One of the most influential and prominent Greek philosophers is Aristotle. In his work Poetics, he presented the notion of the ideal tragic hero. William Shakespeare, one of the most well-known playwrights in history, on the other hand, challenged these criteria along with most others during the Renaissance period. Although Hamlet represents a new kind of hero, Shakespeare still retained certain characteristics of the Aristotelian tragic hero. This paper will discuss the similarities and the differences of the character Hamlet towards Aristotle’s notion of the tragic hero. More specifically this paper will be focusing on six major aspects of the tragic hero which are spoudaios, anagnorisis, hamartia, peripeteia, catharsis and Hubris. Along with comparisons from the play and also will look at the idea of the tragic hero in the renaissance.
In Aristotle’s work Poetics, “spoudaios” which means “admirable” but is often translated as “serious” appears in his definition of a tragic character. (Aristotle & Heath, 1996). Admirable or serious here refers to someone who comes from a higher class or rank, referring to the people of noble birth. Aristotle and Heath (1996) stated that spoudaios refers to one of those people who is held in great esteem and enjoy good fortune. This notion of a tragic hero is similar to the status of Hamlet. The character of Hamlet is of noble birth and has royal blood as he is introduced as the Prince of Denmark in the lists of the characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. (Shakespeare, Bate & Rasmussen, 2008).
Another similarity between Aristotle’s notion of tragic hero with Hamlet is the element of anagnorisis. Anagnorisis is defined as the point in the plot especially of a tragedy at which the protagonist recognizes his or her or some other character's true identity or discovers the true nature of his or her own situation (Anagnorisis, 2017). The recognition changes one from ignorance to knowledge and the recognition is associated with a close relationship; like friendship, camaraderie and brotherhood, or enmity. (Aristotle & Heath, 1996). An example of anagnorisis can be seen in Oedipus, a Greek tragic hero who discovers that he murdered his own father instead of a stranger like what he initially thought. This situation resembles Hamlet’s when he discovers the truth of his father, Old Hamlet’s death through the Ghost. Hamlet discovers and recognises that his father was killed by his own uncle, Claudius. (Shakespeare, Bate & Rasmussen, 2008). Upon discovering the truth, Hamlet develops enmity towards Claudius and swears to kill Claudius to avenge his father’s death.
The third similarity between Hamlet and Aristotle’s tragic hero is hamartia which is the fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). Aristotle defined hamartia as errors or mistakes made by the tragic hero through misjudgement yet it also includes moral mistakes of a kind which do not signify evilness (Introduction to Poetics, xxxii). In the play Hamlet, young Hamlet is a tragic hero that has a tragic flaw which is his indecisiveness and inability to act. At the beginning of the play, the young Hamlet was told by the ghost of old Hamlet that Claudius is the one who murdered the old Hamlet. Therefore, the young Hamlet was asked to avenge his father’s death. Nevertheless, Hamlet postponed his act of murdering his uncle due to hesitation since he seeks for proof to justify his uncle’s act by not simply believing everything that the ghost had said. This clearly proves Hamlet’s tragic flaw which is his inability to act upon his father’s death.
The fourth similarity of Aristotle’s tragic hero with Hamlet is peripeteia which can be defined as the sudden reversal of fortune (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). In the play Hamlet, peripeteia is caused by Hamlet’s inability to make a move to avenge his father’s death. Hamlet hesitates to kill Claudius when he has the golden opportunity to do so. This is because Claudius is praying at that time and Hamlet opines that Claudius will be sent to heaven if his uncle is killed while Hamlet’s father will remain suffering in the purgatory. Therefore, his father’s death will not be avenged according to Hamlet. In spite of that, Hamlet’s hesitation to kill Claudius leads to the demise of Gertrude, Laertes, Ophelia and his own self. This shows that Hamlet’s inability to act eventually results in his downfall.
The last similarity between Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Aristotle’s tragic hero is catharsis. Catharsis as what had been defined in Aristotle’s Poetic is the purge of pity and fear experienced by the audience during the play. This is when in the end, after all of the sufferings that Hamlet had faced and all the murders that happened, Hamlet was being able to rest in peace as the truth had been revealed that Hamlet was actually an honourable and compassionate man who suffered because of his father’s death. Hamlet was finally being given an honourable burial as Fortinbras ordered a military burial for Hamlet and this provides an emotional release for the audience after the tension on empathy and fear towards the fate of Hamlet that was built along the play.
One of the differences that can be found between Hamlet and Aristotle’s tragic hero is the existence of hubris. According to Aristotle, hubris is one of the specific characteristics for the Aristotelian tragic hero that led to his downfall. Hubris can be defined as excessive pride or self-confidence. However in Hamlet, the tragic hero does not possess hubris but it was shown by another character such as Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle. Hubris can be detected easily in Claudius’ personality and acts. For example, Claudius madness over power has made him killed Hamlet’s father and marry Hamlet’s mother just to seize the throne of Denmark. His excessive pride has changed him into a hubristic greedy man. When Hamlet finds the cause of his father’s death, he vowed to avenge Claudius. Hamlet’s revenge was not for his sake nor pride but for the sake of justice because his father was murdered and he stuck in the purgatory before able to repent. An example of a tragic hero that fit the characteristics of Aristotelian hero is from the drama of Oedipus Rex by Sophocles where Oedipus suffers from hubris. For Example, he was confident that he has escaped the prophecy of Apollo’s oracle. Due to his hubris, he defied the prophecy but he was mistaken and just as foretold, he unwittingly has married his own mother and killed his own father (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2017). So, it can be seen clearly that Hamlet suffers from grudge while Oedipus suffers from hubris. According to Aristotle, hubris and revenge are different. In his rhetoric, he stated, “Hubris consist in doing and saying things that cause shame to the victim… simply for the pleasure of it. Retaliation is not hubris, but revenge. … Young men and rich are hubristic because they think they are better than other people.” (Literary Devices, n.d)