Hamlet (Vol. 35) | Arthur Kirsch (essay date 1981)
Arthur Kirsch (essay date 1981)
SOURCE: "Hamlet's Grief," in ELH, Vol. 48, No. 1, Spring, 1981, pp. 17-36.
[In this essay. Kirsch examines the theme of grief in Hamlet, arguing that the betrayed character of Hamlet suffers throughout the play in a manner more consistent with a state of mourning than one of melancholy and mental derangement.]
Hamlet is a tragedy perhaps most often, and justly, admired for its intellectual energy. Hamlet's mind comprehends a universe of ideas, and he astonishes us with the copiousness and eloquence and luminousness of his thoughts. But I think we should remember, as Hamlet is compelled to remember, that behind these thoughts, and usually their occasion, is a continuous and tremendous experience of pain and suffering. We are accustomed to thinking of the other major tragedies, Lear and Othello especially, as plays whose greatest genius lies in the depiction of the deepest...
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