The Real Tragedy Of Hamlet

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The “Real” Tragedy of Hamlet

In Hamlet, the death of a character becomes an everyday event. Although many people lose their lives as a result of their own self-centered wrongdoing, there are some whose deaths are a result of manipulation from the royalty. This is the case of Polonius’ family. The real tragedy of Hamlet is not about Hamlet or his family but of Polonius’ family, because their deaths were not the result of bad actions of their own but by their innocent involvement in the schemes of Claudius and Hamlet.
The first character to die in Hamlet is Polonius. Although Polonius often acts in a dishonest way when dealing with Hamlet, it is only because he is carrying out plans that were planned out by the king and queen to discover the reason for Hamlet’s madness. Being the king’s Lord Chamberlain, it’s his job to obey the king and queen’s wishes, and it’s this loyalty that eventually proves to be deadly for him. An example of Polonius’ innocent involvement with royalty that results in his death can be found at the beginning of Act III, scene IV.
Hamlet: Come, Come, and sit you down; you shall not budge. You go not till I set you up a glass, where you may see the inmost part of you.
Queen (Gertrude): What wilt though do? Thou wilt not murder me? HELP, HO!
Polonius [behind the arras]: What ho! HELP!
Hamlet: How now? A rat? Dead for a ducat, dead! [He thrusts his rapier through the arras]
Polonius [behind the arras]: O, I am slain! [He falls and dies]
Queen (Gertrude): O me, what hast though done?
Hamlet: Nay, I know not. Is it the King?
Queen (Gertrude): O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!
(Act III. scene IV.)
Hamlet stabs him while he is hiding behind the arras in Gertrude’s room. This shows how a member of the royal family kills Polonius, a man innocent of the situation he is in, during the execution of one of their...