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The Search for Self-knowledge in Shakespeare's Hamlet
The character of Hamlet has been discussed ever since the play was first introduced to the public. One frequently discussed issue has been the extent of Hamlet's self-knowledge, or his ability to control his feelings and behaviour. Does Hamlet actually achieve self-knowledge, and does this affect his actions, or does he merely react to situations?
In the second act Hamlet questions himself: 'Am I a coward?' (II.ii.566), and curses himself for his hesitation. He lacks the insight to see what is restraining him from acting. Paul Cantor claims that 'Hamlet's Christianity is precisely one of the chief complicating factors in his situation, and . . . it prevents him from acting efficaciously as an avenger' (63). For example, after promising the ghost to take revenge, Hamlet realizes that if the ghost should turn out to be evil, he would be deceived into murdering his uncle (I.v.93). He apparently fears damnation, in contrast to Laertes, who risks damnation in order to avenge his own father's death (IV.v.133-136). Hamlet even postpones his revenge, and writes a play to expose Claudius's guilt (II.ii.594-601). In addition, when he catches Claudius confessing the murder at prayer, he misses his best chance to kill Claudius. He reasons that if Claudius were killed in prayer, his soul would go straight to heaven, which does not count as revenge.
Another misjudgement Hamlet makes is by assuming he can carry out his revenge unhindered by baser elements in his consciousness (I.v.103-104). Indeed, in a later soliloquy he acknowledges,
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action. (III.i.83-88)
By constantly brooding over his situation he loses the momentum necessary to act. His emotional confusion and bewilderment spring from his horror and disgust at his mother's supposed guilt, which he describes as
Such an act
That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,
Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose
From the fair forehead of an innocent love
And sets a blister there, makes marriage vows
As false as dicer's oaths. (III.iv.40-45)
John Erskine Hankins has noted that '[h]er deed has destroyed his faith in all womanhood' (27). This is demonstrated when he accuses Ophelia of falsehood: 'You jig, you amble, and you lisp, and nick-name God's creatures, and make your wantonness your ignorance' (III.i.46-48). Ophelia confirms his belief then by acting as a decoy to betray him to the King, and unknowingly pushes him over the edge of despair. In fact, Hamlet has lost his belief in the goodness of mankind, and imagines the world 'an unweeded garden / That grows to seed' where 'things rank and gross in nature / Possess it merely' (I.ii.135-137). This disillusionment with everything throws him into a melancholy which he is unable to shake off.
After the second appearance of the ghost in Act III, scene iv, Hamlet seems finally to be resolved to act, but still he undertakes no plan to realize his revenge. When Hamlet encounters Fortinbras's army he again laments his inability to act. Faced with the courage of Fortinbras and his men, Hamlet is spurred on to do what honour demands:
How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge. . . .
. . . Examples gross as earth exhort me[.]
(IV.iv.32-46)
He further expresses his wish to be more like Fortinbras and his army, whom he admires for their courage. However, Cedric Watts maintains that there is an irony to the prince's reasoning since 'In the very act of claiming that Fortinbras's army sets an example to be emulated, Hamlet describes that army's work in such a way as to suggest a very good reason why it should not be emulated' (45):
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death, and danger dare,
Even for an eggshell. (IV.v.51-53)
In short, Fortinbras' actions exhibit stupidity rather than courage. What is holding Hamlet back, and what he does not recognize in himself, is mere common sense. As it happens, Fortinbras places honour above common sense, and sends his soldiers to their death 'for a fantasy and trick of fame' (IV.v.61). Hamlet's decision to emulate Fortinbras inevitably implies his decision to throw his conscience and his morals to the wind. As a consequence, he justifies his ruthless behaviour towards Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on the basis that 'They are not near [his] conscience, their defeat / Does by their own insinuation grow' (V.ii.58-59).
It follows that a significant change in the character of Hamlet has taken place. While Hamlet is still puzzled over his inaction, he now acknowledges a divine power which has preserved him from a beheading in England. He attributes this to 'a divinity that shapes our ends, / Rough-hew them how we will' (V.ii.10-11). Harold Jenkins concludes that 'instead of recoiling from what life involves, he is willing to play his part' (158). Hamlet has come to accept the darker side of human nature, and thus necessarily of his own nature. For instance, he first rejected Ophelia, accusing her of being 'a breeder of sinners' (III.i.121-122), but now he is able to declare his love for her (V.i.264-266). Also with the exclamation, 'This is I, / Hamlet the Dane' (V.i.250-251), Hamlet claims Denmark as his kingdom, and thus his place in a world which he first called 'a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors' (II.ii.302-303). Furthermore, Hamlet not only accepts life as it is, but also inevitable death, saying that 'If it be now, 'tis not to come; . . . if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all' (V.ii.216-218). A resignation can be heard in his words, implying that he will go wherever his fate leads him. As Cantor observes, '[w]hen he talks of his "readiness," he is referring merely to his willingness to play a reactive role' (58). Indeed, even though he suspects a trap, Hamlet follows Claudius's lead by accepting a challenge from Laertes initiated by the King.
On the whole, Hamlet is in search of knowledge, and self-knowledge in particular. Because he does not recognize and understand what is bothering him, he does not know how to remedy his passive state. His inability to know himself frustrates him to the point where he becomes fatalistic, and he eventually resigns himself to whatever Destiny brings: 'Since no man, of aught he leaves, knows aught, what is't to leave betimes?' (V.ii.218-220). All in all, he reacts rather than acts, for he finally avenges his father's death when confronted with a situation in which the opportunity to strike is unavoidable.
Works Cited
Cantor, Paul A. Shakespeare's Hamlet. Landmarks of World Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1989.
Hankins, John Erskine. The Character of Hamlet. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press, 1941.
Jenkins, Harold. Introduction. Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. The Arden Shakespeare. London: Methuen, 1982.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. The Arden Shakespeare. Ed. Harold Jenkins. London: Methuen, 1982.
Watts, Cedric. Harvester New Critical Introductions to Shakespeare: Hamlet. Hertfordshire: Harvester-Wheatsheaf, 1988.
Copyright © 1996 Jill Li. All Rights Reserved.
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