Poor Hamlet.

For a work to be a tragedy it need to conform to a certain set of rules. While the rules are not set in stone it is generally accepted that the play should have a hero that goes up against some sort of problem but fails due to human frailty or outside influence. The hero doesn't have to die but they have to have some sort of epiphany that transforms them.

Hamlet seems to have neither of these qualities. Hamlet doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes although he dies. Some might say his famous "to be or not to be" soliloquy is his insight that changes him but he still seems to be the same brooding, fatalistic, malcontent.

Perhaps one could argue that after Hamlet kills Laertes he realizes his failings, and in his final moments attempts to rectify the situation. While it's not to much of a stretch it leaves me unsatisfied. Hamlet is not so much a tragic hero as much as a pathetic individual. His character is faced with an ultimatum, kill his father's murder or dismiss the ghost and continue with his life. Hamlet doesn't make a decision; it happens to him. As his world collapses he destroys everything and then kills himself abandoning the mess he created by not being proactive.

Hamlet's lack of heroism is tragic.

[/rant]

Tragedy

Etymology

The word's origin is Greek tragōidiā (Classical Greek τραγῳδία) contracted from trag(o)-aoidiā = "goat song" from tragos = "goat" and aeidein = "to sing". This dates back to a time when religion and theatre were more or less intertwined in early ritual events. Goats would be traditionally sacrificed, as an early precursor to the Greek Chorus would sing a song of sacrifice-- a "Goat Song". This may also refer to the horse or goat costumes worn by actors who played the satyrs in early dramatizations of mythological stories, or a goat being presented as a prize at a song contest and in both cases the reference would have been the respect for Dionysus.
source: Wikipedia

UHHH LOL WHAT?

Stoic Philosophy & Hamlet

Marcus Aurelius writes in Meditations, "...Life is what you deem it."

Shakespeare's Hamlet says, "There's nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so." (act 2, scene 2).

Marcus Aurelius' literally writes in Greek, "Life is opinion".

This is just one minor example of the dichotomies between Hamlets struggle and the Stoics manual.

others to follow...

The Bad Sleep Well

Kurosawa produced a film based on Hamlet called, "The Bad Sleep Well". The film is an interesting variation. The story follows a man who is manipulating the goings on in his company to expose his father's killers. You can watch the film on crunchy roll by clicking the link below.
The Bad Sleep Well