“Hamlet is the Mona Lisa of literature.”
The Poetics of Aristotle is generally viewed as the definitive definition of tragedy. Of all the defining elements Aristotle lists as encompassed by a true tragedy, the most significant is hamartia which translates to an equivalent of error or frailty. In Romeo and Juliet error is Romeo believing Juliet is dead and then hastily killing himself. In Macbeth, the frailty is vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself. In Hamlet, Claudius is greedy and unscrupulous and Polonius is meddling and self-serving. However, the hamartia, or tragic flaw, must be within an otherwise good character for a drama or individual to be truly tragic. Yet, many argue about the definition of Aristotle’s hamartia. The term has been interpreted in many ways. Does error mean an error of judgment, a selection of the wrong alternative, or simply a mistake, a deed committed in ignorance of the facts? Either interpretation of frailty is implied by the term tragic flaw: a character defect or moral failing in an otherwise good man, which causes his downfall” (O’Brien and Dukore 2).
Analyzing Hamlet as the tragic character is like determining whether Mona Lisa is happy or sad in DaVinci’s painting. His tragic flaw may be his obsessive analysis of everyone and everything around him, including himself, i.e., a high level of consciousness which creates indecision and melancholy in him because he is compelled to take action to avenge the death of his father, a murder most foul. Hamlet’s high level of consciousness allows him to recognize the futility of existence, especially with its slings and arrows haphazardly hurled at mankind. He also understands human nature and its peculiar makeup--one that includes evil mixed in with good. He recognizes this to the degree where he curses the fact that he was ever born to set things aright, because he understands the futility of such a course of action. Ha...