Hamlet: Flaws, Inconsistencies

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Flaws, inconsistencies, imperfections, and continuity problems in the Hamlet of play
Other than the Bible, not any other work of literature has occasioned extensive passionate analysis. The play of Hamlet has actually been performed in many languages across the world. Without doubt, Shakespeare accomplished one of his most epic characterizations when he created Hamlet’s role – the gloomy Danish Prince. It is notable that Hamlet’s appeal to the audiences was almost undoubtedly as a result of his several human weaknesses. Hamlet is well known for his indecisiveness, although his inconsistency might well be an even more excellent character (Jones 21). This essay analyzes the continuity problems, imperfections, inconsistencies, and flaws in the play of Hamlet.
Early during the drama, Hamlet claims that the ghost is actually a true ghost. Later in the drama however, he doubts the ghost. This is a major inconsistency on Hamlet’s part. One of the greatest critiques of the play of Hamlet is T. S. Eliot who asserted that because of a fundamental weakness in the Hamlet, the play was an artistic failure. According to Eliot, a playwright actually owes a duty to his or her audiences to write dialogue which is suitable to characters as they have been developed in the play (Safer 11). In the Closet Scene for instance, when Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, is confronted by Hamlet inside her bedchamber, the words of Hamlet reveal a spite and enmity for which audiences are not well prepared. This can be considered as imperfection or flaw of the play. In the twentieth century, the usual approach was to imply, on the part of Hamlet, an incestuous and aggravated love for his mother which might actually give good reason for the words spoken by Hamlet in this scene, but for which the playwright himself does not give any background at all (Safer 13). Consequently, instead of solving the problem, this approach serves to create an inconsistency.
There are other inconsistencies and imperfections in the play of Hamlet besides the insufficient preparation of the audiences for the attitude of Hamlet towards his mother during the Closet Scene. After leaving King Claudius, his uncle, inside the chapel, Hamlet goes straight to the chamber of his mother and slays Polonius, since he thought that he was the Danish King, but the Danish King could not have been to the queen’s chamber before Hamlet. This is a major imperfection and inconsistency since Hamlet had just left King Claudius in the Chapel, and he knew he was the king, yet he goes to take the life of Polonius thinking he was the King.
Another inconsistency is without doubt Hamlet’s more or less complete lack of concern for his loss of the Danish Kingdom. This inconsistency may seem as an oversight by William Shakespeare himself. In essence, the playwright’s genius was basically to show the audience the timeless facets of people’s weaknesses and strengths via the play’s characters (Mabillard 7). People are inclined to clash and fight each other ferociously for what they think rightfully belongs to them. Throughout history and in many dramas, princes have plotted, schemed, manoeuvred, risked, and even lost their lives in their struggles to become kings. For instance, Macbeth, a very popular Shakespearean drama, was about a Scottish lord who had a very strong desire to achieve royal power; a desire that was the core of the play (Mabillard 8).
Nevertheless, the attitude of Hamlet towards the throne appears to disagree with what experience, history, and even Shakespeare the playwright himself, have taught the audience. Hamlet speaks just once of the loss of his Danish kingdom. Besides that, Hamlet never mentions the loss of this prize of ultimate status and authority, a major loss that has occurred only recently, and a title for which a lot of people have been prepared to do anything, including the killing of a brother, as in the case of Hamlet’s uncle (Jones 31). This would appear to be inconsistent with what is known about human nature. Moreover, the character of Hamlet in the play is actually the one that shares his deepest feelings with the audiences to a greater extent than any other character yet he does not talk about his thought with regard to this crucial issue. This silence on the part of Hamlet seems a great inconsistency.
Analyzing why Hamlet lacks concern regarding his loss of the Danish crown starts with a straightforward and simple question: why is Hamlet not the Danish King as the play begins? Early during the drama, the audience is told that the King, who was the father of Hamlet, has died only recently. The audience is informed that the only son of the dead King is Hamlet. The audience learns from the Graveyard Scene that Hamlet is aged 30, hence Hamlet is old enough to be crowned King of Denmark. Nonetheless, he has not been crowned following the death of his father. The answer to that question is that during the time of Shakespeare, kings in Denmark did not come to power through automatic succession, but rather through election (Kelly 28). The throne was not automatically inherited by the king’s son.
During the final Act, Hamlet tells the audience that Claudius, who is his uncle, has “Popped in between the election and my hopes” (Brandes 14). As such, Claudius was elected legally as Danish King; he did not take over the throne. It was a commo...