Aristotle's Poetics Applied to Hamlet

Daniel Soares

        Aristotle's famous Poetics, for centuries, has been the golden standard in the world of theatre for a properly written tragedy, essentially a detailing of required characteristics to a play. Aristotle claims the plot of a play to be the most important part of any tragedy and that all other aspects of the play, including diction, thought, and character, branch off of the plot. The definition of a tragedy that Aristotle provides us with is "...an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear affecting the proper purgation of these emotions"

        William Shakespeare's work, Hamlet, fits the necessary criteria set forth for an ideal tragedy by Aristotle. Despite this, there are some aspects of the play that are not always in total synchronization with the guidelines. Aristotle’s Poetics tells us that tragedy is "an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude". The play Hamlet fits this description to a tee. The play in and of itself is about Hamlet’s setting out to avenge the death of his father which is considered very serious with respect to Aristotle’s statement.  The play is also to be considered complete as any unfinished business or loose ends are brought to a clean finish in a rational and realistic way. Hamlet himself avenges the death of his father by murdering his uncle. Shakespeare then continues Aristotle’s idea of a tragedy in being of a specific magnitude.

        The characters in a play have the role of being as perfect as possible while still maintaining the ability to be related to by the members of the audience. The character Hamlet is a rich prince but still has the troubles of a commoner in his day to day life. The circumstances surrounding his father’s death have him feeling irritated, paranoid, and confused. Hamlet is also insecure and is not sure of how to approach the situation he is buried in. This feeling of uncertainty is relatable to the audience in their everyday lives and they are therefore able to sympathize with him. Aristotle insists that a tragedy must instill fear and pity into the audience in order to be effective. In the Poetics, Aristotle uses the phrase unmerited misfortune to describe what pity should feel like. This description seems fitting to the protagonist as he has not committed sin to cause the death of his father, he is at no fault. Furthermore, Hamlet’s mother married the uncle who Hamlet suspects may have been responsible for his father’s death. These tragic events forcefully draw out a feeling of pity from the audience and forces them to be heartfelt to the situation. The fear factor that Aristotle mentioned also arises as this theme is omnipresent in the tragedy. As the story goes on, the intent of the king plotting the murder of Hamlet and the planning by Hamlet to kill the king, becomes more and more obvious. Aristotle would consider such a plot to be sophisticated, or complex in nature.

        The plot of this tragedy is supplemented with Recognition, defined by Aristotle as "a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons destined by the poet for good or bad fortune". The event of recognition happens when there is a play inside of the play which is staged for the king. The play that is staged reenacts exactly what Hamlet suspected occurred to his father. Hamlet’s uncle is enraged by the play and flees the scene as a result, further confirming the suspicion. This can be seen as a reflection, sort of the opposite of foreshadowing but certainly leads Hamlet to certify the terrible thoughts he had that his uncle is the perpetrator of murdering his father. The king is then found praying in a church which provides an opportune moment for Hamlet to commit the act of murder but Hamlet refuses because he does not wish the king he murders to go to heaven. This scene foreshadows Hamlet’s intent to attempt to kill the uncle at some point in the future.