Tragic Endings

Tragic Endings A Shakespearean tragedy calls for a tragic ending. Shakespeare ends Hamlet most appropriately through the use of character development and a cathartic burst of violence. Shakespeare’s ending to Hamlet is satisfying in that Shakespeare succeeds in his goal and purpose of creating an effective tragedy. Through his technique in dramatizing Hamlet, Shakespeare communicates that procrastination leads to nothing but the suffering of man. As the play nears its end, Shakespeare uses development in Hamlet’s character and a chaotic catharsis to create a dramatically tragic event out of Hamlet’s duel in Act Five. When Hamlet is staring at the skull of Yorick, Shakespeare presents Hamlet with much more seriousness as he contemplates death. Hamlet begins to realize his own procrastination to the issue at hand. Instead of making false promises to avenge his father’s death, Hamlet is shown to have grown through his realization that every human dies and returns to dust and that the time has come to bring an end to his uncle’s life. In this, Shakespeare brings out the fact that Hamlet has made progress in his self-conflict to show that, even though Hamlet is still in self-conflict, Hamlet will soon have his revenge. However, Hamlet’s realization comes too late, as Hamlet has had the opportunity for his revenge all along; prolonging his actions only brings him more troubles. With the example of Hamlet’s loss of Ophelia, Hamlet’s troubles show that the pain of suffering the loss of a loved one can be brought about as a consequence of indecision. During the duel scene, Shakespeare intensifies the drama with the sword switch between Hamlet and Laertes, giving Hamlet the upper hand in the duel although he is wounded. Hamlet’s long-awaited control of the situation and Gertrude’s drinking of the poisoned wine make the deaths of Laertes, Claudius, and Hamlet now expected by the audience to happen within the next lines of the play. Shakespeare builds up all of this