us play where the ending,although necessary, is pointless. The three sub-plots together as a unit,allow us to understand what Shakespeare thought of revenge. Another of theways Aristotle defines plot in tragedy as "The noble actions and the doingsof noble persons"(Aristotle 35). By this definition, Hamlet should be anoble person, who does only noble things. Aristotle would have objected toHamlet's refusal to kill Claudius during prayer which forms the turningpoint of Hamlet. This is significant because if he were to have achievedhis revenge at that point Claudius' soul may have been clean. Hamlet wishesto get revenge when Claudius' "Soul may be damned and black / As hell,whereto it goes (Shakespeare 3, 3, 94 - 5). By waiting for the right time,Hamlet loses his chance to achieve revenge. This ignoble act does add tothe theme of proper revenge, not in the primary plot, but when all threerevenge sub-plots are considered together. Aristotle also believed in herosthat are "First and foremost good (Aristotle 51)." Although Hamlet spendsmuch time deliberating good and evil, and what the greatest good is, whenit comes time, he cannot act. Laertes does act, but he acts rashly, andcannot perform good either. Fortinbras is the type of hero that Aristotlewould have preferred, although from Fortinbras' point of view the play isnot tragic; instead it is a comedy where all of the other characters runabout and in the end through no fault of his own, Fortinbras receives thekingship of Denmark. The plot events with which Aristotle disagrees givemeaning to Hamlet's theme. Shakespeare uses the plot to help create the mood of Hamlet byincorporating subplots and by having his tragic hero do things which areparticularly unheroic. Hamlet's treatment of Ophelia is particularlybarbaric. By the same token Ophelia's unstinting devotion to her father,and by that ,her poor treatment of Hamlet causes us to question which ofthe two is not the worthier, but the least e...
