Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies – I get it. There are moments of the play that absolutely break my heart, but at the risk of angering the gods of English teaching, Hamlet and Romeo both strike me as sort of whiny-pants sissyboys. Romeo spends the first part of Romeo & Juliet whining about the love of Rosaline, and the last part of the play wallowing in the floor crying because he has been banished. As a matter of fact, Romeo’s melodrama and overreaction can be blamed for the entire mess that leads to their deaths.
Hamlet shares some of Romeo’s characteristic melodrama and extreme reactions. Hamlet is supposedly pretending to be mad… supposedly. I think as the play progresses, Hamlet does slip closer and closer to madness. It can be argued that the stress of having an uncle/dad and an aunt/mom does indeed drive Hamlet over the edge.
I can tolerate Hamlet’s melodrama much more easily that Romeo’s. Hamlet is truly a tortured soul – dad was murdered and is now in hell, mom is a tramp who married dead husband’s brother, stepfather is a creep who murdered his own brother, girlfriend is forbidden to see him – Hamlet’s list could go on and on. Romeo, on the other hand, creates most of his own problems. He seems to “fall in love” about once a week. He lacks judgement and common sense when it comes to matters of the heart. Hamlet just got dealt a crappy hand in life. He doesn’t always handle the challenges with grace and composure, but at least he isn’t rolling around on the floor crying…
Hamlet – audio recording
ENG271 - World Literature I - Vance (CVCC) 