William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is deservedly regarded as one of the most essential tragedies in human history. The play is remarkable because it stays relevant and timeless, as evidenced by the fact that it has been staged in theaters all over the globe for more than 400 years. Shakespeare, however, was a man of his time, an Englishman living in the age of the Renaissance. Any work of art, no matter how innovative, cannot escape the constraints of time and space. To properly comprehend Hamlet, it is vital to analyze the historical period in which William Shakespeare worked as well as the origin of the Hamlet story. This information will help us grasp the essence of this magnificent masterpiece.
The legend of Hamlet was first recorded by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus in his anthology of stories and chronicles called Gesta Danorum, published at the end of the 15th century. According to lore, one of the pagan Jutland kings, Gervendill, was assassinated by his brother Feng. He then married the deceased’s widow and took over his property. Young Hamlet (or Amleth), the victim’s son, was tasked with avenging his father’s murder. Amleth feigned to be deranged to fool the murderer, but Feng continued to distrust his nephew and attempted to force him to reveal his actual motives.
Nevertheless, Amleth had been informed of the risk by his friend, who later became Horatio in Shakespeare’s play. One of the courtiers (Shakespeare’s Polonius) attempted to eavesdrop on Amleth’s chat with his mother but was caught and murdered by Amleth. Feng sent his stepson to England accompanied by two courtiers, who in Shakespeare’s Hamlet became Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to deliver a letter to the English monarch, where it was said that Amleth should be killed. However, Amleth managed to change the letter, and his companions were killed instead of him. Amleth married the English king’s daughter and returned to Jutland with her, where he was presumed dead. He set fire to the palace, where drunken courtiers celebrated Amleth’s return and beheaded Feng, fulfilling his blood revenge obligation.
Shakespeare’s play was written in 1601; he depicted 17th century England using the old story as a foundation. Shakespeare converses with his contemporaries about life’s major challenges. According to Saxo Grammaticus, Amleth is smart, ingenious, strong, vicious, and capable of not only committing murder but also ridiculing a corpse. Amleth embodies the values of his time, and he understands little about moral anguish. The tragedy of Hamlet, according to Shakespeare, is that a man with a mind and heart suffered a mental breakdown when he witnessed the dark side of life – incest, deceit, and death of loved ones.
He lost trust in mankind, in love, and life as a whole. He pretended to be insane, but the cruelty of everyone around him nearly made him a madman. The skill of handling a sword was prized above all else during Shakespeare’s time, and deception was not perceived as a vice. Hamlet begins to act, convincing himself that he is battling for the restoration of universal justice, not for his own life and kingdom: “The time is out of joint; O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right!” (Shakespeare 33).
As an alumnus of the University of Wittenberg, Hamlet may have been fond of science, art, and activities that serve humanity. Nevertheless, he was forced to seek vengeance, lie, cheat, and kill. His insanity is not only a means of self-defense but also a way of telling the truth to others. He publicly deceives Polonius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, and deprives them of life in cold blood.
In “The Mousetrap” scene, Hamlet wishes to prove Claudius’ guilt. Not only does he want to kill the false-hearted king, but he also wants to assure him that he will be punished (Shakespeare 70-72). Hamlet is not at all idle; he is plotting vengeance, even though he knows the killing will upend his whole life. The famous monologue “To be, or not to be?” expresses Hamlet’s struggle to decide whether he wants to be a killer or a victim (Shakespeare 54). The ancient legend’s Amleth could not face such a question. William Shakespeare, as well as his character, was a Renaissance man whose tragedy was the existence of divergence between aspirations and reality and the inability to live according to one’s soul’s ideals. Hamlet dies not as a defender of justice but as a regular victim of political intrigue.
Thus, while Hamlet is the victor in Saxo Grammaticus’ version, he is represented as the victim in Shakespeare’s play, who does not fight but only defends himself. He has doubts and tries to live up to great ideals, yet he fails. People who are ahead of their time often become victims, as Shakespeare demonstrated. When looking at Hamlet through the lens of history, we can get a new perspective on the old story. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is an example of rewriting a classic tale from the perspective of contemporary values. The character rejects archaic pagan morality, which holds that a person is good if he is willing to exterminate his adversaries. The person’s inner world is far more essential to Shakespeare, and violence, on the other hand, has no significance. Presumably, such a viewpoint is still held by many people today, and Shakespeare’s Hamlet will remain relevant.