How is Hamlet a Hero? Hamlet is obviously the protagonist of the play that bears his
Name- that is, he’s the main character, the one the play is about. But it’s not as easy to show that he’s a “hero.” By the end of Act I, he has a straightforward job to do: avenge his father’s murder. It may not be simple— it is a King he’s being asked to kill, after all- but Hamlet has a motive and, as we will find out, he also develops the means and the opportunity. Yet Hamlet’s job isn’t finished until the end of the fifth act. Before he completes his task he will have done considerable damage to the lives of several other people- his mother, his girlfriend, her dad, and several old pals— who,while not totally innocent, don’t deserve all he puts them through.
Your task, then, is to convince us that Hamlet is not only the hero of Hamlet, but is also truly heroic. Using only evidence from the play itself — that’s all the evidence there is, really— show how Hamlet really deserves to be considered a hero. It may be helpful to remember the examples of heroic behavior we’ve already encountered this semester: characters as different as Achilles, Odysseus, Aeneas, and Beowulf have all been hailed or at least recognized as heroes. It’s not necessary for you to compare Hamlet with any of these, but it will be important for you to have an idea of what you mean by “hero.”