The Tragic Hero Archetype in Hamlet

This week, the author Jackson Pierce came to speak to us about archetypes and the various molds that characters in novels may fall into. During her presentation, I was contemplating the relevance of Hamlet’s role as an archetype, and what he truly represents as an individual in the play… which could be several, considering how complex his character is and how it encompasses so many diverse notions. For one, Hamlet can be rendered as the tragic hero in the play (which is a tragedy) for numerous reasons that pertain to his characters nature and the conflicts (internal and external) that he endures throughout.

At the beginning of the play, Hamlet is presented with an extremely burdensome, exacting, and tough task that visibly takes a toll on Hamlet's sanity and reason. He must face the decision of killing his uncle in an act of vengeance for the sake of his late father. However, for the first two Acts, we see Hamlet struggle with the thought of killing Claudius, his uncle, whom he considers to be a "bloody, bawdy villain” (2.2.607). Despite the fact that Hamlet undoubtedly possesses the profound ambition and motive to carry out this grueling responsibility, he cannot get past his encumbering thoughts and reasoning. It is Hamlet’s vast intelligence and hesitance that gets the best of him, and prevents his powerful emotions from overriding his conscience. Thus, in Hamlet’s character, we can clearly detect a hint of uncertainty and doubt which deeply troubles Hamlet as he becomes torn between his righteous fate and his moral obligation to his uncle.

Like a typical tragic hero, he embarks on a quest to avenge his father’s death, as he must make a tough decision that holds no insight for what the future may hold. Essentially, Hamlet’s fate and predetermined destiny is his tragic flaw that further shapes him as a tragic hero, and what will ultimately be the premise of his death. The concept of the tragic hero archetype usually consists of a character who undergoes a “change of fortune,” which in this case, would be the late King Hamlet’s ghost imparting Hamlet with the duty of avenging his death, which completely alters Hamlet’s life from “good to bad.” Moreover, according to Aristotle, a tragic hero is one who has committed a “great wrong leading to his misfortune,” which for Hamlet, might be the secret love affair between Ophelia and him (which may have resulted in Ophelia’s pregnancy). Also, the tragic hero must also encounter some free choice, in which he must “choose one course of action over another.” In Hamlet, Hamlet’s free choice is deciding whether or not to kill Claudius. He must make the ultimate decision on his own, and what he ultimately chooses to do will determine whether or not the play will end in his demise.

So far in this play, we have come across many aspects of the tragic hero archetype that are applicable to the character of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play. I am anxious to read the rest of the play in order to see how the tragic hero archetype manifests itself throughout the rest of the play.

Shakespeare's Hamlet: Strange Occurences in Act 2

This week in class we are reading and examining Act 2 of Hamlet, and so far it has been incredibly intense and action-packed as the plot continues to mount. Thus far, there have been recurring ideas of deception, spying, obedience, suspicion, uncertainty, and underlying financial implications. Scene 1 of this act opens with this evident notion of obscurity and espionage. The tense mood that is evoked in this scene basically emulates and foreshadows the following instances of meddling and prying that is bound to arise later on in Act 2.

In scene 1, Polonius orders Reynaldo to spy on Laertes, which once again puts emphasis on the concept of subservience and fulfilling one’s duty (especially on Reynaldo’s part), while Polonius’s actions also exemplify the intrusive and meddlesome aspect of the scene. Additionally, in this first scene, there are also questions regarding honor and trust, as Polonius encourages Reynaldo to be devious in order to “expose” the truth about Laertes’ acquaintances. This actually reveals Polonius as a pitiful and cowardly character, since he is willing to go to extreme and desperate lengths in order to pry into his son’s life instead of just confronting his son face-to-face like a real man.

Moreover, Polonius’s manner towards his daughter Ophelia is also very strange and unloving. However, this is briefly contradicted when Polonius apologizes to Ophelia if he could have potentially provoking Hamlet’s erratic and peculiar behavior and madness when he says “I am sorry that with better heed and judgment I had not coted him” (2.1.124-125). In general though, Polonius kind of treats his daughter like a plaything, especially when he says “I’ll loose my daughter to him” (2.2.176) in scene 2, as if she is an animal to be unleashed or some inanimate object. Perhaps this is another indication of the controversy between what “seems” and what “is.” Is Polonius truly sorry for causing Hamlet’s madness, or does he want to seem sorry? As of now, Polonius’s obscure motives remain somewhat unclear.

On another note, Claudius and the Queen also exhibit signs of deceit and dishonesty when they ask Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to keep an eye on Hamlet because they are “concerned” for him. Hamlet’s bizarre and inexplicable behavior has made the Queen and Claudius worried for Hamlet’s well-being, or so it seems. In truth, I believe the Queen and Claudius are hiding a dark secret, like maybe some secret past love affair that they are bothered Hamlet might discover. I think they are onto Hamlet, and they want to keep him under surveillance in order to ensure that he doesn’t do anything to harm their reputation. After all, the queen has no doubt that Hamlet’s troubles have been triggered by “his father’s death and [their] o’erhasty marriage” (2.2.60), which we know as the audience isn’t completely true. I believe Hamlet’s actual train of thought and motives for acting mad and unusual will be revealed later on, but for now, I suspect that Hamlet is fully aware of his parents’s plans and that he intends on continuing this odd act until he’s ready to avenge his father’s death.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

The book I'm currently reading as my book outside of class is Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. I immediately fell in love with the book only after reading a few sentences, thus, the statement that Golden is capable of writing a captivating and riveting novel is a huge understatement. The story takes place in the late 1920s to early 1930s Japan, where a young girl Chiyo, from the small village of Yoroido, endures many difficult challenges when she is forcibly taken to Kyoto to become a geisha at the age of nine. Golden’s style is so unique and his writing truly honors Japanese tradition which he embodies so vividly.

The novel is told in Chiyo’s point of view, as she tells the story of how she came to be a geisha, which is truly a saddening story as I can almost feel Chiyo’s pain through her thoughts and words. Chiyo’s character is so pleasant and considerate, and in my opinion, she is the epitome of a good-natured person in every sense of the word. Her story is so heartbreaking, yet touching at the same time because her audacity and courage to overcome obstacles is very admirable.

In the beginning, the way in which Chiyo describes the world around her is indicative of her youthful innocence and naiveté. Her point of view reflects that of an unassuming child who has an immense curiosity for the world and everything in it. For example, Golden elaborates Chiyo’s inquisitive character when she observes Mr. Tanaka in great detail and notes how the “creases in his brow [were] like ruts in the bark of a tree” and how he “seemed to [her] the wisest and most knowledgeable man on earth” (Golden 20), which serves to elaborate her childish innocence. Chiyo is such an imaginative child too, as she constantly concocts fantasies in her head of what she believes are people’s intentions and of her future.

Moreover, Golden’s vivid descriptions take the novel to a whole other level, especially because each literary device is explicitly true to Japanese culture and principles. Golden specifically reveals Chiyo’s depth of knowledge and understanding of the world through her language and descriptions of what she feels or thinks. For instance, when she feels tired and completely worn out, she says that she “felt as sore as a rock must feel when the waterfall has pounded on it all day long” (Golden 34), perfectly capturing the sensation of fatigue. Additionally, when Chiyo encounters Hatsumomo for the first time, she is amazed and stunned by her beauty and the extravagance of her kimono, which “was water blue, with swirling lines in ivory” and of her face, which is described like a painting with a “rich white, like the wall of a cloud when lit by the sun” (Golden 36-37). Golden’s writing is incredibly creative and flawless, in my opinion, because it is difficult to tell a story in the point of view of a girl searching to find her way in life, much less when it is a story about a foreign culture. Overall, I think the Golden is a commendable and brilliant writer, and from what I have read thus far, Memoirs of a Geisha is a great read and a fantastic novel.

"Bright Star" by John Keats

In "Bright Star," Keats immediately introduces us to the speaker in the first line, as the speaker muses, “bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art—,” indicating that they desperately yearn to acquire the same unfaltering and determined nature as a star in the sky, undying and eternal. In the very first line of the poem, Keats gives life to the star, which is depicted through the use of an apostrophe (addressing something nonhuman) so as to illuminate how the speaker’s soul is void of any flawless star-like qualities that are so sought-after. Moreover, the speaker acknowledges the star’s solitude, adding that he/she does not long to be “in lone splendor hung aloft the night,” which simultaneously evokes the star’s magnificence in its eternal existence. Keats’ solemn and somber tone vividly captures the speaker’s profound longing and despondency. The speaker bluntly asserts that in addition to not wanting to exist in isolation, he refuses to be an observer like the star, “with eternal lids apart.” Once more, Keats depicts the star as a living thing, giving it eyes that watch down upon the world endlessly. The speaker in the poem does not wish to possess the star’s ability to gaze at the world interminably, for it may be unbearable. The speaker declares that the star watches, “like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite,” which Keats structures using a simile in order to suggest that the speaker does not seek to remain restless and sheltered indefinitely like an “Eremite,” or a hermit. Yet the speaker goes on to vividly illustrate what the bright star observes from the sky, such as the “moving waters at their priestlike task/of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,” which serves to encompass the transience and ephemerality of life as water constantly cleanses the earth’s shores. Keats intentionally describes the waters as capable of “ablution,” or cleansing and ritual washing, in order to reveal the cyclical and never-ending aspect of life in its entirety. In addition to overseeing the sweeping ocean, the speaker believes the star to be “gazing on the new soft fallen mask/of snow upon the mountains and the moors—,” which has underlying implications of purity and virtue in that snow is white and fresh. Likewise, the speaker implies that they do not want to watch the oceans and mountains patiently from above for all eternity, but that they would rather be “pillowed upon [their] fair love’s ripening breast” in a world in which cold, unfeeling purity is absent and instead replaced by a warm and welcoming lover’s chest. Here, Keats creates a striking contrast between the harsh and desolate nature of the frozen “mountains and the moors,” and the pleasant and blooming sphere of passionate love. The speaker remains dedicated to “love’s ripening breast,” longing “to feel forever its soft fall and swell,” which alludes to the permanence of the star’s existence in the sky “forever.” In effect, Keats denotes the speaker’s confliction in defining their heart’s true desire, which seems to be entangled in a profound uncertainty of whether to live in eternal isolation or indulge in a transitory love affair. Overall, Keats encapsulates the shift in the speaker’s thoughts as the speaker resolves to sacrifice the unfeasible ability to live an eternal life such as the bright star, which seemed to be so endearing at first, and instead, invest in a transitory, but meaningful notion of love and a passionate affair. Essentially, Keats exemplifies the impracticality of seeking to attain a state of immortality, such as the bright star that shines eternally in the sky, by exposing the inherent desire of an indecisive man who deeply wishes to possess the benefits of both worlds. However, in a world where eternal existence is impossible, which the speaker must mournfully accept, humans must settle on the next best thing, a seemingly undying love that lives forever, “or else swoon to death.”    

"in Just--" by e.e. cummings

This week in class, we discussed “in Just—" by e. e. cummings, which is a very interesting and insightful modern poem that depicts the pivotal moment of our childhood. The poem is visually very interesting and complex, almost as if the words are dancing across the page as if to signify the children in the poem playfully frolicking and leaping around. In analyzing this poem, I find that in an effort to vividly depict children’s transformation from lighthearted and jolly innocence to the sexual implication of adulthood, cummings explores the necessary and timely course of nature that every child endures. Moreover, I think in “in Just—,” cummings reiterates this momentous milestone in every child’s life also by emphasizing the seasonal aspect of this transition in the poem, which is springtime. This season definitely validates a sense of renewal, growth, and enlightenment that takes place throughout the poem for boys and girls.

Cummings vividly captures the fundamental moment in children’s lives by embodying the nature of this shift through varied structure and meaningful repetition. In the first stanza, cummings simply writes "in Just-/spring" which is such an impactful word in it of itself. Not only is this phrase alluding to the title of the poem, but it also possesses some level of ambiguity as we are not certain whether it means exactly or precisely in spring, or whether he means unjust spring, as if spring (and this sexual transformation) is unfair and undeserved. Then the way in which cummings arranges the structure of the phrase, “when the world is mud-/luscious” is unanticipated. Cummings’ clever arrangement of these words signify that “the world is mud-“ is somewhat given in a negative context, until it is paired with the word “luscious” which is more delightful and seems to be meant to encompass a childlike fantasy and playfulness in regards to spring. Then, we are introduced to the “little/lame balloonman” for the first time, who “whistles far and wee,” similar to the Pied Piper. Once the seemingly menacing and untrustworthy balloonman whistles, “eddieandbill come/ running from marbles,”which signifies their desertion of their innocence since they are running from their innocent childhood games and advancing towards the balloonman, which could denote their newfound sexuality.

In the next few stanzas, cummings reexamines the crucial and indispensable transition from youth to mature adulthood by employing repetition and altered structure. Cummings writes that the “world is puddle-“ which, like mud, also has a repulsive and unpleasant connotation. However, he goes on to clarify that it is “puddle-wonderful,” suddenly giving the word a whole new meaning, as it could suggest the enjoyable and joyful aspect of infancy and innocence, especially because “it’s spring.” Cummings purposefully incorporates repetition throughout the poem when he mentions “the queer/old balloonman,” which once again, is undermined by sexual implications as we get the sensation that this possibly homosexual, aged man is wicked and deceiving as he lures the children in. Subsequently, as soon as the balloonman sounds his whistle, “bettyandisbel come dancing/from hop-scotch,” which serves to manifest that the children are shedding their innocence and furthering themselves from their childish pursuits in order to encounter the balloonman, and therefore, their adult sexuality. Through varied structure and intricate repetition, cummings exemplifies the nature of children’s transformation from childhood to adulthood as they are led by the “goat-footed/balloonMan,” which could be an allusion to Pan, the Greek sex god. Overall, in “in Just—,”cummings presents the complexity of abandoning childish pursuits in order to achieve adulthood and sexual awakening as a paramount aspect of life.

Grendel: The True Character of a Gruesome Monster

Overall, I think Grendel by John Gardner is truly a compelling novel that is truly engaging and captivating in its entirety.  I am most definitely a fan of this novel because Gardner’s Grendel never fails to surprise me or shock me continuously. Although many of the philosophies presented throughout the book are exceptionally complex and oftentimes perplexing, Gardner’s writing style definitely engages me to think outside the box and to read between the lines in order to discern the meaning of the novel, just as Grendel is trying to discern the meaning of the universe and his role in it.

With that said, there are many aspects of the novel that are worth addressing such as Grendel’s constantly transforming thoughts and impressions about art. The role of art and the artist in the novel is largely significant throughout the text as Grendel jumps back and forth between the dragon’s ideals and mankind’s enduring beliefs. I think it is so interesting that Grendel falls somewhere between humanity and in a sense, godliness. It is definitely no coincidence that Grendel possesses this impenetrable charm in Ch. 6 that renders him invincible in a way, like God. Throughout the novel, we get the sense that Grendel is just trying to understand the world and how it works, and where he belongs in it, just on a whole other level. We see Grendel still trying to define himself in comparison to humans and their world, then in contrast to the dragon and the infinite universe, then in terms of Grendel himself as a mechanical creature…an animal.

The shift in Grendel’s notions and philosophies regarding his own existence are evident throughout the novel. Initially, Grendel has no concept of the world outside his own mother, who to him, is the source of his being. It is not until Grendel’s monumental realization of his independence (when he gets stuck in the tree in Ch. 2) that we see his impressions of the world transform and modify. Soon enough, Grendel comes to realize the “meaningless objectness of the world, the universal bruteness” of it (Gardner 28). Grendel gradually develops his theory of solipsism, in which he is convinced that only he exists and that everything around him is merely a fabrication of his own mind, and nonexistent.

However, after a brief lapse in Grendel’s notion of good vs. evil through the Shaper’s persuasive art, Grendel’s beliefs quickly change when Grendel encounters the dragon in Ch. 5 (which is arguably his own unconscious mind). After his encounter with the dragon, Grendel is convinced of the dragon’s belief that the duration of time ceases to prolong the importance of things that are important now.  The dragon alters Grendel’s beliefs from being primarily based on solipsism to now centering on nihilism and the idea that everything is unimportant and doomed to perish eventually in the grand scheme of things. This theory resonates with Grendel for a long time (especially throughout Ch. 7), as he progressively builds on the dragon’s ideas and comes to many realizations of his own.

Eventually, he comes to assume his role as the ultimate monster and destroyer of society…he accepts his role as the enemy, the ruiner, the cursed creature. Although Grendel’s notions of art continue to develop incredibly fast throughout chapter 9 and 10, he is still somehow bound to humanity through this mutual recognition of art and its impact.

John Gardner's Monstrous Creation: Grendel

After our brief introduction to John Gardner’s contemporary fiction novel, Grendel, I was curious to see how (according to Gardner) fiction should truly be written: with a purpose. Initially, I did not really regard Gardner to be the gentlest of people, considering that he bashed the majority of fiction writers by degrading their works and everything they have ever achieved in their lifetime. However, after reading the first couple chapters of Grendel, I’m kind of starting to see the more sympathetic side of Gardner and the regret and guilt he felt due to his liability in his brother’s unprecedented death.

Truthfully, I do not blame Gardner for defending his beliefs that fiction should solely be life-affirming and significant, not meaningless and empty. Although I admit he could have been a little less harsh and disrespectful to other writers, his genuine concern for the importance and profound meaning of fiction actually seems valid. With that said, I think it is perfectly acceptable to have any form of fictional work whether it is momentous or not. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and interpretations of fictional merit, but for some reason I can’t help but agree with Gardner in his declaration that a worthwhile piece of literature is so much more inspirational and encouraging to readers than a work of fiction that possesses no relevance to real life at all.

In any case, I am thoroughly enjoying his concoction of the “evil” creature Grendel, who is frequently considered to be an abominable monster who wreaks havoc upon the innocent residents of Denmark in the epic Beowulf. I love the fact that Gardner explores Grendel’s side of the story as an outsider who struggles to discern the meaning of life and his purpose in the universe. I think Gardner makes Grendel’s character very relatable on many levels (which seems highly unexpected actually), as he considers himself an ugly, worthless, detested, and  undesirable creature who has no meaning or sense of belonging in the world. Grendel is a very self-loathing and insecure monster who calls himself a “ridiculous hairy creature” (Gardner 44), who oftentimes cannot bear the existence of other “natural things” like humans (Gardner 8), specifically the Danes.

I found it extremely significant to note that Gardner choses to develop Grendel’s character almost as an equal and an opposite to mankind. This is because Grendel shares a common language with humans, but his efforts to communicate remain futile, as the humans neglect to understand the creature. At the same time, Grendel’s feelings and emotional states also resembles that of humans, such as sentiments of loneliness, despair, pain, and fear. Furthermore, Grendel’s similarities with humans are only overshadowed by their differences that seem to thwart Grendel’s endeavors to befriend them. Thus, as Grendel struggles to discover his identity and role in this chaotic world, we see Gardner unravel the true nature of a lost and self-doubting soul who seeks to discover a sense of community and belonging to the world.