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“HAMLET”--AN ARTISTIC FAILURE:

T.S. Eliot In his essay entitled “Hamlet and his Problems” has written about Hamlet. So far from being
Shakespeare’s mater-piece, the play is most certainly an artistic failure.” He has called the play the
“Mona Lisa of Literature”, something puzzling and disquieting. According to him, there are many
superfluous and inconsistent scenes in the play and as such it lacks the unity of action. Then, he says,
in this play, workmanship and thought are in an’ unstable condition which is an artistic defect.
These objections are based on T.S; Eliot’s much controversial idea of “objective correlative”. The
defects in Hamlet arc the result of the absence of the objective correlative. He ‘believes that the only w
of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an objective correlative, in other words a set of
objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular’ emotion, and which
shall evoke the same emotion from the reader. In Eliot’s opinion, Hamlet is dominated by an emotion
which is inexpressible because it is in excess of the facts as they appear.
Eliot’s objections can be answered easily. He is in the habit of expressing starting opinion and
sometimes does not follow them himself. His idea of subjective correlative is vague as it falsifies the
way a poet actually composes. No object or situation can in itself be a, formula for any emotion. No
doubt, the play is puzzling as the problems of delay madness and ghosts have been subjects of much
discussion. But it is also a fact that’ every poses of art poses a challenge and demands thinking. Eliot’s
own poem “The Waste Land” has not been less puzzling. The objection that there are many
superfluous scenes relates to the construction of plot. No doubt, there are many such scenes but they
are interwoven thematically and as such nothing remains superfluous.
In fact, if we have a deep study of the play and keep in view the delineation of the complex character
of Hamlet, artistic construction of the play, consistent theme and the beautiful language used in the
speeches, we are compelled to conclude that Hamlet is a master-piece of dramatic art.
Plot: As regards plot of the play, it has a definite form and obeys the laws of dramatic
construction arid is regarded as a well constructed play. The action of the whole play falls into three
movements, and has a beginning, middle and an end. The first movement exposes the crime and the
culprit, the Polonius family is linked to the main action and it voices the secondary theme: “Frailty thy
name is woman”. The second movement shows the development in Hamlet’s character and the
enacting of the play to confirm Claudius’s guilt, and his two tragic errors---not killing Claudius, and
killing Polonius, Hamlet who has to avenge his father’s death, becomes a victim of revenge by another
son, for killing a father. The final movement brings the action to an end along with the death of
Hamlet, Laertes, Claudius and Gertrude. So we see there is a gradual development in the progress of
the plot Hamlet deteriorates in character as the progresses, but regains his lost balance of mind with an
added strength at the end of the play before he dies.
Characterization: As regards characterization, the character of. Hamlet is the chief
attraction of the play. Hamlet’s personality is as complex as an undetected murder. He is contrasted
with obedient, prying Polonius, smiling but villainous Claudius, Sheepish Gertrude, poor, lovable
Ophelia, faithful Horatio active Laertes and the strong minded brave Fortinbras The audience and the
readers share his feelings. We laugh at Osric with him at, reprove Gertrude with him, curse with him
Claudius, and speak friendly to Horatio with him. In him we have a speculative man “caught in ethical
and metaphysical uncertainties.” He assumes madness as a device to give vent to his feelings but at
times he seems truly mad. These contradictions add to the beauty of artistic quality rather than spoil it.
Thematic Coherence: Hamlet is much praised for its thematic coherence and structural
unity. The main theme is revenge--- a son avenging the murder of his father. This theme depicts the
character of the hero, the development or deterioration in his character, the success or failure in
carrying out the work, and the means he adopts to achieve his aim Scenes like play within play,
nunnery scene, Fortinbras incident, graveyard scene, which appear to be superfluous, become relevant
through the theme of the play.

Beautiful Speeches: Then we have very beautiful speeches in this

play Soliloquies of

Hamlet, Claudius and Ophelia have been used as dramatic device to

reveal the inner mind of a character. But they have a beauty of their
own. The language used in them is terse, pithy and fluent. They are
full of quotable lines and phrases like “to be or not to be”, “the
undiscovered country”, “the unweeded garden”, “the native hue of
resolution”, “bestial obliviousness”, “the glass of fashion and mold
of form”

To sum up, like other plays of Shakespeare, Hamlet may be

criticized on some grounds such as the artificial role of chance,
puzzling relationship of Horatio to Denmark, Hamlet’s age and many
other loose ends But taken as whole, far from being an artistic
failure, Hamlet is a well-constructed play which appeals to the
imagination and intellect of the audience and reader alike.