An Analysis of a Hero's Journey in William Shakespeare's Play Hamlet

The tale of Hamlet carries on its legendary back many dynamic characters, however none of them develop as much or change as much as the character of Hamlet himself. Hamlet is a story written by William Shakespeare about a prince named Hamlet trying to get revenge for his father’s death. In this story the character of Hamlet has to face what is known as the “Hero’s Journey”. The Hero’s journey is a story pattern that many tales old and new follow and Hamlet is no exception. The hero’s journey is often something that would shape a character and change them into the character they are by the end. Hamlet is perfect for analysis since no other character in the book changes as much as him.

The “Hero’s Journey” begins with the ordinary world in which Hamlet is in a very melancholy mood due to the untimely death of his beloved father. This is not the only cause of his depression since his mother is now marrying his uncle Claudius. Then one night Hamlet receives news from his friend Horatio that he saw the ghost of his father. Hamlets brimming with excitement, then follows Horatio to the woods were he does meet the ghost of his father. His father then tells him that his death was at the hands of Claudius and that Hamlet must avenge and Hamlet gets the call to adventure.

The adventure being: to kill the king and take revenge for his father’s death. This is also the point where supernatural aid comes into play. To do this Hamlet must first seem like he could not have a care in the world and to distract the King and Queen he acts like an insane man. At first Hamlet is hesitant and believes this may be a trick by the devil taking the form of his father. He does fear committing the act of murder. Here Hamlet is refusing the call and not killing the king. So to see if Claudius truly is his father’s killer Hamlet sets up a play orchestrating what happened and looking to see the king’s reaction. The king does react and in a negative way proving to Hamlet that Claudius really did kill the king and that his quest is justified. However this play gives hint to Claudius that Hamlet knows of his treachery and sends him off to England so that he may be killed. It is at this point that Hamlet says “My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!” (4.7.69). This is a major turning point for the character as he was once afraid of the very thought of taking a life and has now decided that any thought that he has is not worth anything unless they are violent. It is as this point that Hamlet has crossed the threshold and is now completely dedicated to the quest that he has taken up.

While he is on his way towards England Hamlet’s boat is attacked by pirates who agree to take Hamlet back to Denmark. This is the road home Hamlet takes to ensure that his mission is completed. Finally Hamlet returns to England were he must dual Laertes. Laertes and the king however have attempted to cheat by using a poisoned blade, giving Hamlet a less sharpened sword, and attempting to poison him with a drink which ends up backfiring and killing the Queen. The battle goes on and both men get cut by the poison blade but before he dies Laertes reveals that it was Claudius who killed the Queen. Hamlet then takes his opportunity and stabs the king with the blade and forces him to drink the rest of the poison drink that the Queen drank. This allows for a resurrection of the kingdom now that the evils ruling it have been eliminated, a new era may be ushered in. Hamlet now dying accepts his death with the knowledge that he has completed his mission.

This is the representation of the “Hero’s Journey” in Hamlet and how it applies to the main character. While at the start he may not seem willing to kill the king his love for his country and for his mother and father allow him to overcome his internal conflict and defeat the evil that is Claudius. Hamlet changes so much through the story making him without a single doubt the most dynamic character. From his acts of insanity, conflicting feelings about killing changing to his murder of five people by the end of the story two of which being close friends of his, and love towards Ophelia changing to anger towards Ophelia and back to love once she dies, and lastly his fear of dying at the start to accepting death at the end Hamlet changes numerous times. Somehow he stays consistent though and never forgets his goals making the Journey of Hamlet truly a “Hero’s Journey”.

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