Ac Bradley Hamlet Analysis

A common theme that often appears during plays and novels, especially in older times, is a tragedy. Tragedies can be characterized into different types. Critic A.C. Bradley has his own definition of a tragedy: a Shakespearean tragedy. He describes it as essentially a tale of suffering and calamity, conducting the hero to his death. Other than the death of King Hamlet, Hamlet’s madness is the main conflict in the play, and it’s this distress that leads to the downfall of Hamlet himself. Hamlet meets Bradley’s guidelines for a Shakespearean tragedy by Shakespeare expressing the ghost of King Hamlet, Ophelia’s madness, the killing of King Hamlet.
The ghost of King Hamlet appearing throughout the play is the main action that led to Hamlet’s madness that ultimately led to his death. The ghost told Hamlet to find a way to kill Claudius, and he believed that he had found the perfect chance. The perfect chance ended up being a terrible mistake as he killed Polonius.
After Hamlet killed her father, Ophelia started doing absolutely bizarre things, such as singing church hymns constantly. One song that she sings is on page 109, “Ophelia. And will ‘a not come again?/ And will ‘a not come again?/ No, no, he is dead,/ Go to thy deathbed,/ He never will come again./ His beard was as white as snow,/ All flaxen was his poll./ He is gone, he is gone,/ And we cast away moan./ God ‘a’ mercy on his soul!/ And of all Christian souls, I pray God. Goodbye you.” Ophelia eventually transitions from singing hymns to really letting herself go and basically committing suicide. Her death greatly affected Hamlet emotionally and psychologically. Hamlet loved her more than anyone believed. On page 128 he says, “Hamlet: I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/ Could not with all their quantity of love/ Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?” Her death was the terminal factor that led Hamlet to his inevitable