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This paper will provide evidence that the duel, with Hamlet’s three- stroke Phyrric victory over Laertes, who was supposed to have won by three strokes, symbolically sets to rest Shakespeare’s own literary vengeance of the botched three – stroke execution of the earl of Essex. ... The strongest link between history and art, Essex and Hamlet, comes at his end. ... Hamlet presents a dynamic quite like that of the Essex affair. For her, Hamlet’s madness is itself a form of treason. Thus, it is not surprising that Hamlet, like Essex, “violates the sanctity of a virgin’s private chamber or defies a monarch’s command.” Hamlet’s madness, like that of Essex, is a form of violating authority. This attitude toward authority is made more complex, of course, in Hamlet’s relationship with the ghost, for neither Hamlet nor the audience can ever be sure of whether it is truly the spirit of Old Hamlet, and thus whether its authority is legitimate. Hamlet’s parallel to Essex (or Essex’s parallel to Hamlet) is nowhere closer that at the end of the play, the death scene. In both, the transgressor (Essex or Hamlet) confesses his wrong, repents and is redeemed, becoming once again “himself. ... This I believe is a direct relevance to Hamlet’s three-stroke Phyrric victory over Laertes.
Approximate Word count = 1142
Approximate Pages = 4.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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