William Shakespeare's Hamlet is a tragedy of epic proportions. It is a play in which all of the central characters die violently, in which an entire kingdom (i.e., Denmark) loses its royal family and must be submitted to foreign rule, and in which "murder most foul" is the catalyst for a long series of events that end with a duel in which the title character is killed. Jones (19-20) states that this play is a psychological drama in that it not only focuses on tragic events, but also on the unraveling of the personality and psyche of Hamlet as he is brought closer and closer to true madness even as he pretends to be mad. The play is about revenge for "murder most foul" and pits various characters against one another.
The play's dramatic structure is complex. It begins with the revelation that a Ghost has appeared on the battlements of the Elsinore Castle. It moves to Hamlet's encounter with this Ghost of his murdered father, his resolution to gain revenge against his uncle, Claudius, Hamlet's rejection of Ophelia and his growing madness, his murder of Polonius, the play-within-the-play, Hamlet's brief exile, Ophelia's death, and the final conflict between Hamlet and Laertes over Ophelia's coffin and their subsequent duel (Wilson 22 -23). The climax occurs with the death of Hamlet, Laertes, Claudius, and Queen Gertrude (Hamlet's mother).
The critical encounter between Hamlet and the ghost in Act I, Scene V leads Hamlet to one of his most significant soliloquies. He refers to the "host of heaven" and then immediately references both earth and hell, thus linking the grand scale of the tragedy which has been recalled to disorder throughout the entire universe (Shakespeare 106). He refers to the effect of this revelation on his heart and his body, noting that his sinews or muscles should "grow not instant old;/But bear me stiffly up" (Shakespeare 106). He then addresses the ghost which has vanished, stating that he re...