Planes and (In)action

Before reading his critical essay of Shakespeare's Hamlet, I have never previously heard of Northrop Frye. If you dropped his name in a conversation and I would have no idea the subject in question was a theorist. In my geeky mind, a military plane would come to mind upon hearing it. However I found his analysis of Hamlet to be both interesting and thought-provoking. Frye's essay focuses on the profound contrast between a person's character and their actions. However throughout the analysis he discusses whether someone's actions forever reflect who he/she is. To assess this question he uses both Hamlet and his nemesis Cladius and the relationship between their character and actions.

Many people argue that Hamlet is a play about a young man's struggle to avenge his father's death. In le man's terms, Hamlet is a story of revenge. However I believe that the play is not about the action but the events leading up to it. While reading Shakespeare's piece, it is hard no to notice how Hamlet would often begin to deliver every single thought that ran through his mind. The young prince breaks down the task he is given (killing his uncle Claudius) and ponders on how he will do it, the consequences and even hypothetical scenarios where he could accomplish it. However this is also his greatest weakness. Due to his obsession to over think the situation, Hamlet is constantly impeded to act.Claudius can be considered to be Hamlet's foil in this case. After watching Patrick Stewart delivering the king's lines in the 1996 adaptation of the play, I believed I could certainly understand the character better. The king of Denmark is haunted by guilt following his actions, much like Macbeth in the eponymous play. However while Claudius is certainly capable of acting he is incapable of thinking before doing so. In this sense both are great men with an equally great potential for doing amazing things, however they are incapable of doing so. Frye compares them to "a titanic spirit thrashing around in [a] prison." 

However I believe that Hamlet has greater potential than his uncle. The young prince's motive to act (or not to do so) centers around the fact that he believes in honor and justice not just revenge. Claudius on the other hand acts upon pouts of greed and his lust for power.As part of the text, Frye dissects what is often considered the thesis of the play: the famous "to be or not to be soliloquy." When I read the soliloquy I immediately considered life and death being the center of the discourse. While Frye does indeed discuss those topics inn his analysis, he brought forth one that I previously overlooked: freedom. When the titular character begins to ramble about suicide I would have never considered it as being a metaphor for said topic. Frye believes that the soliloquy is indeed about Hamlet pondering whether he is capable of deciding things for himself without becoming "just another ghost."