nd 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 AristotleÆs 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 like a deed committed in ignorance of the facts? For example, Hamlet agonizes over whether or not to avenge his father by killing Claudius in the former case and he accidentally kills Polonius in the latter case. He says when he discovers the individual behind the curtain is Polonius, ôI took thee for thy betterö, indicating he believed Polonius was Claudius, (Shakespeare 1975, III.iv. 33). However, either interpretation of frailty is implied by the term tragic flaw: ôa character defect or moral failing in an otherwise good man, which causes his downfallö (OÆBrien and Dukore 1969, 2).
Analyzing Hamlet as the tragic character is like determining whether Mona Lisa is happy or sad in DaVinciÆs painting, thus the motivation for T. S. EliotÆs above quote. 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 he considers most foul. HamletÆs 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 makeupùone 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.
Hamlet himself seems to be defining AristotleÆs concept of the tragic flaw in human bein...