Donald Davidson

Donald Davidson

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there is a murder, and it doesn’t say straight out who the murder is. There are no detectives on the case. No one within in the state is really questioning the murder of the King except for his son. It may not have all the customary qualities of detective story, but it does come across as a detective story in which Hamlet seeks to solve the mysterious death and to revenge for his father. In an ordinary, mundane, average crime the detectives try to figure out who the perpetrator or perpetrators are. This is not the case in Hamlet, the only evidence that comes across that the King was murdered was the ghostly figure who only appeared to be Hamlet’s father. In scene five of act one, Horatio says to Hamlet after Hamlet talked to the ghost that “These are but wild and whirling winds.” This questions the word of Hamlet by showing the he might be imagining things. Also, the new King and Hamlet’s mother think he is mad. There may have even been a question in Hamlet’s mind and that maybe why he delayed his revenge. This is where it appears to become a detective story. Hamlet has a hunch that his uncle, the new king, killed his father. Hamlet sets up a trap for the new king by watching his reaction to the play, which was based on the way the ghost told Hamlet he died. After that Hamlet may have had the final support to avenge his father’s death.

The motive for the new king to kill Hamlet’s father was crystal clear. He married Hamlet’s mother after only two months. He obviously also became the new king as well. Hamlet had that support early and he seemed the only one to being a detective. What made it seem more like a crime and a detective story was the way Claudius made his moves. He tried to cover up his action very cautiously. The king had Rosencrantz and Guildenstern over look Hamlet’s “transformation.” The king says in scene two of act two, “… so by your companies to draw him on to pleasures, and to gather so much as from occasion you may glean, whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus that, open’d, lies within our remedy.” Hamlet does not make this easy for the king to get any information because he was either mad or acting mad, that’s a decision that is up to the reader. There seemed to be two motives behind Hamlet’s play as well. The first reason was to see the reaction of the king. The second was maybe to put doubt in other people in the state or bring up the question that his father may have been murdered. Hamlet is very sneaky and smart like a detective. Shakespeare’s Hamlet may have not meant to be a detective story and certainly was different than the average one. Shakespeare puts a lot of questioning in this story. This seems to be a detective story, it can be questioned, but it does have the basic part of one. Hamlet plays the part of detective very well. There was a crime and there seemed to be a mystery to figure out. This is a well-written detective story that underlies a story about power, revenge, and deceit.

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