Dramatic Structure and Poetics in Hamlet Essay

Hamlet

William Shakespeares Hamlet is one of the most powerful tragedies ever written. It is a play with a phenomenal storyline. Although it seems to break away from the predictable dramatic convention, the storyline still follows the basis of dramatic structure. The inciting moment of the play is when Hamlet meets the ghost. This event does not take place until near the end of the first act. With most plays that had been written before Hamlet, the inciting moment is introduced right on the first page. The inciting moment in Hamlet is the longest in dramatic literature and has the audience completely stretched. The rising action of the play begins with the ghost appearing before Hamlet, telling him to revenge his murder. After this incident, Hamlet fakes madness to his intentions. He then plans a play within a play that staged the murder of his father. Hamlet intended to watch Claudius in hopes of seeing some sort of reaction or emotion that would prove Claudius was the murderer. Next, Hamlet passes up the opportunity to kill Claudius while he is praying. He doesnt want him to go straight to heaven. He needs to catch Claudius in his sin so he can be tormented in Purgatory like his father. The climax in Hamlet occurs when Hamlet finally allows himself to accept the fact that Claudius is definitely the murderer of his father. He realizes this from Claudius guilty reaction to the players' enactment in the Mousetrap play. The falling action of the play begins with Hamlet being sent to England to be killed. When Hamlet returns to Denmark, he confronts Laertes at Ophelias funeral. They then go on to a fencing match, which Hamlet wins by stabbing Laertes with his very own poisoned sword. While the two had been fencing, Gertrude made the mistake of drinking the poisoned wine and dies. After killing Laertes, Hamlet stabs Claudius with the same sword and makes him drink the poisoned wine. Then Hamlet lays there wounded, until he also dies. Shakespeare definitely had a way with tragedies. Four deaths within five minutes of a play is pretty intense.

In the play Hamlet, Aristotles Poetics are present and are able to be identified. One of the Poetics that is easy to identify are the characters. From the beginning of the play, it is apparent that Hamlet is the protagonist. Not only is the play named after him, but most of the action of the play centers around him. What many readers do not realize is that Hamlet is not only the protagonist, but he is also considered an antagonist. Hamlet is his own worst enemy. All of his thinking, worrying, and debating throughout the play gets in the way of his one purpose, which is to avenge the death of his father. The more obvious antagonist of the play is Claudius. Claudius is the murderer of Hamlets father and also makes repeated attempts to kill Hamlet.

Another Poetic that was easy to identify in the play was theme. The theme of Hamlet is one cannot circumvent their own fate and must engage in some sort of action. From the beginning, the ghost tells Hamlet who the murderer of his father is. Instead of listening, Hamlet avoids the warning entirely. He makes rational considerations and always needs certainty, which tends to waste a lot of time. HamH