Jul 6, 2008
Midway through his tragedy, Hamlet tells Horatio, "Thou hast been / As one in suff'ring all that suffers nothing." He then says longingly to him:
Give me that man
That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him
In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart,
As I do thee.(III. ii. 62-63, 68-71)
Only Hamlet can speak in this way, but he nonetheless indicates the predicament of all of Shakespeare's great tragic heroes. As A. P. Rossiter points out, "Shakespeare's conception of tragedy plainly and constantly concerns the man who is 'passion's...
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