Throughout literature, various characters in stories or plays have had fatal flaws which brought them to an untimely end. This is also the occurrence in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. The main character, Hamlet, is a prime illustration of a Shakespearean character whose fatal flaws result in his demise. One can see through Hamlet's emotions ruling his life, his doubt in himself and others, and his inability to take action that he has fatal flaws which are similar to other Shakespearean characters. As a result of Hamlet's fatal flaws, it is understood that this "Tragic Hero" must die.
At the very beginning of the play, some of Hamlet's fatal flaws are revealed. One of those flaws was Hamlet let his emotions control his life. The most apparent indication of Hamlet's emotions controlling his life is that although most people had overcome the death of King Hamlet, Hamlet is still mourning and cannot comprehend how everyone had overcome his death so quickly, particularly his mother, Gertrude.
David Garrick in Hamlet, I, 4
English: Henry Fuseli - Hamlet and his father's Gh...
17th century English actor Thomas Betterton in a s...This is obviously controlling his life because it later aids in driving him into a state of madness. After Hamlet encounters the ghost of his father, he realizes that many people have abandoned him, and he contemplates committing suicide. Hamlet does not kill himself because of his strong faith in God, and his fear of going to hell. His encounter with the ghost proves the emotions he feels for his deceased father rule his life and shows how he bases most of his life around this encounter. Hamlet also has his life ruled by the emotional pain attached to Ophelia's death. At her funeral Hamlet began to confess his love for Ophelia to her brother, Laertes, by saying, "I loved Ophelia, forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum.