Dramatic Irony In Hamlet
There are several accounts of dramatic irony utilized in ‘Hamlet’ but one that was most effective to the overall play was in act 1 scene 5, when Hamlet converses with the ghost of his father. In this scene, the ghost came to Hamlet to reveal Claudius as his murderer and explained how his brother came to him in his sleep and poured poison in his ear. The ghost of Hamlet’s father tells him to avenge his death but not act violently towards his mother. Soon after, Marcellus and Horatio approached Hamlet but the ghost had vanished and Hamlet requested that the two not speak of the ghost’s visit to anyone. The important truth of old Hamlet’s murder will contribute to shape the plot and define Hamlet’s actions.

Without the confession of the ghost, Hamlet would have no knowledge of the truth behind his father’s death. Therefore, every aspect of Hamlet’s ‘madness’ is defined by the new found truth that has been bestowed upon him. This scene creates dramatic irony throughout the play because the motives of Hamlet’s behavior is made clear to the audience. The lack of this scene would be inadequate because Hamlet would have no incentive to avenge his father’s murder because his knowledge stretches to believing a snake bite killed him. The audience is aware that Hamlet’s actions have meaning and everything he does contributes to his prior knowledge of the death/murder.

This scene also contributes to other dramatic ironies like the mock play that upsets Claudius and Polonius assuming that Hamlet is madly in love with Ophelia. The play was an accurate depiction of how Claudius murdered Old Hamlet and once this was clear to Claudius, he became upset because he understood the truth of the play but others could not identify the cause of his anger. Along with that, Hamlet is stricken over seeing his father but when he visits Ophelia, his pain is interpreted as being crazy because he is in love with her. Polonius, Ophelia and others are quick to believe that his strangeness is because of that but it is clear to the audience that Hamlet’s distress is of a different origin. The confession of the true murderer is beneficial because without it, there would be no stakes for Hamlet or reason to pursue his revenge on Claudius.

Many drastic plot changes could have been avoided if Hamlet had not seen the ghost and found out the truth of his father’s death. Hamlet murders Polonius because he is hiding behind the curtains in his mother’s room but if it had not been believed that Hamlet was madly in love with Ophelia, this would not have been problematic. If Polonius’ death was avoided, Ophelia would not have died and Laertes would not have returned; resulting in he and Hamlet fighting to their death. These deaths could have been avoided if the ghost had not come to Hamlet. That one scene, contributed to many character changes and the theme.

Shakespeare has a imaginative way of incorporated dramatic irony and being able

to keep an audience enthralled. He is especially gifted at introducing something in the beginning that becomes of importance throughout. A theme commonly used by Shakespeare is love and death and undoubtedly, this play includes that as well. Yet, in this play death plays a bigger part because there is death in the beginning that controls the main character’s actions and love is not played upon but spoken of and wrongly believed. Dramatic irony can be subtle but when studied closely is very interesting, this creates high stakes and attracts the audience. I had to take many things into consideration to figure out the dramatic ironies and this has forced me to pay attention to little details which is beneficial for future projects.