Hamlet in Shakespeare's, "The Tragedy of Hamlet" William Shakespeare, the greatest playwright of the English language,wrote a total of 37 plays in his lifetime, all of which can be categorizedunder tragedy, comedy, or history. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare'smost popular and greatest tragedy, displays his genius as a playwright, asliterary critics and academic commentators have found an unusual number ofthemes and literary techniques present in Hamlet. Hamlet concerns themurder of the king of Denmark and the murdered king's son's quest forrevenge. Its main character, Hamlet, possesses a tragic flaw, whichobstructs his desire for revenge and ultimately brings about his death. This tragic flaw makes him a tragic hero, a character who is destroyedbecause of a major weakness, as his death at the end could possibly havebeen avoided were it not for his tragic flaw. Hamlet's flaw ofirresolution, the uncertainty on how to act or proceed, is shown whenHamlet sees a play and the passion the actors had, after Hamlet's thirdsoliloquy, in Hamlet's fourth soliloquy, and in Hamlet's indecisivepursuit in avenging his father's death. First, Hamlet's flaw of irresolution is shown when he sees a play and thepassion one particular actor had. A group of players has arrived andHamlet arranges a personal viewing of The Murder of Gonzago with a smallportion of his own lines inserted. Hamlet then observes one portion ofthe play in which one of the players put on a great display of emotion. Hamlet, besieged by guilt and self-contempt, remarks in his secondsoliloquy of Hamlet of the emotion this player showed despite the factthat the player had nothing to be emotional about. Hamlet observed thathe himself had all the reason in the world to react with great emotion andsorrow, yet he failed to show any that could compare with the act of theplayer. Hamlet calls himself a "rogue and peasant slave" and a "dull andmuddy-mettled rascal" who, like a "John-a-dreams", can take no action.
