Hamlet Sacrifice

In great works of literature throughout history and time, there has always been a general understanding of what a happy ending is. Happy endings - as perceived by scholars of times past and by society today - are joyful sessions where a heroine or hero saves a damsel in distress, true love is found through the toughest of circumstances, or a moral lesson is learned through acts of kindness, loyalty, or bravery. However; in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, the protagonist of the play is facing death and has, finally, after a protracted and tedious journey, avenged his father’s death and has sated himself to realize and accept his own personal peace. Even as Hamlet is dying, his true love and what is left of his family dead, his kingdom being invaded

Sacrifices can be made in a story with a happy ending to it, but sacrifices are something we see in poetry and in short stories with darker themes; the depressing and more emotional part of literary works. Be that as it may, a sacrifice can be used to create a happy ending, even if that sacrifice implies that a character may die for the good of an individual or for the good of millions. In Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, we see the characters portrayed in a variety of different situations that seemingly force each individual to give something up for the greater good. Whether the personal sacrifice be the character’s lives, love, or nobleness and reputation, each sacrifice affects the entire majority of the play and the remaining characters. Such an instance is when Ophelia - being the good and virtuous daughter that she is - returns the gifts that Hamlet has given her and asks of him not write her any more love letters or court her, as her father has previously instructed her to do. “ My lord, I have remembrance of yours, that I longed long to re-deliver; I pray you, now receive them” (Shakespeare 2. 2. 93-95). Ophelia’s decision to relinquish her love to Hamlet for her father’s sake spurred Hamlet’s decision for his feigned madness and also made it easier for him to reject Ophelia and emotionally abuse her, which in turn, spurred her own internal disappointment and hatred in herself. However,“We see Hamlet’s nobility and realise that his flippant comments to her stemmed from his antic disposition and feigned madness” (Tuohy, 2012). Although Ophelia is not aware of Hamlet’s madness - a saddening and very dramatic piece of irony at the time - his emotional abuse slowly leads her to a downward spiral into her own blackening hole of madness. Eventually, due to her father’s death, Ophelia snaps and loses her mind, however; her madness would not have been orchestrated as drastically if