2-2 Short Paper Catharsis and Hamartia PDF

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2-2 Short Paper: Catharsis and Hamartia According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Hamartia is the “tragic flaw” (n.d) and catharsis is “the process of releasing strong emotion, and receiving relief” (n.d). The hamartia is usually the downfall to the main character, or hero of a tragedy. There are many elements that contribute to the hamartia and catharsis in the play Hamlet. A few elements of hamartia are Claudius killing King Hamlet, Polonius and the Queen trying to spy on Hamlet, and Claudius poisoning Hamlet. A few elements of catharsis are King Hamlet’s ghost searching for relief and revenge, and Hamlet killing Claudius. The murder of King Hamlet was the beginning of a spiraling Prince Hamlet. King Hamlet’s ghost shows catharsis by searching for revenge on his brother Claudius for betraying him and murdering him. The ghost of the king is searching for his emotional relief by asking Hamlet to seek revenge on his uncle. “GHOST I am thy father’s spirit, doomed for a certain term to walk the night And for the day confined to fast in fires Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away.” (Shakespeare, 1992, 1.5, 14). In the end, this play provides an emotional relief after Claudius is forced to drink the poison, and dies. This element could be considered an emotional relief because Claudius is the one to blame for the death of the King, Queen and Hamlet, and could also be blamed for Laetre’s death.

There are a lot of downfalls that contribute to the hamartia of the play Hamlet. The main hamartia of Hamlet is when Hamlet let Claudius live when he had the chance to kill him. Hamlet tried to play god and decide when he should kill him so that he would go to hell. However, he did kill Claudius as he wished, while committing a sin. This is an element of hamartia because letting Claudius live lead to many more deaths, including Hamlet’s. “Here, thou incestuous, murd’ous, damned Dane, Drink off this potion. Is thy union here? [Forces him to drink the poison] Follow my mother. [King dies.]” (Shakespeare, 1992, 5.2, 355-359). In the process of Claudius trying to poison Hamlet, he poisoned the Queen and Laetres, and Hamlet eventually made him drink the poison before dying.

References

(n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2015, from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/catharsis (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2015, from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/hamartia Shakespeare, W. (1992). The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1.5, 14-18. & 5.2, 355359). New York, NY: The Folger Shakespeare Library....