Without a doubt, Shakespeare is a great literary figure of his time. His contribution to drama and other literary terms is excellent and unforgettable. It is useless to criticize such a person. Christopher Marlowe, one of the university geniuses, gave few dramas to the time but he enriched it with said literary term. His dramas are watched and read with great curiosity all over the world. His work has not only earned him a reputation, but has also made his name immortal. He wrote a total of 37 plays in his lifetime, all of which can be classified as tragedy, comedy, or history.

Before talking about Hamlet’s tragic fault or hamartia, it is better to know something about the word ‘hamartia’ used by Aristotle in his work ‘The Poetics’. According to him, the tragic hero is not perfect, and misfortune falls on him through some fault of his own. Aristotle uses the Greek word, ‘Hamartia’. Its root meaning is, ‘miss the mark’. AC Bradley translates it, ‘tragic flaw’. Aristotle uses it, ‘misjudgment’. Hamartia is not a moral imperfection, but rather an error in judgment, whether it arises from ignorance of some material fact or from rashness and impulsiveness of temperament or passion. The hero makes several serial mistakes that seem unfamiliar to him. Finally, they create a very strange situation that leads to the hero’s catastrophe.

Hamlet, a prince of Denmark, is an understanding and well-educated person. He is morally a good person and above all loved by all, despite this, he is not a saint or a perfect man. Apart from that, he cannot be called a villain because he does not perform such an action that he can prove that he is a villain. It is his love for his parents that becomes the cause of his catastrophe, but he ignores the mistakes he makes in love. Aristotle speaks of an intermediate person who makes mistakes without knowing it. He also speaks of haste in action and lightness of temperament as the main weapons of hamartia, which lead the hero to catastrophe. Hamlet does not seem light-tempered, but he is very suitable for Othello. Hamlet is undoubtedly a tragic hero; he makes mistakes that become the cause of his tragedy. If Othello had been in Hamlet’s place, there would have been no tragedy. It is the playwright’s skill that moves the hero so that he can face his tragedy by making tragic mistakes.

Hamlet makes a series of mistakes that become the cause of his tragedy. Jan Knott says that Hamlet is like Swiss cheese with all the holes. In his character, irresolution is a dominant factor and gives rise to delay. It happens because of the childish mood of him. Indeed, a man possesses a very strange disposition, and a man who is the owner of a childish nature never thinks of harming others. It is the same condition with Hamlet that arouses pity and fear in the audience.

Throughout the drama, Hamlet finds himself wronged. His grievance is the hasty marriage of his mother to his uncle Claudio. He hides his love for his mother and reveals his sheer immaturity. Although he is a prince, he does not enjoy his status but wants to move the country in the footsteps of his father. Furthermore, when he learns the cause of his father’s murder, his grievance is doubled and he leaves the other affairs of the kingdom. Invasion of him by his inner conflict diminishes sympathy for others. He wants revenge on his father; he must get out of the grievance and deal the enemy a killing blow. Other than that, he is neither helpless nor weak; he can do anything, but, beforehand, he checks the responsibility of his action.

In this drama, the author stages a game within the game. Hamlet wants to make sure if his uncle Claudius is the murderer or not. The theatrical staging of him for this purpose was alike to make the enemy aware of his crime and plan. The enemy is smart; he takes quick steps to repel him or to harm his life. He makes sure that Claudio is the real murderer of his father, again pushes him to complain and thinks of his mother. Such a step made the enemy stronger but him weaker. His soliloquy, in which he calls women fragile, creates doubts in him about his mother being guilty of the murder. His grievance continues and she can’t get rid of him. When Hamlet sees the drama that he prepares, he becomes very moved by the player’s emotional speech. In the second soliloquy, he calls himself a rogue and peasant slave and a dull, muddy rascal who, like a John-a-dreams, can’t act. He is, in fact, plagued by self-hatred. Priding and self-condemnation means deciding to take measurable action to avenge his father’s death. This grievance enhances his internal and external conflict.

Hamlet is not a successful lover. Shakespeare avoids falling into the hell of love, and it may be that he is childish. Hence, his love leans towards his mother who manifests an Oedipus complex. This love was perceived more suitable for the tragedy of him. Without a doubt, he loves Ophelia and she loves him too. He, in a hurry or without any conformity, kills her father and she loses consciousness. She depended on him to support her, but she always thought of her mother. Ultimately, she drowned to death in the river. When he returns from the clutches of the pirates, he sees her burial rite. There he regrets this accident. His involvement aggravates Laertes’s anger, and increases his vengeful fire.

She was innocent and immature in love. It was Hamlet who aroused her feelings of love, and she began to move on the unknown path of love. Hamlet did not fully introduce her to love. He left her in the desert alone and despondent. When her father was killed, she was a great threat to her life. If she had fallen completely in love with Hamlet, she would not have killed herself. Most of Shakespeare’s tragedies give importance to the love of the heroine, but here it is different because the love of her mother is given importance. If she had been alive and with sense, there would have been a great deal of resistance in the hero’s tragedy. She could have supported Hamlet, and Claudius would have failed in his dueling conspiracy between Hamlet and Laertes. Shakespeare does not allow Hamlet to taste the love of a maiden.

His soliloquies delve into his inner conflict. She finds Claudio engaged in worship, and it was the best chance for revenge, but she is faced with a dilemma. Here Shakespeare introduces his popular soliloquy ‘To be or not to be’. It means that he must kill him or not. If he killed him in this condition, he would go straight to heaven. He decides not to kill him. It shows his religious belief and the fear that child feels in the dark. Also, he shows the inability of him. He checks his first step to procrastination. He declares that it is conscience that resists action and so irresoluteness enters into his actions. He stages a drama to find the killer’s reaction and passion. Claudius suspects and delegates Polonius as a spy. When he was deep in conversation with his mother, he would hide behind the curtain to hear his secret. Hamlet sensed someone there and realized that he could be Claudius. Without any proof, he, disgusted, killed him. Claudio was looking for such a hasty action. He had the opportunity to devise against him. He takes advantage of his flaw and sends him abroad with a cruel plan.

His fourth soliloquy also shows his irresoluteness. Here he observes the efforts and bravery of Fortinbras, the prince of Norway, and then compares him to himself. He tries to revive his own desire for revenge against Claudio for the death of his father. Hamlet condemns himself to be lethargic because he does not think too precisely about an event, although he has cause, will, strength and means to take revenge. In addition, he has proof that Claudio is the murderer of his father. Hamlet finally decides that he must take action against Claudius in some way, shape or form. Here he himself feels that he is in the grip of procrastination that has been produced by irresolution.

His assassination of Polonius is very strange. His soliloquies are proof of his delay in action. When he kills Polonius, he doesn’t check if he is Claudius or someone else. It is his rashness or his childishness, and appeals to Aristotle’s hamartia concept rule. Such immaturity turns the whole environment against him. He loses his love, creates enmity against Laertes and the king. He is alone and it is easy for enemies to chase him. Laertes is the powerful enemy of his who is under the spell of Claudius. He makes two plans to kill him. The first of his is to offer a poisonous cup before the duel, if he avoided taking it, he would fall prey to Laertes’s poisonous sword.

His mission was to take revenge on his father and save his mother. He couldn’t save his mother. His hesitant quest for revenge for his father’s death confirms his greatest tragic flaw. As a result, she is able to avenge his father’s death with his own death. He was a good person, and his devotion and struggle arouses pity and fear for him among the readers. Hamlet’s irresoluteness is evident in his actions after seeing the emotion of the actors, after his third soliloquy, at his fourth soliloquy, and in his hesitant quest for revenge for the death of his father. Hamlet was able to avenge his father’s death, but his own death due to his irresoluteness labels him as a tragic hero.

As a result, it is obvious that Hamlet is not a fiery person. He seems lethargic in actions, although he has it all. His delay inflicting his personality, but his death or tragedy restores his position. Even Fortinbras feels sorry for him. It is really a great tragedy of a great tragic hero.