency, statesmanship and a penchant for fun.”

Hamlet makes a sad conclusion for himself - no one can be trusted. This determines his attitude towards everyone around him, with the exception of Horatio. In everyone he will see a possible enemy or accomplice of his opponents. Hamlet takes on the task of avenging his father with a zeal that is somewhat unexpected for us. After all, quite recently we heard him complain about the horrors of life and admit that he would like to commit suicide, just not to see the surrounding abomination. Now he is filled with indignation and gathers his strength.

The ghost entrusted Hamlet with the task of personal revenge. But Hamlet understands her differently. Claudius’s crime and his mother’s betrayal in his eyes are only partial manifestations of general corruption:

The century has been shaken - and worst of all,

That I was born to restore it!

If at first, as we saw, he passionately vowed to fulfill the Ghost’s behest, now it is painful for him that such a huge task fell on his shoulders, he looks at it as a “curse”, it is a heavy burden for him. Those who consider Hamlet weak see this as the hero’s inability, and perhaps even unwillingness, to enter into the struggle.

He curses the age in which he was born, curses that he is destined to live in a world where evil reigns and where, instead of surrendering to truly human interests and aspirations, he must devote all his strength, mind and soul to the fight against the world of evil.

This is how Hamlet appears at the beginning of the tragedy. We see that the hero is truly noble. He has already won our sympathy. But can we say that he is able to easily and simply, without thinking, solve the problem facing him and go ahead? No, Hamlet first strives to comprehend what is happening around him.

It would be a mistake to look for completeness of character and clarity of outlook on life in him. We can say about him for now that he has an innate spiritual nobility and judges everything from the point of view of true humanity. He is going through a profound crisis. Belinsky aptly determined the state in which Hamlet was before the death of his father. It was “infantile, unconscious harmony,” harmony based on ignorance of life. Only when faced with reality as it is, a person faces the opportunity to experience life. For Hamlet, knowledge of reality begins with shocks of enormous force. The very introduction to life is a tragedy for him.

Nevertheless, the situation in which Hamlet finds himself has a broad and, one might say, typical significance. Without always realizing it, everyone normal person imbued with sympathy for Hamlet, because rarely does anyone escape the blows of fate (1; p. 86)

We parted with the hero when he took upon himself the task of revenge, accepted it as a difficult but sacred duty.

The next thing we know about him is that he is insane. Ophelia bursts in to tell her father about the prince's strange visit.

Polonius, who has long been worried about his daughter’s relationship with the prince, immediately makes the assumption: “Mad with love for you?” After listening to her story, he confirms his guess:

There is a clear explosion of love madness here,

In the furies of which sometimes

They reach desperate decisions. (6; P.48)

Moreover, Polonius sees this as a consequence of his ban on Ophelia meeting the prince: “I’m sorry that you were harsh with him these days.”

This is how the version arises that the prince has gone crazy. Has Hamlet really lost his mind? The question has occupied a significant place in Shakespeare studies. It was natural to assume that the misfortunes that befell young man, caused insanity. It must be said right away that this did not actually happen. Hamlet's madness is imaginary.

It was not Shakespeare who invented the hero's madness. It was already in the ancient saga of Amleth and in its French retelling by Belfort. However, under the pen of Shakespeare, the nature of Hamlet's pretense changed significantly. In pre-Shakespearean interpretations of the plot, taking the guise of a madman, the prince sought to lull the vigilance of his enemy, and he succeeded. He waited in the wings and then dealt with his father’s killer and his associates.

Shakespeare's Hamlet does not lull Claudius's vigilance, but deliberately arouses his suspicions and anxiety. Two reasons determine this behavior of Shakespeare's hero.

On the one hand, Hamlet is not sure of the truth of the Ghost's words. In this, the prince discovers that he is far from alien to prejudices regarding spirits, which were still very tenacious in the era of Shakespeare. But, on the other hand, Hamlet, a man of a new era, wants to confirm the news from other world absolutely real earthly proof. We will encounter this combination of old and new more than once, and, as will be shown later, it had a deep meaning.

Hamlet's words deserve attention in another aspect. They contain direct recognition of the hero's depressed state. What has been said now echoes Hamlet’s sad thoughts expressed at the end of the second scene of the first act, when he was thinking about death.

The cardinal question associated with these confessions is this: is Hamlet like this by nature or is his state of mind caused by the terrible events he encountered? There can undoubtedly be only one answer. Before all the events known to us, Hamlet was a solid, harmonious personality. But we meet him already when this harmony is broken. Belinsky explained Hamlet’s condition after his father’s death: “...The higher a person’s spirit, the more terrible his decay is, and the more solemn his victory over his finitude, and the deeper and more holy his bliss. This is the meaning of Hamlet’s weakness.”

By “decay” he does not mean the moral decay of the hero’s personality, but the disintegration of the spiritual harmony previously inherent in him. Hamlet's former integrity of views on life and reality, as it then seemed to him, was disrupted.

Although Hamlet's ideals remain the same, everything he sees in life contradicts them. His soul splits into two. He is convinced of the need to fulfill the duty of revenge - the crime is too terrible and Claudius is extremely disgusting to him. But Hamlet’s soul is full of sadness - the grief over the death of his father and the grief caused by his mother’s betrayal have not passed. Everything that Hamlet sees confirms his attitude towards the world - a garden overgrown with weeds, “the wild and evil reign in it.” Knowing all this, is it surprising that the thought of suicide does not leave Hamlet?

In Shakespeare's time, the attitude towards madmen inherited from the Middle Ages still persisted. Their bizarre behavior was a source of laughter. Pretending to be mad, Hamlet at the same time, as it were, puts on the guise of a jester. This gives him the right to tell people to their faces what he thinks about them. Hamlet takes full advantage of this opportunity.

He created confusion in Ophelia with his behavior. She is the first to see the dramatic change that has taken place in him. Polonia Hamlet is simply fooling, and he easily succumbs to the inventions of the feigned madman. Hamlet plays it in a certain way. “He plays on my daughter all the time,” says Polonius, “but at first he didn’t recognize me; said that I was a fishmonger...” The second motive in Hamlet's “game” with Polonius is his beard. As the reader remembers, to Polonius’s question about the book in which the prince always looks, Hamlet replies: “this satirical rogue says here that old people have gray beards...”. When Polonius later complains that the monologue read by the actor is too long, the prince abruptly cuts him off: “This will go to the barber, along with your beard...”.

With Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, fellow students, Hamlet plays differently. He behaves with them as if he believed in their friendship, although he immediately suspects that they were sent to him. Hamlet responds to them with frankness. His speech is one of the most significant parts of the play.

“Lately - and why, I don’t know myself - I have lost my cheerfulness, abandoned all my usual activities; and, indeed, my soul is so heavy that this beautiful temple, this earth, seems to me like a deserted cape... What a masterful creature man is! How noble in mind! How infinite in ability! In appearance and in movements - how expressive and wonderful. In action - how similar to an angel! In comprehension - how similar to a deity! The beauty of the universe! The crown of all living things! What is this quintessence of ashes for me? Not a single person makes me happy, no, not even a single one, although with your smile you seem to want to say something else.”

Hamlet, of course, is only playing straight with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. But although Hamlet masterfully plays pranks on his university friends, he is in fact torn by contradictions. Hamlet's spiritual balance is completely disrupted. He mocks the spies sent to him and tells the truth about his changed attitude towards the world. Of course, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who knew nothing about the secret of the death of the former king, could not have guessed that Hamlet’s thoughts were occupied with the task of revenge. They also did not know that the prince was reproaching himself for his slowness. We will not be far from the truth if we assume that Hamlet wants to see himself as an avenger who hesitates, but the stronger the blow will be when he delivers it with the same inexorability. (1, p. 97)

We know, however, that Hamlet had doubts about how much the Ghost could be trusted. He needs proof of Claudius’ guilt that would be earthly reliable. He decides to take advantage of the troupe’s arrival to show the king a play in which exactly the same crime as he committed will be presented:

“the spectacle is a loop,

To lasso the king's conscience."

Probably this plan arose when the First Actor was so excitedly reading a monologue about Pyrrhus and Hecuba. Sending away the actors, Hamlet orders the head of the troupe to perform the play “The Murder of Gonzago” and asks to include sixteen lines written by him. This is how Hamlet’s plan arises to test the truth of the Ghost’s words. Hamlet does not rely either on his intuition or on a voice from the other world; he needs evidence that satisfies the requirements of reason. It is not without reason that in a long speech expressing Hamlet’s view of the universe and man (mentioned above), Hamlet puts reason in the first place when he exclaims: “What a masterful creature is man! How noble in mind! It is only through this highest human ability that Hamlet intends to condemn Claudius, whom he hates.

Having paid tribute to the close reading of individual scenes of the tragedy, let us not forget about those strong adhesions that hold its beginning and the entire ascending line of action. This role is played by Hamlet's two large monologues - at the end of the palace scene and at the end of the second act.

First of all, let's pay attention to their tonality. Both are unusually temperamental. “Oh, if only this dense clot of meat // Melted, disappeared, and disappeared with dew!” This is followed by frank confession is that Hamlet would like to die. But the mournful intonation gives way to anger at the mother. Words flow from Hamlet’s lips in a stormy stream, finding more and more new expressions to condemn her (1; P. 99)

The hero's noble anger arouses sympathy for him. At the same time, we feel: if the thought of suicide flashes in Hamlet’s mind, then the instinct of life is stronger in him. His grief is enormous, but if he really wanted to give up his life, a man of such a temperament would not have reasoned at such length.

What does the hero's first big monologue say about his character? At least not about weakness. The internal energy inherent in Hamlet receives clear expression in his anger. A weak-willed person would not indulge in indignation with such force.

The monologue that concludes the second act is full of reproaches for inaction. And again he is struck by indignation, this time directed against himself. Hamlet throws all sorts of abuse at his head: “stupid and cowardly fool”, “mouthless”, “coward”, “donkey”, “woman”, “scullery maid”. We saw before how harsh he is towards his mother, how full of enmity he is towards Claudius. But Hamlet is not one of those who finds bad only in others. He is no less harsh and merciless towards himself, and this feature of him further confirms the nobility of his nature. It takes extreme honesty to judge yourself just as, if not more, harshly than you judge others.

The end of the soliloquy in which Hamlet lays out his plan refutes the idea that he does not want to do anything to achieve revenge. Before acting, Hamlet wants to prepare suitable conditions for this (1; P.100).

Hamlet's ethics of revenge. The culmination of the tragedy.

Hamlet has his own ethics of revenge. He wants Claudius to find out what punishment awaits him. He seeks to arouse in Claudius the consciousness of his guilt. All the hero’s actions are dedicated to this goal, right up to the “mousetrap” scene. This psychology may seem strange to us. But you need to know the history of the bloody revenge of the era; when a special sophistication of retribution to the enemy arose, and then Hamlet’s tactics will become clear. He needs Claudius to become aware of his criminality; he wants to punish the enemy first with internal torment, pangs of conscience, if he has one, and only then deal a fatal blow so that he knows that he is being punished not only by Hamlet, but moral law, universal justice.

Much later, in the queen’s bedroom, having slain Polonius hiding behind the curtain with a sword, Hamlet sees in what seems to be an accident a manifestation of a higher will, the will of heaven. They entrusted him with the mission of being Scourge and minister - the scourge and executor of their destiny. This is exactly how Hamlet views the matter of revenge. And what do the words mean: “punishing me with them and punishing him with me”? (1 ;P.101)

That Polonius is punished for his intervention in the struggle between Hamlet and Claudius is clear from Hamlet’s words: “That’s how dangerous it is to be too nimble.” And why was Hamlet punished? Because he acted rashly and killed the wrong person, and thereby made it clear to the king who he was aiming at.

Our next meeting with Hamlet takes place in the gallery of the castle, where he has been summoned. Hamlet arrives, not knowing who is waiting for him and why, completely at the mercy of his thoughts, expressing them in his most famous monologue.

The monologue “To be or not to be” is the highest point of Hamlet’s doubts. It expresses the hero’s state of mind, the moment of the highest discord in his consciousness. For this alone, it would be wrong to look for strict logic in it. She's not here. The hero's thought is transferred from one object to another. He begins to think about one thing, moves on to another, a third, and to none of them.

the questions he posed to himself do not receive an answer.

For Hamlet, does “to be” mean only life in general? Taken by themselves, the first words of the monologue can be interpreted in this sense. But it does not require special attention to see the incompleteness of the first line, while the following lines reveal the meaning of the question and the opposition of two concepts - what it means to “be” and what it means to “not be”:

What is nobler in spirit - to submit

To the slings and arrows of furious fate

Or, taking up arms in the sea of ​​turmoil, defeat them

Confrontation?

Here the dilemma is expressed quite clearly: “to be” means to rise up on the sea of ​​turmoil and defeat them, “not to be” means to submit to “the slings and arrows of furious fate.”

The formulation of the question is directly related to Hamlet’s situation: should he fight against the sea of ​​evil or should he evade the fight? Here, finally, a contradiction appears with great force, the expressions of which have been encountered before. But at the beginning of the third act, Hamlet again finds himself in the grip of doubt. These changes of mood are extremely characteristic of Hamlet. We do not know whether hesitation and doubt are characteristic of him. happy time his life. But now this instability is revealed with all certainty.

Which of the two possibilities does Hamlet choose? “To be”, to fight - this is the destiny he has taken upon himself. Hamlet's thought runs ahead, and he sees one of the outcomes of the struggle - death! Here a thinker awakens in him, asking a new question: what is death? Hamlet again sees two possibilities for what awaits a person after death. Death is a descent into oblivion in the complete absence of consciousness:

Die, sleep -

And only: and say that you end up sleeping

Melancholy and a thousand natural torments...

But there is also a terrible danger: “What dreams will we dream in the sleep of death,//When we throw off this mortal noise...”. Perhaps the horrors of the afterlife are no worse than all the troubles of earth: “This is what brings us down; where is the reason // That disasters are so long-lasting..." And further:

Let's read the monologue and it will become clear that Hamlet is talking in general - about all people, but they have never met people from the other world. Hamlet's idea is correct, but it is at odds with the plot of the play.

The second thing that catches your eye in this monologue is the idea that it is easy to get rid of the hardships of life if you “Give yourself a settlement with a simple dagger.”

Now let's turn to the part of the monologue that lists the disasters of people in this world:

Who would bear the lashes and mockery of the century,

The oppression of the strong, the mockery of the proud,

The pain of despised love, the slowness of judges,

Arrogance of authorities and insults.

Performed by uncomplaining merit,

If only he could give himself a reckoning...

Note: none of these disasters concern Hamlet. He is not talking here about himself, but about the entire people, for whom Denmark is truly a prison. Hamlet appears here as a thinker, concerned about the plight of all people suffering from injustice. (1;P.104)

But the fact that Hamlet thinks about all of humanity is another feature that speaks of his nobility. But what should we do with the hero’s thought that everything can be put to an end with a simple blow of a dagger? The monologue “To be or not to be” is permeated from beginning to end with a heavy consciousness of the sorrows of existence. We can safely say that already from the hero’s first monologue it is clear: life does not give joy, it is full of grief, injustice, different forms desecration of humanity. It’s hard to live in such a world and I don’t want to. But Hamlet must not give up his life, for the task of revenge lies with him. He must make calculations with a dagger, but not on himself!

Hamlet's monologue ends with a thought about the nature of thoughts. In this case, Hamlet comes to a disappointing conclusion. Circumstances require him to act, and thoughts paralyze his will. Hamlet admits that an excess of thought weakens the ability to act (1; P. 105).

As already said, the monologue “To be or not to be” is the highest point of the hero’s thoughts and doubts. He reveals to us the soul of a hero who finds it extremely difficult in the world of lies, evil, deceit, and villainy, but who nevertheless has not lost the ability to act.

We are convinced of this by observing his meeting with Ophelia. As soon as he notices her, his tone immediately changes. Before us is no longer a pensive Hamlet, reflecting on life and death, not a man full of doubts. He immediately puts on the mask of madness and speaks harshly to Ophelia. Fulfilling her father's will, she completes their breakup and wants to return the gifts she once received from him. Hamlet also does everything to push Ophelia away from him. “I loved you once,” he says at first, and then denies this too: “I didn’t love you.” Hamlet's speeches addressed to Ophelia are full of mockery. He advises her to go to the monastery: “Go to the monastery; Why do you create sinners? “Or, if you absolutely want to get married, marry a fool, because smart people know well what kind of monsters you make of them.” The king and Polonius, who overheard their conversation, are once again convinced of Hamlet’s madness (1; p. 106).

Immediately after this, Hamlet gives instructions to the actors, and there is no trace of insanity in his speech. On the contrary, what he said up to our time is cited as the indisputable basis of the aesthetics of the theater. There is no trace of madness in Hamlet's next speech to Horatio, in which the hero expresses his ideal of a man and then asks his friend to watch Claudius during the performance. New touches that appeared in the image of Hamlet in the scene of a conversation with the actors - the warmth of the soul, the inspiration of an artist counting on mutual understanding (3; p. 87)

Hamlet begins to play the madman again only when the entire court, led by royalty, comes to watch the performance ordered by the prince.

When asked by the king how he is doing, the prince sharply replies: “I feed on air, I am stuffed with promises; capons are not fattened that way.” The meaning of this remark becomes clear if we remember that Claudius declared Hamlet his heir, and this is confirmed by Rosencrantz. But Hamlet understands that the king, who killed his brother, can easily deal with him. It is not for nothing that the prince says to Rosencrantz: “while the grass is growing...” This beginning of the proverb is followed by: “... the horse may die.”

But most noticeable is the defiant nature of Hamlet’s behavior when he answers the king’s question whether there is anything reprehensible in the play: “This play depicts a murder committed in Vienna; the Duke's name is Gonzago; his wife is Baptista; you will see now; This is a mean story; but does it matter? This does not concern Your Majesty and us, whose souls are pure...” The words sound even sharper and more direct when on stage Lucian pours poison into the ear of the sleeping king (actor); Hamlet’s “commentary” leaves no doubt: “He poisons him in the garden for the sake of his power. His name is Gonzago. Such a story exists and is written in excellent Italian. Now you will see how the murderer wins the love of Gonzaga’s wife.” Here sarcasm already has two addresses. However, the entire play, performed by the actors, also aims at Claudius; and to Gertrude! (1; p. 107)

The behavior of the king, who interrupted the performance, leaves Hamlet in no doubt: “I would guarantee a thousand pieces of gold for the words of the Ghost.” Horatio confirms Hamlet's observation - the king was embarrassed when the theatrical villain poured poison into the ear of the sleeping king.

After the performance, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern come to Hamlet, they tell him that the king is upset and that his mother invites him for a conversation. What follows is one of the most famous places plays.

Rosencrantz makes another attempt to find out the prince's secret, citing their former friendship. After this, Hamlet plays Polonius and finally, after all the worries of this day and evening, he is left alone. Now, left alone, Hamlet admits to himself (and to us):

...now I'm hot-blooded

I could drink and do this,

That the day would tremble.

Hamlet gained confidence in Claudius's guilt. He is ripe for revenge: he is ready to deal with the king and reveal to his mother all her crimes. (1; P.108)

"The Mousetrap" is the culmination of the tragedy. Hamlet sought the correct second and third acts. None of characters, with the exception of Horatio, does not know the secret that the Phantom told the prince. Viewers and readers are aware of it. They therefore tend to forget that Hamlet has a secret and that all his behavior is determined by the desire to obtain confirmation of the Ghost's words. The only one who is truly concerned about Hamlet's behavior is Claudius. He would like to believe Polonius that Hamlet lost his mind because Ophelia rejected his love. But during the date, he could be convinced that it was not Ophelia who drove him out of her heart, but Hamlet who renounced his beloved girl. He heard the prince’s strange threat: “We will have no more marriages; those who are already married, all but one, will live...” Then Claudius could not yet know what it meant - perhaps just dissatisfaction with his mother’s hasty marriage. Now the opponents know the most important things about each other.

Claudius immediately makes a decision. He, who initially kept the prince near him to make it easier to keep an eye on him, now decides to send him to England. We do not yet know the full insidiousness of Claudius’s plan, but we see that he is afraid to keep the prince close. For this, as will become clear very soon, the king has reasons. Now that Hamlet knows about his crime, nothing can stop his revenge. And the opportunity, it would seem, is turning up. Going to his mother, Hamlet finds himself alone with the king, trying to atone for his sin. Hamlet enters and his first thought is:

Now I would like to accomplish everything...

But the prince’s hand stops: Claudius is praying, his soul is turned to heaven, and if he is killed, it will ascend to heaven. This is not revenge. This is not the kind of retribution Hamlet desires:

...will I be avenged?

Having defeated him in spiritual purification,

When is he equipped and ready to go?

No. (1 ;P. 109)

Hamlet is not lying, he is not deceiving himself and us when he says that to kill the praying Claudius means to send him to heaven. Let us recall what was said above about the ethics of revenge. Hamlet saw the Ghost Father, who is tormented because he died without proper repentance; Hamlet wants to take revenge on Claudia so that in the afterlife he will eternally writhe in agony. Let's listen to the hero's speech. Is there the slightest echo of mental weakness in her?

Back, my sword, find out the terrible girth;

When he is drunk or angry,

Or in the incestuous pleasures of the bed;

In blasphemy, at a game, at something,

What is not good. - Then knock him down.

Hamlet longs for effective revenge - to send Claudius to hell on eternal torment. Accordingly, killing Claudius at the moment when the king turns to God, according to Hamlet, is tantamount to sending the murderer’s soul to heaven. (5; p. 203) When in the next scene Gertrude, fearing Hamlet’s threatening words, cries out for help, a scream is heard from behind the curtain. Hamlet, without hesitation, pierces this place with a sword. He thinks that the king overheard his conversation with his mother - and this is the right moment to defeat him. Hamlet regretfully becomes convinced of his mistake - it was just Polonius, “a pitiful, fussy buffoon.” There is no doubt that Hamlet was aiming specifically at Claudius (1; p.110). When the body falls behind the curtain, the prince asks his mother: “was it the king?” Seeing the body of Polonius, Hamlet admits: “I aimed at the highest.” Hamlet's blow not only missed the target, it made Claudius clearly understand the prince's intentions. “It would be the same with us if we were there,” says the king, having learned about the death of Polonius.

Thus, there is no reason to doubt Hamlet's determination. He does not look like a relaxed person who has lost all ability to act. But this does not mean that the hero is concerned with only one goal - to defeat his offender. Hamlet's entire conversation with his mother undoubtedly shows the prince's bitterness, seeing that evil has captured the soul of such a person as dear to him as his mother.

From the very beginning of the tragedy, we saw Hamlet's grief caused by his mother's hasty marriage. In The Mousetrap, the lines spoken by the actor who played the queen are specially intended for her:

Betrayal cannot live in my chest.

The second spouse is a curse and a shame!

The second one is for those who killed the first one...

Critics argue about which sixteen lines Hamlet inserted into The Murder of Gonzago. Most likely those that contain direct reproaches of the mother. But no matter how true this assumption is, Hamlet, after hearing the words of the old play quoted here, asks his mother: “Madam, how do you like this play?” - and hears in response restrained, but quite significant words, corresponding to Gertrude’s current situation: “This woman is too generous with assurances, in my opinion.” One might ask why Hamlet didn’t tell his mother anything before? He waited for the hour when he would be sure of Claudius’ crime (1; P. 111). Now, after the “Mousetrap,” Hamlet reveals to her that she is the wife of the one who killed her husband. When Gertrude reproaches her son for committing a “bloody and crazy act” by killing Polonius, Hamlet responds:

A little worse than damned sin

After killing the king, marry the king's brother.

But Hamlet cannot blame his mother for the death of her husband, since he knows who the murderer was. However, if earlier Hamlet saw only his mother’s betrayal, now she is tainted by marriage to her husband’s murderer. Hamlet puts his murder of Polonius, the crime of Claudius, and his mother’s betrayal on the same criminal scale. You should pay attention to how Hamlet pronounces his addresses to his mother. You have to listen to the intonation of his tirades:

Don't break your hands. Quiet! I want

Break your heart; I'll break it...

By accusing his mother, Hamlet says that her betrayal is a direct violation of morality. Gertrude's behavior is equated by Hamlet to those violations of the world order that make the whole Earth tremble. Hamlet can be reproached for taking on too much. Let us remember, however, his words: he is a scourge and an executor of the highest will.

The entire tone of Hamlet's conversation with his mother is characterized by cruelty. The appearance of the Phantom intensifies his thirst for revenge. But now its implementation is prevented by sending it to England. Suspecting a trick on the part of the king, Hamlet expresses confidence that he can eliminate the danger. The reflective Hamlet gives way to the active Hamlet.

During the interrogation, which is carried out by the king himself, prudently surrounded by guards, Hamlet allows himself clownish speeches, which can be mistaken for the ravings of a madman, but the reader and viewer know that Hamlet’s reasoning about how the king can become food for worms is fraught with a threat; The hidden meaning of the king’s answer to the question where Polonius is is especially clear. Hamlet says: “In heaven; send there to look; if your messenger does not find him there, then look for him in another place yourself,” that is, in hell; we remember where the prince intends to send Claudius...

We traced Hamlet's behavior throughout two stages of action after he learned from the Ghost the secret of his father's death. Hamlet has a firm intention to put an end to Claudius; if he manages to overtake him at the moment when he is doing something bad, then, struck by the sword, he will fall to eternal torment in hell.

The task of revenge not only does not interfere, but aggravates the disgust for the world as it opened to the prince after the death of his father.

A new action phase begins. Hamlet is sent to England with reliable guards. He understands the king's intention. While waiting to board the ship, Hamlet sees Fortinbras' troops passing. For the prince, this serves as a new reason for thought.

Doubts ended, Hamlet gained determination. But now circumstances are against him. He needs to think not about revenge, but about how to avoid the trap prepared for him.

Death of the main character

Death hovers over the tragedy from the very beginning, when the Ghost of the murdered king appears. And in the scene in the cemetery, the reality of death appears before Hamlet - the earth that stores decayed corpses. The first gravedigger famously throws skulls out of the ground in which he is digging a grave for Ophelia. Among them is the skull of the royal jester Yorick.

Hamlet is struck by the frailty of everything that exists. Even human greatness cannot escape such a fate: Alexander the Great had the same appearance in the ground and he smelled just as bad.

In the tragedy, two concepts about death, two points of view on it collide: the traditional, religious one, which claims that human souls still continue to exist after death, and the real one: the appearance of death is the bones remaining from a person. Hamlet discusses this with irony: “Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander turns to dust; dust is earth; clay is made from earth; and why can’t they plug up a beer barrel with this clay into which he turned?

Sovereign Caesar turned into decay,

Perhaps he went to paint the walls.

Two ideas about death - religious and real - do not seem to contradict each other. In one we're talking about O human soul, in another about his body. However, the alien from the other world, as the reader remembers, is not at its best describes himself - after poisoning: disgusting scabs stuck to his body. This means that in afterworld the earth's crust reaches...(1; P.117)

Until now we have been talking about death in general. Yorick's skull brought death somewhat closer to Hamlet. He knew and loved this jester. However, this death also remains abstract for the prince. But then a funeral procession appears at the cemetery and Hamlet learns that they are burying his beloved.

After sailing to England, he could not hear anything about the fate of Ophelia. I didn’t have time to tell him about her and Horatio. We know how the death of his father plunged Hamlet into grief. Now he is again shocked to the core. Laertes did not spare words to express his grief. Hamlet did not yield to him in this. We have heard the hero’s passionate speeches more than once. But now it seems he has outdone himself:

I loved her; forty thousand brothers

With all the multitude of your love is with me

Wouldn't have equalized

That Hamlet's grief is great is undoubtedly, and it is also true that he is truly shocked. But in this hot speech there is something unnatural, not characteristic of other, even the most ardent speeches of Hamlet. It seems that Hamlet received the pomposity of Laertes' rhetoric. Hamlet's hyperboles are too obvious to be believed, as we believe the hero's other strong speeches. True, it happens in life that a deep shock is caused by a stream of words devoid of meaning. Maybe this is exactly what is happening in this moment with Hamlet. The Queen finds a direct explanation for her son’s behavior: “This is nonsense.” He will calm down and calm down, she believes (1; P. 119). Was Hamlet's grief feigned? I don't want to believe this. The Queen's words cannot be trusted. She is convinced of her son’s madness and sees only this in all his behavior.

If it is possible to explain Hamlet’s loud speech over the ashes of his beloved, then his unexpectedly conciliatory appeal to Laertes sounds strange: “Tell me, sir, Why do you treat me this way? I have always loved you." From the point of view of ordinary logic, Hamlet's words are absurd. After all, he killed Laertes' father...

Hamlet returned to Denmark a new man in many ways. Previously, his anger spread to absolutely everyone. Now Hamlet will only quarrel with his main enemy and his direct accomplices. He intends to treat other people tolerantly. In particular, this applies to Laertes. In the scene after the cemetery, Hamlet says to his friend:

I'm very sorry, friend Horatio,
That I forgot myself with Laertes;
In my destiny I see a reflection

His fate; I will put up with him...

Hamlet's words in the cemetery are the first manifestation of this intention. He knows that he has caused Laertes grief by killing his father, but apparently believes that Laertes should understand the unintentionality of this murder.

Concluding a conversation with Horatio, Hamlet admits that he got excited at the cemetery, but Laertes “infuriated me with his arrogant grief.” This is the explanation for Hamlet's exaggerated expressions of grief. Leaving the cemetery, the prince does not forget about the main task and again pretends to be crazy.

But melancholy in the sense accepted by Shakespeare’s contemporaries, the intention to “clean out the dirty stomach of the world,” does not leave Hamlet. Just as Hamlet made fun of Polonius before, he mocks Osric.

Having received an invitation to compete with Laertes in fencing, Hamlet does not experience any suspicion. He considers Laertes a nobleman and does not expect any trick from him. But the prince’s soul is restless. He admits to Horatio: “...you can’t imagine how heavy my heart is here, but it doesn’t matter. This, of course, is nonsense; but it’s like some kind of premonition that, perhaps, would confuse a woman.”

Horatio advises to heed the premonition and abandon the fight. But Hamlet rejects his proposal with words to which critics have long attached great importance, because in them both the thought and the intonation are new for Hamlet:

“...We are not afraid of omens, and there is a special purpose in the death of a sparrow. If now, then it means not later; if not later, then now; if not now, then someday anyway; willingness is everything. Since what we part with does not belong to us, does it really matter if it is too early to part with? Let it be". This speech of Hamlet must be equated to his great monologues.

Returning to Elsinore, Hamlet cannot directly attack the king, who is under heavy guard. Hamlet understands that the struggle will continue, but how and when - he does not know. He is unaware of the conspiracy between Claudius and Laertes. But he knows for sure that the moment will come, and then it will be necessary to act. When Horatio warns that the king will soon find out what the prince did to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet replies: “The interval is mine” (1; p. 122). In other words, Hamlet expects to put an end to Claudius at the very a short time and is just waiting for the right opportunity.

Hamlet cannot control events. He has to rely on a happy accident, on the will of Providence. He tells his friend:

Praise of surprise: we are reckless

Sometimes it helps where it dies

Deep design; that deity

Our intentions are completed

At least the mind has outlined something wrong...

It is difficult to say exactly when Hamlet came to the conviction of decisive role higher powers for human affairs - then either on the ship, or after escaping from it, or upon returning to Denmark. In any case, he, who previously thought that everything depended on his will, when he decided to take his revenge, became convinced that the implementation of human intentions and plans is far from being in the will of man; a lot depends on the circumstances. Hamlet acquired what Belinsky called courageous and conscious harmony. (1; C; 123)

Yes, this is Hamlet in the final scene. Not suspecting a catch, he goes to compete with Laertes. Before the battle begins, he assures Laertes of his friendship and asks for forgiveness for the damage done to him. Hamlet did not pay attention to his answer, otherwise he would have suspected something was wrong earlier. A hunch dawns on him only during the third battle, when Laertes wounds the prince with a poisoned blade. At this time, the queen also dies, having drunk the poison prepared by the king for Hamlet. Laertes admits his betrayal and names the culprit. Hamlet turns the poisoned weapon against the king and, seeing that he is only wounded, forces him to finish the poisoned wine.

Hamlet's new state of mind was reflected in the fact that, having recognized the betrayal, he immediately killed Claudius - exactly as he once wanted.

Hamlet dies as a warrior, and his ashes are taken from the stage with military honors. The spectator of Shakespeare's theater fully appreciated the significance of the military ceremony. Hamlet lived and died as a hero.

The evolution of Hamlet is captured in the tragedy in harsh colors and appears in all its complexity. (3; p. 83)

The ideal hero of rebirth

There is such a feature in Shakespeare's plays: whatever the period of time when the action takes place; During this period a person goes through his life's journey. The life of the heroes of Shakespeare's tragedies begins from the moment they find themselves involved in a dramatic conflict. And indeed, the human personality reveals itself completely when, voluntarily or involuntarily, it is involved in a struggle, the outcome of which sometimes turns out to be tragic for it (1; p. 124).

Hamlet's whole life has passed before us. Yes exactly. Although the action of the tragedy covers only a few months, they were the period of the hero’s true life. True, Shakespeare does not leave us in the dark about what the hero was like before fatal circumstances arose. In a few strokes the author makes it clear what Hamlet's life was like before the death of his father. But everything preceding the tragedy has little meaning, because the moral qualities and character of the hero are revealed in the process of life’s struggle.

Shakespeare introduces us to Hamlet's past through two means: his own speeches and the opinions of others about him.

From Hamlet’s words “I have lost my cheerfulness, abandoned all my usual activities,” it is easy to draw a conclusion about the state of mind of Hamlet the student. He lived in a world of intellectual interests. It is no coincidence that Shakespeare the artist chose the University of Wittenberg for his hero. The glory of this city was based on the fact that it was here that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses against the Roman Catholic Church to the doors of the cathedral on October 31, 1517. Thanks to this, Wittenberg became synonymous with the spiritual reformation of the 16th century, a symbol of free thought. The circle in which Hamlet moved consisted of his university comrades. With all the economy necessary for the drama, Shakespeare included three of Hamlet's university classmates - Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - among the characters. From these latter we learn that Hamlet was a theater lover. We also know that Hamlet not only read books, but also wrote poetry himself. This was taught in the universities of that time. There are even two examples of Hamlet’s literary writing in the tragedy: a love poem addressed to Ophelia, and sixteen lines of poetry that he inserted into the text of the tragedy “The Murder of Gonzago.”

Shakespeare presented him as the typical "universal man" of the Renaissance. This is exactly how Ophelia paints him, regretting that, having lost his mind, Hamlet has lost his former qualities.

She also calls him a courtier, a warrior (soldier). As a true “courtier,” Hamlet also wields a sword. He is an experienced swordsman, constantly practicing this art and demonstrating it in the fatal duel that ends the tragedy.

The word “scholar” here means a highly educated person, not a scientific figure.

Hamlet was also seen as a man capable of ruling the state; it is not for nothing that he is “the flower and hope of a joyful state.” Thanks to him high culture, much was expected of him when he inherited the throne. All of Hamlet’s inner perfections were reflected in his appearance, demeanor, and graceful behavior (1; P.126)

This is how Ophelia saw Hamlet before a dramatic change occurred in him. The speech of a loving woman is at the same time an objective characteristic of Hamlet.

Jocular conversations with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern give an idea of ​​Hamlet's inherent secularism. The scatterings of thoughts that fill the prince’s speeches speak of his intelligence, observation, and ability to sharply formulate a thought. He shows his fighting spirit in clashes with pirates.

How can we judge how right Ophelia is when she claims that in him they saw the hope for all of Denmark to receive a wise and fair monarch? To do this, it is enough to recall that part of the monologue “To be or not to be,” where Hamlet condemns “the slowness of judges, the arrogance of the authorities and the insults inflicted on uncomplaining merit.” Among the disasters of life, he names not just “the wrath of the strong,” but the injustice of the oppressor (oppressor’s wrong); by “the mockery of the proud” is meant the arrogance of the nobility towards ordinary people.

Hamlet is depicted as a follower of the principles of humanism. As his father's son, he must take revenge on his murderer and is filled with hatred towards Claudius.

If evil were embodied in Claudius alone, the solution to the problem would be simple. But Hamlet sees that other people are also susceptible to evil. For whose sake should we cleanse the world of evil? For Gertrude, Polonius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Osric?

These are the contradictions that oppress Hamlet’s consciousness. (1; C127)

We saw that he is fighting, morally destroying those who betray human dignity, and finally using weapons. Hamlet would like to fix the world, but doesn't know how! He realizes that killing yourself cannot be destroyed with a simple dagger. Is it possible to destroy him by killing another?

It is known that one of the cardinal issues of Hamlet criticism is the slowness of the prince. From our analysis of Hamlet’s behavior, it cannot be concluded that he hesitates, because, one way or another, he acts all the time. The real problem is not why Hamlet hesitates, but what he can achieve by acting. Not just to carry out the task of personal revenge, but to straighten the dislocated joint of Time (I, 5, 189-190).

He is brave, without fear he rushes to the call of the Phantom and follows him, despite Horatio’s cautious warnings.

Hamlet is able to quickly make decisions and act, as when he heard Polonius scream behind the curtain.

Although thoughts of death often worry Hamlet, he is not afraid of it: “My life is cheaper to me than a pin...” This is said at the beginning of the tragedy and repeated shortly before its end: “A person’s life is to say: “Once.” The conclusion is prompted by all the hero’s previous experience...

To correctly understand the hero, two more important circumstances must be taken into account.

The first of them is Hamlet's chivalry and his high concept of honor. It was no coincidence that Shakespeare chose the prince as his hero. Rejecting the obscurantism of the Middle Ages, humanists did not at all cross out the valuable things they saw in the heritage of this era. Already in the Middle Ages, the ideal of chivalry was the embodiment of high moral qualities. It is no coincidence that it was in knightly times that wonderful legends about true love arose, such as the story of Tristan and Isolde. This legend praised love not only before death, but also beyond the grave. Hamlet experiences his mother's betrayal both as a personal grief and as a betrayal of the ideal of fidelity. Any betrayal - love, friendship, duty - is regarded by Hamlet as a violation of the moral rules of chivalry.

Knightly honor did not tolerate any, even the slightest, damage. Hamlet reproaches himself precisely for the fact that he hesitates when his honor is hurt for more than trivial reasons, while Fortinbras’ warriors “for the sake of whim and absurd glory//Go to the grave...”.

However, there is a clear contradiction to note here. One of the rules of knightly honor is truthfulness. Meanwhile, in order to carry out the first part of his plan and to make sure of Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet pretends to be something other than what he really is. As paradoxical as it may seem, Hamlet decides to pretend to be crazy, and this is exactly what hurts his honor the least.

Hamlet puts “nature, honor” side by side, and perhaps it is not by chance that “nature” comes first, for in his tragedy it is human nature that is primarily affected. The third reason, called by Hamlet, is not a “feeling” at all - a feeling of resentment, insult. The prince said about Laertes: “In my fate I see a reflection of His fate!” And indeed, Hamlet’s nature, that is, his filial feeling and honor, is also hurt by the murder of his father.

Hamlet's attitude towards the regicide is very important. With the exception of Richard III, Shakespeare everywhere shows that the murder of a monarch is fraught with troubles for the state. This idea receives a clear and unambiguous expression in Hamlet:

From time immemorial

The royal grief is echoed by a general groan.

Some readers will probably be confused by the fact that these words are spoken not by the hero of the tragedy, but simply by Rosencrantz.

Rosencrantz, not knowing the main circumstance, thinks that everything in Denmark will collapse if Claudius is killed. In fact, the country's tragedy is caused by the fact that Claudius killed its rightful king. And then what Rosenkrantz so figuratively described happened: everything got mixed up, chaos arose, ending in a general catastrophe. The Danish prince is by no means a rebel. He is, one might say, a “statist.” His task of revenge is also complicated by the fact that, fighting against the tyrant and usurper, he must do the same thing that Claudius did - kill the king. Hamlet has a moral right to this, but...

Here it is necessary to once again turn to the figure of Laertes (1; P.132)

Having learned about the murder of his father and suspecting Claudius of this, Laertes raises the people to revolt and breaks into the royal castle. In anger and indignation he exclaims:

Faithfulness to Gehenna! Oaths to black demons!

Fear and piety into the abyss of abysses!

Laertes behaves like a rebellious feudal lord who, in the name of personal interests, abandons allegiance to the sovereign and rebels against him.

It is appropriate to ask why Hamlet did not act the same as Laertes, especially since the people loved Hamlet. This is regrettably admitted by none other than Claudius himself. Upon learning that Hamlet killed Polonius, the king says:

How disastrous it is that he walks free!

However, you cannot be strict with him;

A violent crowd is partial to him...

Laertes, returning from France, asks the king why he did not take action against Hamlet. Claudius replies: “The reason // Not to resort to open analysis is // The love of the simple crowd for him.”

Why doesn't Hamlet rebel against Claudius?

Yes, because with all his sympathy for the plight of ordinary people, Hamlet is completely alien to the idea of ​​​​involving the people to participate in affairs

states (1; p.133)

Hamlet cannot achieve his goal - “to straighten the dislocated joint of Time”, by himself violating the rule of law, raising the lower class against the higher. Personal resentment and violated honor give him moral justification, and the political principle, which recognizes tyrannicide as a legitimate form of restoring public order, gives him the right to kill Claudius. These two sanctions are enough for Hamlet to take revenge.

How does the prince look at his position when Claudius, having seized the throne, removed him from power? We remember that he considered Fortinbras's ambition a natural knightly trait. Is ambition inherent in him? Honor, the highest moral dignity, is one thing, ambition, the desire to rise at any cost, including crime and murder, is another. As high as Hamlet's concept of honor is, he despises ambition. Therefore, he rejects the assumption of the royal spies that he is consumed by ambition. Shakespeare portrayed ambitious people many times. In this tragedy it is Claudius. Hamlet does not lie when he denies this vice in himself. Hamlet is by no means power-hungry. But, being a royal son, he naturally considered himself heir to the throne. Knowing Hamlet’s humanity and his condemnation of social injustice, it would not be an exaggeration to assume that, having become king, he would have sought to ease the lot of the people. From Ophelia’s words, we know that he was looked at as the “hope” of the state. The realization that power was in the hands of a usurper and an elodea and that he is not the head of the state increases Hamlet’s bitterness. He once admits to Horatio that Claudius “came between the election and my hope,” that is, the prince’s hope of becoming king.

Fighting against Claudius, Hamlet seeks not only to carry out his revenge, but also to restore his hereditary right to the throne.

Conclusion

The image of Hamlet is given in close-up in the tragedy. The scale of Hamlet’s personality increases because not only the contemplation of all-encompassing evil characterizes the hero, but also combat with the vicious world. If he was not able to heal the “shaken” century, to give a new direction to time, then he emerged victorious from his spiritual crisis. The evolution of Hamlet is captured in the tragedy in harsh colors and appears in all its complexity. This is one of Shakespeare's bloodiest tragedies. Polonius and Ophelia lost their lives, Gertrude was poisoned, Laertes and Claudius were killed, Hamlet dies from his wound. Death tramples death, Hamlet alone wins a moral victory.

Shakespeare's tragedy has two endings. One directly ends the outcome of the struggle and is expressed in the death of the main character. And the other is carried into the future, which will be the only one capable of perceiving and enriching the unfulfilled ideals of revival and establishing them on earth. The author points out that the struggle is not over, that the resolution of the conflict is in the future. A few minutes before his death, Hamlet bequeaths Horatio to tell people about what happened. They must know about Hamlet in order to follow his example in order to “defeat with confrontation” evil on earth and turn the world - prison into a world of freedom.

Despite the gloomy ending, there is no hopeless pessimism in Shakespeare's tragedy. Ideals tragic hero indestructible, majestic

and his struggle with a vicious, unjust world should serve as an example for other people (3; p. 76). This gives the tragedy “Hamlet” the meaning of a work that is relevant at all times

Bibliography

1. Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet”. - M: Enlightenment, 1986. - 124 p.

2. Shakespeare. - M: Young Guard, 196 p.

3. Dubashinsky Shakespeare.- M: Education, 1978.-143 p.

4. Holliday and his world. - M: Raduga, 1986. - 77 p.

5. Shvedov Evolution of Shakespearean tragedy. - M: Art, 197 p.

6. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. - Izhevsk, 198 p.

The image of Hamlet in Shakespeare's tragedy is central. He enters into a struggle with reality, which requires the hero to think about existence. Philosophical thoughts become the main thing in the work.

Character

The main character of the tragedy is clever man. This is manifested not only in the fact that he studied at the university, but also in the fact that he constantly strives for the truth. He does not consider himself better than everyone else, because he knows that he has room to strive. Hamlet is far from being a smug and far from arrogant person.

Hamlet is a man of honor. He will never be able to forgive lies and close his eyes to the deception of loved ones. This speaks of the inflexibility of the protagonist’s character. The clash between the character and the outside world reveals the main conflict of the work: man and society. Hamlet cannot live in such a contradictory world in which evil and cruelty reign. Image central character conditioned by the social picture, Hamlet is the birth of an era.

The external conflict of the tragedy develops into an internal one. Hamlet feels his loneliness; he is not like the people around him. This becomes the reason for constant reflection about one’s own presence in the world.

Philosophical content

Hamlet is a very smart and educated person. In his mouth, the author puts serious thoughts about the essence of society and the world as a whole. In Shakespeare's tragedy there are quite a few monologues of Hamlet, among which the well-known reflections stand out: “To be or not to be?

" All monologues reveal the essence of the image, its internal contradictions.

Hamlet is a man new era, expressing the philosophical worldview of the Renaissance. The hero of Shakespeare's tragedy is a philosophical category, an “eternal image” that is interesting for its psychological traits.

Ambiguity of the image

Analysis of the image of Hamlet allows us to say that the hero is ambiguous. Internally he is very contradictory. The search for truth and truth lead to deep thoughts that force Hamlet to make a choice. The desire for revenge constantly fades into the background; the hero’s reasoning, which is the central link in the tragedy, comes to the fore.

External circumstances, which include the death of his father, the betrayal of his uncle and mother, become the reason for the destruction of all Hamlet’s moral principles. The reality with which the main character entered into a struggle destroys all ideals: love, friendship, and honor. However, Hamlet wants to resist evil, so he decides to avenge his father's death. Hamlet's revenge is not a sign of cruelty, it is a desire for justice. One small detail is important: the hero does not want to kill his father’s killer when he is praying. All this speaks of the purity of the hero’s intentions. And the fact that Hamlet wants revenge contradicts his worldview and view of own life. This reveals all the inconsistency of the image, which carries both individual traits and traits of the era.

Hello guys! Sit down. Check if you have everything ready for the lesson. On the desk there should be writing instruments, a diary, and a literature textbook. Fine. We can begin. Open your notebooks, write down the date and topic of the lesson:

Thirtieth of September

V. Shakespeare "Hamlet".

"Eternal image" of Hamlet in tragedy. Suffering of thought.

1. Teacher's introduction

Today in class we begin to study one of the greatest works foreign literature, William Shakespeare's tragedy "Hamlet". In fact, Hamlet does not belong to the classical period. The work was written earlier (1600-1601), and is an example of works of the Renaissance. Classicism will appear next.

We changed the logic a little, because due to certain circumstances we mistakenly missed this topic, but we are forced to return to it, since “Hamlet” is one of the outstanding works of literature, and we have no right to ignore it. In the next lesson we will return to classicism and study Lomonosov's Ode.

There is one common feature between the Renaissance and the Classical era. Can anyone name her?

The fact is that during the period of the development of human thought and the development of literature, the models of Antiquity were turned to three times, three times they tried to return them and presented them as ideals. First time in the Renaissance, then during the Enlightenment and the reign of classicism, and then in Silver Age– this is the beginning of the 20th century (Blok, Balmont, Bryusov). common feature this is an appeal to the ideals of the past. Shakespeare's Hamlet is a work of the Renaissance, but you can already see some of the features of classicism that we noted yesterday in this text. They are still just emerging. The main difference between the works of the Renaissance and the classics is the absence of the cult of reason over feelings, i.e., on the contrary, feelings dominate. We can find confirmation of this fact by analyzing Shakespeare's Hamlet, since the work is full of feelings and experiences, they are in the foreground, they are the measure of everything.

1. The teacher's message.

Pay attention to the topic of the lesson. Today we will analyze the image of the main character of the tragedy, but before we begin this work, let's remember what lies at the heart of the play? (Conflict) In the tragedy “Hamlet” it has 2 levels:

Level 1. Personality between Prince Hamlet and the King

Claudius, who became the husband of the prince's mother after

the treacherous murder of Hamlet's father. Conflict

has a moral nature: two vital

positions.

2nd level . Conflict between man and era. (“Denmark Prison.” “The Whole

the light is rotten.")

From the point of view of action, the tragedy can be divided into 3 parts. Which? Where is the plot, the climax, the denouement?

1 part . The plot, five scenes of the first act. Meeting Hamletwith the Ghost, who entrusts Hamlet with the task of avenging the vile murder;

Part 2. The climax, called the “mousetrap”. Hamlet is finally convinced of Claudius’ guilt, Claudius himself realizes that his secret has been revealed, Hamlet opens Gertrude’s eyes, etc.;

Part 3 . Denouement. Duel of Hamleg and Laertes, death of Gertrude, Claudius

Laertes, Hamlet.

Who is Hamlet? Who is Hamlet, the hero of Shakespeare's tragedy?

Knight of honor? The ideal person Renaissance?

A passionate denouncer of falsehood? Or the most unfortunate person,

lost everything in this world and died? Crazy? - Every

the reader evaluates Hamlet in his own way.

The first thing that catches your eye when reading the tragedy is its extraordinary

poetic language, especially in B. Pasternak’s translation. All

characters think in poetic images and concepts. Before us

the action unfolds in a specific country (Denmark), in a specific

time (XIV century), but it seems that something like this could happen at any

another country and at any other time. That is why the work is extremely popular to this day.

“Eternal images”, what does it mean? Any opinions?

Let's write it down.

“Eternal images” is the name of literary characters to whom the utmost artistic generality imparts human, timeless meaning. (Don Juan, Hamlet, Faust, etc.) Writers different countries and generations explain the essence of their characters in their own way.

The image of Hamlet is even associated with the emergence of a new concept, it is called “Hamletism”. That is, a special trait of a person. This implies character traits such as indecision, being in a state of eternal contradictions and doubts. This reflection, introspection, paralyzing a person’s ability to act.

The prototype of the hero was the semi-legendary prince Amleth, whose name appears in one of the Icelandic sagas. The first one literary monument, which tells the saga of Amleth's revenge, was written by a medieval Danish chronicler.

Let us turn to the character of Hamlet as a hero - a microcosm of tragedy.

We can judge what is happening in Hamlet’s inner world indirectly (behavior, clashes with courtiers, poisonous remarks) and directly (from conversations with friends, with his mother, from monologues).

1. Working with text, identifying the reader's perception of the work by students.

How do we see Hamlet in Act 1? What are his first speeches about?

The hero's first words reveal the depth of his grief. Before us and truly a noble hero. This is a person who encountered evil for the first time in his life and felt with all his soul how terrible it was. Hamlet does not reconcile himself with evil and intends to fight it.

Analysis of the first monologue. What is the monologue about? Why does Hamlet say that he is sick of the whole world? Because of which? Is it only because of the death of his father?

The first monologue reveals to us characteristic feature Hamlet - the desire to generalize individual facts. It was just a private family drama. For Hamlet, however, it was enough to make a generalization: life is “a lush garden, bearing only one seed; the wild and evil reigns in him.”

So, 3 facts shocked my soul:

Sudden death of father;

The place of the father on the throne and in the heart of the mother was taken by a man unworthy in comparison with the deceased;

Mother betrayed the memory of love. Thus, Hamlet learns that evil is not a philosophical abstraction, but a terrible reality located next to him, in people closest to him by blood.

The problem of revenge in tragedy different heroes solved differently. Why does Hamlet perceive the task of revenge entrusted to him as a curse?

Hamlet makes the task of personal revenge the task of restoring the entire destroyed moral world order. The task of revenge in Hamlet’s mind has grown into a matter of retribution, and these are different things. Before he begins to truly live, as befits a person, he must first arrange his life so that it corresponds to the principles of humanity.

Why didn't Hamlet act immediately after taking on the task of revenge?

The shock deprived him of the ability to act for some time.

He had to make sure to what extent he could trust the ghost's words. To kill a king, you must not only convince yourself of his guilt, but also convince others.

What is the nature of Hamlet's “madness”?Is his madness just feigned or is he really going crazy?

Hamlet is a man who felt what happened with his whole being, and the shock he experienced undoubtedly brought him out of his life. peace of mind. He is in a state of deepest confusion.

How does the hero’s internal conflict deepen as the action progresses? To answer this question, let us turn to Hamlet’s famous monologue “To be or not to be...”, which culminates in the depiction of the development of mental discord (Act 3, Scene 1)So what's the question?

1. Listening to and analyzing Vysotsky’s reading of Hamlet’s monologue.

Reporting word

Let's turn to the video material; Hamlet's monologue is read by Vladimir Vysotsky, who managed to most accurately and completely convey the complexity of Hamlet's image. According to the majority of theater critics, Hamlet performed by V. Vysotsky is the best of all created in the last four decades in the theater.

Listening (5 minutes)

1. Conversation

Vladimir Vysotsky himself already gives a partial description of the hero. Reveals to us the Hamlet he played.

What makes this monologue stand out from the prince's other monologues and remarks?

1. Monologue is the compositional center of the tragedy.

2. Thematically unrelated to the action of this scene and the main storyline.

3. Hamlet appears already thinking, we do not know the beginning of his monologue and its end - “But hush!” For a minute, the hero’s inner world is “revealed” to us.

What is Hamlet thinking about in this monologue? What prompted his thoughts?

Hamlet experiences a painful state caused by the awareness of what surrounds him. The abysses of evil that exist in the world open before him in the faces of his relatives and courtiers around him. The question of attitude towards evil is a matter of life and death.

Hamlet stops at the question of how a person should behave in the world of evil: fight with him with his own weapons (“taking up arms on a sea of ​​turmoil, defeat them with confrontation”) or evade the fight, leave life without soiling yourself with its dirt.

Hamlet's thoughts are heavy and gloomy. What is the reason for Hamlet's internal hesitation?

Before Hamlet, death appears in all its painful tangibility. The fear of death arises in him. Hamlet has reached the highest limit in his doubts. So. He decides to fight, and the threat of death becomes real for him: he understands that Claudius will not leave alive a person who accuses him of murder in his face.

What prevents Hamlet from simply taking revenge on Claudius and killing him, just as he killed his father? After all, such a case presents itself to him (Act 3, scene 2).

1. Hamlet needs Claudius’ guilt to become obvious to everyone. In addition, the hero does not want to become like his enemies and act by the same means (to kill the king now means to commit the same secret and vile murder). He has his own plan for this:

Excite (the mask of madness does not lull, but awakens Claudius’s vigilance and provokes him to action)

Make yourself betrayed (Act 2, scene 2)

Kill (Act 3, scene 3).

2. Prayer cleanses the soul of Claudius (the father died without remission of sins).

3. Claudius is kneeling with his back to Hamlet (violation of the principles of noble honor).

How do we see Hamlet now?

Now we have before us a new Hamlet, who does not know the previous discord; his inner calm is combined with a sober understanding of the discord between life and ideals.

Does the final scene resolve Hamlet's conflict?

By killing Claudius, Hamlet fulfills his personal revenge. But the big task that the hero sets for himself - the transformation of reality - remains beyond his strength. When Hamlet passes away, he leaves the world still imperfect, but he alarmed him and focused the attention of those who remained alive on the terrible fact: “the age has been shaken.” This was his mission, like that of other great humanists of Shakespeare's era.

So what is the tragedy of Hamlet?

The tragedy is not only that the world is terrible, but also that he must rush into the abyss of evil in order to fight it. He realizes that he himself is far from perfect; his behavior reveals that the evil that reigns in life, to some extent, denigrates him too. The tragic irony of life's circumstances leads Hamlet to the fact that he, acting as an avenger for his murdered father, also kills the father of Laertes and Ophelia, and Laertes takes revenge on him.

1. Summarizing. Generalization.

Why do you think our lesson is called “The Suffering of Thought”?

Moral choice is the main problem arising from the fate of Hamlet. Everyone has the opportunity to choose. What this choice is depends on the person himself. And so from generation to generation. The image of Hamlet becomes an eternal image, it has been addressed again over the centuries and will be addressed more than once in the future. Hence the concept of “Hamletism” - that is, an eternally doubting person.

1. Homework

Shakespeare's greatest tragedy was created in 1600-1601. The plot was based on the legend of the Danish ruler. This tragic story, which tells the story of the protagonist's revenge for the murder of his father. This work touched upon such important topics as duty and honor, the issue of death and thoughtful discussions about life. The image and characteristics of Hamlet from Shakespeare's tragedy will be revealed throughout the play. Hamlet's multifaceted and ambiguous nature embodies the complexity of a contradictory soul, torn by doubts and the problem of the choice facing him.

Hamlet- Prince of Denmark, heir to the throne.

Image

The prince's life was serene. Love and harmony reigned in the family in which he lived. He was surrounded by friends, ready to support him at any moment. Nearby is the girl he is in love with. He was characterized by hobbies, like all young men of his age: theater, poetry, scientific research. He was full of energy and vitality. The soul was open to everyone. He loved his country and the people living in it. Hamlet's fate was predetermined. He was supposed to become a ruler, taking the throne, but everything changed overnight.

Trouble entered their home. Hamlet's father dies in the prime of his life. Before he has time to recover from one shock, another comes to replace him. A month after his father's death, his mother marries someone else. Hamlet wonders how she could do this. She was for him the ideal woman, and then “not having had time to wear out the shoes” in which she accompanied her husband on his last journey, she gives her heart to another. The third blow was the fact of the murder of his father by his brother Claudius for the sake of the crown and the hand of Hamlet's mother. Because of his mother's betrayal, Hamlet concludes that all women are the same.

O pernicious woman! Scoundrel, smiling scoundrel, damned scoundrel.

There is only betrayal, betrayal and deceit all around. He is disappointed in his mother, his traitorous uncle, and in his despicable love.

How boring, dull and unnecessary everything in the world seems to me! O abomination! This lush garden, bearing only one seed; wild and evil...

Due to the death of his father, Hamlet leaves his studies at Wittenburg University and returns to Elsinore. From that moment on, everything collapses in his life. The ghost of his dead father appears to him and tells him who is responsible for his death, urging him to take revenge. Hamlet is confused. He's on the verge of madness. A bright and consummate humanist found himself in a world around him that was hostile to his ideas. His desire to find the guilty grows into a social duty, leading him to fight for justice. Hamlet hesitates to fight, reproaching himself for inactivity. He is torn by doubts whether he is capable of any action at all.

Vulnerable nature protests against struggle. He is a completely different kind of person. Hurting other people is not his thing, but he was given no choice. He must act, but how? He is not used to wielding a sword, but something needs to be done in order to restore the balance that has been shaken in the world.

The century has been shaken - and the worst thing is that I was born to restore it!

Hamlet understands that by killing Claudius, nothing will change in the world around him. He sets himself an impossible task, to counteract universal evil. This is not a single enemy, not a random crime, but a large enemy society. The scale of evil depresses him, causing disappointment in life and awareness of the insignificance of his own strength.

Character

The character of the main character is multifaceted. He knew how to be different. Hate and love, be rude and polite at the same time. Witty. Masterfully wields a rapier. He is afraid of God's punishment, but can afford to blaspheme on occasion. She loves her mother no matter what. Not arrogant. His authority was his father, whom he remembered with pride. He lives by his thoughts and judgments. Likes to philosophize. I often thought about the meaning of human existence. He had the ability to feel other people's pain and suffering as if it were his own. He was acutely aware of injustice and evil.