Patriarchy In Hamlet

By murp, Student

Three levels of patriarchy in Hamlet (Shakespeare) help to bring about the cataclysmic ending of the play

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Patriarchy in Hamlet

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet employs the concept of patriarchy in several scenarios and each on different levels. These levels of patriarchy, if even for the same character, vary in their role in the play. Three patriarchal characters are easily identified: the ghost of Hamlet’s father, the king Claudius, and the lord chamberlain Polonius. Despite their variances each patriarchy displays values and actions which are key factors in bringing about the cataclysmic ending to Hamlet.
Claudius fills the role of father figure as both king to a nation and stepfather to young Hamlet, whose father has died unexpectedly. It is revealed later that Claudius is responsible for the death of his brother, King Hamlet. This very act of murder to obtain the throne and marry his own sister-in-law, an act equal to incest in the eyes of their society, displays from the first the poor quality of monarchy that can be expected from Claudius. Young Fortinbras of Norway feels that since the King Hamlet is dead he is entitled to his inheritance of land, and rightly so as the contract was drawn between King Hamlet and Fortinbras’s father. The young Fortinbras is obviously some form of a threat to the kingdom, a thought expressed as well by Horatio and Bernardo as they stand watch in the opening of the play (1.1.80-125). Claudius does not appear to be overly concerned with the matter. He sends two couriers to Fortinbras’s sick uncle asking that he stop Fortinbras and his attack on Denmark. Meanwhile, it seems as if Claudius does not give the matter another thought. It is odd that he does not more safely guard the kingdom that meant enough to him to kill his own brother to obtain it. He of all people should know what one man might do for power. He attends to matters closer to home until his couriers return with the message that all is well, and that Fortinbras has promised to be good. Claudius accepts this message at face value and foolishly shuffles it aside; he is more eager to hear news on the matters of his stepson Hamlet (2.2.60-85). It is the threat within the family that has Claudius distracted from the threat without. A wiser king would certainly concern himself with affairs abroad and defense of his borders more than Claudius has shown himself capable of doing.
Claudius’s poor display as head of the grand patriarchy of the throne of Denmark is directly related to his poor display as the patriarch of the royal family. His character is cast in an unfavorable light from the start to the omniscient reader: incestuous murderer, spy, plotter, and schemer. To Hamlet, he is no father figure. Hamlet is made extremely angry by Claudius’s marriage to Gertrude. This is, of course, even before he is privy to the information that Claudius is his father’s murderer. He is angry with the haste in which his mother has agreed to marry Claudius, and so overwhelmed with grief is Hamlet that he cannot identify with his new father figure (1.2.129-57). This anger is not to be viewed from an Oedipal point of view (Hamlet expresses no interest in “replacing” either his father or step-father) but out of genuine love and concern for his true father, who in life represented a healthy patriarchal figure to Hamlet. These conflicts in emotion do not bode well for the infrastructure of the royal family.
While it is hard to tell if Claudius is bothered by a haunting conscience, it can be safe to assume that at the very least paranoia plays a part in his concern for Hamlet’s sudden lunatic behavior. He seems to wear the mask of a concerned father; quite the contrary, he has a secret to conceal, and any strange behavior from someone close to the throne sets him on edge. A concerned father might have sent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to console Hamlet. Claudius specifically sends them to “glean” what they can about what is bothering Hamlet so that they might help him (2.2.10-18). This, of course, is only an attempt at finding out just what it is that Hamlet knows.
When Claudius is tricked into revealing himself to Hamlet, he becomes aware that Hamlet knows the truth about how he came to the throne. That discovery sets into motion a series of reactions, which lead to disaster. Laertes returns to find his father murdered by Hamlet. His sister has committed suicide. And who should be there to once again play the part of the sympathetic patriarch but Claudius. In the end, after much scheming gone awry on the part of the would-be patriarch, even the hero Hamlet is left slain.
The ghost of Hamlet’s father of course fills the role of patriarch in life as king. Perhaps without looking too far beyond the text one can discern the type of king that Hamlet I was. It is apparent throughout the play that he has gained the respect of those around him: court, family, and even conquered enemies. His diplomatic wisdom and generosity as a nation’s leader is best exemplified in his contract with the elder Fortinbras of Norway. As a father he is presented in a unique situation that is not often seen in stories: he is influential to the play in both a life and a death capacity. His life has set the stage for the plot of the story as it is. The ghost is patriarchal in that he calls out to his son from beyond the grave, preying on young Hamlet’s emotions and coercing him into exacting revenge on Claudius.
The idea of revenge is not a new concept by Shakespeare’s time. Homer tells of it in The Odyssey (22.34-40), Socrates stated it in his apology to the court (Plato 518), and Cupid had his revenge on poor Apollo in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (1.451-580). However, Shakespeare places an odd twist on the revenge theme. Hamlet I is a ghost in purgatory who is serving his time because he was murdered before he had a chance to be cleansed of sin and insure his place in heaven. He knows full well the tortures of purgatory and can only imagine the horrors of the damnation of hell, yet he demands that his only son to avenge his death by committing murder and placing his own soul in danger (1.5.25). While certain points of view may deem revenge as noble, Claudius and Laertes conspire in the end of the play to turn it into the instrument of scoundrels. This dark overtone combines with the fact that the ghost of the “loving” father asks for revenge and leaves, only to appear once more to prompt Hamlet along in his task. One could perceive his actions as similar to those of the self-serving murderer Claudius.
Caught between the two patriarchal monarchies is Polonius. The patriarch of his own family, Polonius serves in his career under the direction of two kings who are assumed to have ruled their houses differently: one responsibly, the other less than morally. In his own right Polonius is a patriarch in the court as well because of his age and years of service as advisor to the throne, albeit a lesser form of patriarchy. However, Polonius’s advising power in the court is diminished in light of his consumption with his own personal family matters. One might raise the accusation that Polonius is senile and that his advice to Claudius holds no real substance. Upon deeper consideration it can be reasonably deduced that he is not senile; he has focused his attention on what he considers to be his patriarchal duty to his children. With the death of King Hamlet and the assumption of the throne by Claudius, which includes Claudius’s incestuous social error that everyone sees but no one admonishes, Polonius is caught in a transitional Period in his life. His son is grown and away at school. His daughter is being courted by Hamlet. Polonius does what he feels is best for his children regarding their social situations. This is not to say that he acts sensibly; he simply acts. So involved in action is he that his obsession with saving the virtue of his daughter causes him to render inaccurate advice to Claudius and Gertrude regarding Hamlet’s lunatic behavior. While carrying out Claudius’s wishes and spying on Hamlet, Polonius is so self-serving that he is virtually wearing blinders to the world. He sees only a lovesick madman who can do nothing other than hurt his little girl. He also exemplifies a less than tactful way of checking on his son who is schooling in Paris when he sends Reynaldo out to insinuate defaming rumors about Laertes. This is not exactly desirable behavior by a father to a son, but the idea of patriarchal concern is there, however damaging it is.
Bringing truth to the old expression “curiosity killed the cat,” Polonius’s well intended spying does nothing more than place himself in a position to be killed as well as to seal the fate of his son Laertes. The ghost of the elder Hamlet sets his son’s feet on a path that can only lead to self-destruction. Little description is needed of Claudius’s poor display as ruler; however, it is necessary to say that his underhanded ill counsel adds Laertes to the body count in the end of Hamlet. The tumultuous plot culminates in a dark death scene that ultimately brings a close to each patriarchy; a close that was brought on by the patriarchal heads themselves.



Works Cited
Homer. “The Odyssey.” The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Expanded
Edition in One Volume. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. 101-336.
Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet.” The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces.
Expanded Edition in One Volume. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. 1634-726.
Ovid. “Metamorphoses.” The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Expanded
Edition in One Volume. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. 684-99.