The Revenge Tragedy (Part I) Video

Is Hamlet a traditional revenge play? What other forces are at work in Hamlet's psyche?

As a play, Hamlet is sometimes considered a revenge tragedy––a literary genre principally defined by--you guessed it--its protagonist’s quest for revenge.

Revenge is traditionally the cold-blooded pursuit to make up for one hurt with a strike against its perpetrator. Revenge is usually violent. Hamlet is hardly a traditional play of revenge, because the main character is so uncertain and ambivalent about both the original strike–the murder of his father– and what he should do about it. Melancholy and uncertainty play just as large a role in Hamlet's character as the desire for revenge.

In both parts of this video, we’ll look at Act One and Act Four to see how Shakespeare’s play operates as an example of a revenge tragedy, but also complicates how this revenge quest might unfold.

The play opens with Hamlet pondering the drastic changes that have recently occurred in his life. He questions the peculiar circumstances of his father’s death, his mother’s swift remarriage to his Uncle Claudius, and Claudius’s succession to the throne.

Amidst his confusion, Hamlet is approached by the ghost of his own deceased father, the previous king. The ghost provides answers to Hamlet’s doubts, explaining that Hamlet’s mother and Claudius were involved in an affair and together conspired to murder him. The ghost proceeds to tell Hamlet that he seeks “revenge [for] his foul and most unnatural murder” (Act 1, Scene 5).

Following this encounter, it is expected that Hamlet will undergo a kind of transformation–from a grieving, aimless son to a heroic avenger. However, this is not exactly the case. Although Hamlet shares a literal roof with Claudius (and thus has many opportunities to harm his enemy) he spends much of the time in the play in self-examination, unable to act upon his late father’s wishes.

Hamlet’s plans are repeatedly thwarted by his own internal struggles.

In Act One, revenge is initially presented as an impetus that sets the play’s actions into motion. However, Hamlet’s failure to progress in his quest calls into question the terms of the traditional revenge tragedy–especially the spur to timely action: the certain and quick “cold-blooded pursuit” of the initial perpetrator.

**Please read Hamlet and the Revenge Tragedy: Part II to continue this analysis.**