Hamlet Essay #2

Hamlet is known to be a unique character compared to others. He is considered to be an epic hero, but he does not have many of the characteristics that other epic heroes have, like Beowulf. Most epic heroes are admired for being brave and noble characters, admired for great achievements or affected by grand events. Hamlet does not quit match that, he was not a brave man he was more of a coward, he would constantly question himself and not take action among many situations.

            Hamlet was great at questioning himself; he would debate whether to do any little thing. One of his biggest dilemmas is seen in his famous soliloquy “to be or not to be.” There he questions whether to continue with life and suffer through miseries or to end his life like a coward. Most epic heroes would immediately know to not kill themselves and to fight off whatever is in their way. Beowulf is a great example of this, he went into battle with anything and everything that didn’t suite him .When Grendel was a bother to Beowulf and to others Beowulf immediately took action upon killing him. Not at one moment did he stop and contemplate whether it was right or not.  

            Another one of Hamlets’ flaws is the fact that he says a lot but does very little. He always expressed his feelings with words but never with action. When he was mad over the murder of his father he expressed that in words by contemplating with himself, not by seeking revenge like he constantly repeated to himself. On the other hand Beowulf took action upon all of his remarks. Even when he was an older man and was weak, he said that he wanted to kill the dragon and it was not just talk he actually went and attempted to kill it. When he said that he was going to kill Grendels’ mother he went through with it as well. He took the head back to the people and demonstrated that his words were not just words.

            Though many consider Hamlet to be an epic hero in my mind he is not. He does not demonstrate the qualities that I believe and epic hero would have; that includes bravery, being noble, and having great achievements. Hamlet constantly questioned himself and never took much action upon situations. Even though he had just lost his father that should not have set him back, for most epic heroes that would have pushed them to take more action. Hamlet should have taken some lessons from Beowulf in order to be a better epic hero.