Not All Tragic – Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” Comedy

One of the key elements of Hamlet, in addition to revenge, and in the midst of all the bloodshed, there is a dark sense of humor that takes place in the key character of Hamlet. This black humor is used more effectively. An example in Hamlet would be Act 4, scene 2, where Rosencrantz and Guildenstern go looking for Hamlet just as he hid Polonius’s body. In this scene, it starts with Hamlet saying “safely put away!” This indicated black humor and here Hamlet speaks of the corpse as if it were a piece of meat which he keeps for safe keeping. He goes on to say “Who calls Hamlet?” You can see that this is deliberately bringing out the element of farce.

One of the nice things about Hamlet is his subtle and constant ability to use humor in every situation. It is used almost in every serious situation or immediately after a serious situation and shows the essential soundness of his mind. This also goes on to consistently show that Hamlet is not really consumed with madness or insane at any point, even though it may appear to other Hamlet characters that he is. Although Hamlet is worried about the events that happen to those around him in his quest for revenge, and that even being told this by a ghost is enough to throw almost any mind off balance, Hamlet maintains a calm and collected mind in every situation, even the most difficult ones. more complex. one is.

The quality of humor is important in comedy, it is more important in tragedy, whether it is the tragedy of life or the tragedy of the theater. As for the element of humor in the play of Hamlet, for example, the darkness of the tragedy is made blacker by the humorous jewels with which it is portrayed. This can best be shown in Act 1 Scene 2 where Hamlet says “A little more than kindred and less than kind.” This is said in the form of a play on words, for here Hamlet, in his characteristically typical humour, makes a play on words by indicating that the kings designate themselves not only as Hamlet’s father, but also as his uncle and is acting in a way that could be seen as unnatural. The reason this would be seen as unnatural is that the king is Hamlet’s uncle, but he is taking on the role of Hamlet’s father and trying to bond with Hamlet on a father figure level which can be seen as unnatural. After Hamlet says this, the King replies “how come the clouds still hang over you?” “Not so, my lord; I am too much into the son,” says Hamlet, playing on the pain. Once again we see the humorous side of Hamlet, especially while depressed, as the king uses the cloud metaphor to imply that Hamlet is still upset and depressed and, characteristically of Hamlet, his response is a play on words. sarcastic with the words sun and son.

In the graveyard scene in Act 5, Scene 1 with the clowns, Hamlet is shown to be engaged in a gloomy and melancholy mood. On the first skull he says: “It could be the head of a politician… one who would elude God, wouldn’t he?” In my opinion, this would be the best example of the most efficient and effective use of the comic tool, since essentially here Hamlet is making fun of the dire situation in which he finds himself in a graveyard while coming face to face with the skulls of those who once lived but are now dead. There is also a light humorous theme when the gravedigger throws the skulls from the graves.

In conclusion, I think that Shakespeare uses the tool of comedy very well in Hamlet. Evidence of how effective Shakespeare is at using comedy as a tool in Hamlet is best shown in the gravedigger scene. In this scene, Ofelia is being buried after committing suicide in the church, when the play was first written, at a time when Catholicism was powerful, so a person who committed suicide and was buried in the church would have caused some people. to get angry, the serious mood is quickly lightened through the humor of the verbal jousting that takes place between Hamlet and the gravedigger.