Hamlet theme critical opinions

A.C. Bradley - suffering

‘essentially a tale of suffering and calamity conducting to death’

Emma Smith - play within a play

As detective, Hamlet’s main forensic tool is theatrical

J.A. Waldock - play within a play

Hamlet, the play, is a palimpsest: new material has been superimposed on old and the old shows through with confusing effect’

Watts - play within a play

‘the effect of such conspicuous fictionality is to make the surrounding fictional action appear more realistic by contrast’

Sharma - tragedy

‘the dominant tragic flaw in Hamlet is his indecision, a psychological paralysis manifesting through introspection

Moriarty - tragedy

‘corruption is an incurable disease’

Hornback - revenge

‘But Hamlet rejects revenge: His play is not a revenger’s drama at all.’

Brucher - revenge

‘revenge creates their own civil justice’

Watts - justice

‘when the pattern of justice is completed with the killing of Claudius the plot-structure seems to endorse Hamlet’s claim that ‘there’s a divinity that shapes our rough ends’

Rodeo - Corruption

Claudius secretly murders his brother so that he can obtain power, which is the root of deception and evil from which all succeeding events emanate

Walley - corruption

‘Hamlet is a hero placed in an unfortunate dilemma who perishes as a result’

Greenblatt - death

‘a protestant son haunted by the ghost of a catholic father’

Hornback - death

‘Horatio - alas - has missed the point. The story he will tell is one of meaningless violence’

Orgel - Supernatural

Supernatural figures like King Hamlet are quintessential theatrical devices

Watts - supernatural

‘When Hamlet stages the play the Mousetrap, its prime function is to test the Ghost’

Kornas - supernatural

Hamlet’s conversations with the Ghost can be viewed as an internal dialogue

Hamilton - uncertainty

The deaths are ‘not just a side-effect of Hamlet’s delay. They are, in themselves, the necessary price which must be paid to purge denmark’

Kastan - uncertainty

Tragedy is defined by the unanswered and perhaps unanswerable questions