Irony in Hamlet

In William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, the protagonist, Hamlet, sees an apparition of his dead father and king of Denmark who tells him the reason for his death was in the hands of his uncle Claudius. Hamlet then devises many plans to try and kill Claudius which ultimately end in many unnecessary deaths and leaves the state of Denmark with their enemy Fortinbras. Throughout the play there are numerous examples of irony and ambiguity. One has to ask why would Shakespeare use these literary devices in the play Hamlet? Irony in the context of tragedy enhances the dramatic effect. Ambiguity in regard to the characters and the plot leaves the audience open to interpretation. Was Hamlet truly mad? Was the ghost really King Hamlet or was it a “goblin damned”(I, iv, 44)? I believe that Shakespeare used irony to heighten the tragic effect of the play, increase the tension between the characters, and enhance the feeling of pathos from the audience. The character Claudius is introduced as Hamlets uncle and father-in-law. The audience later discovers that Claudius murdered King Hamlet in his garden while he was sleeping. After the death of his brother, he marries the newly widowed Queen Gertrude, and takes the throne. In soliloque at the beginning of Act I, scene ii he expresses his sorrow for the death of their former king and seems truly upset. During this soliloque he exclaims, “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death the memory be green, and that it us befitted to bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom to be contracted in one bear of sorrow;” (I, ii, 1-4) continuing in the story you realize that his words are an act to sway the country of Denmark into believing that he is a good man and a worthy king. After the discussion he has with his close friends, family, and the people of Denmark, Claudius goes to see why Hamlet is depressed. Hamlet requested going back to Wittenburg to continue his studies but the king and Gertrude quickly deny it. The irony behind this is that when Claudius believes Hamlet to be mad, he quickly decides to send Hamlet to England where, it is later revealed, he has planned for him to be murdered. In Act III scene iii, you see Claudius on his knees trying to repent for the sin of killing his brother. “O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven; it hath the primal eldest curse upon't, a brother's murder. Pray can I not;” (Act III, scene iii, 40-42) seeing Claudius on his knees, but not hearing these words, Hamlet decides not to kill Claudius. When the ghost visited Hamlet, he told him that the reason he is wandering the Earth and not in heaven is because he did not have time to repent for his sins. Remembering this Hamlet does not want Claudius to go to heaven, so he plans to wait. If Hamlet would have killed him then, Claudius would have gone to hell and the deaths of Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Gertrude, Polonius, and Ophelia could have been spared.