In Michael Pennington’s essay on Hamlet, discussing his 1980 performance, he first describes his thoughts on the character as “there seemed no reason to suppose that Hamlet himself does not have the predominantly graceful qualities in his make-up credited to him by Ophelia, Horatio, and Fortinbras” (118). Pennington discusses the creation of the first court scene and says that the director Barton steered him away from “sarcasm and sharpness” which he states he was inclined to, and instead directed him to “restraint and courtesy” (121). Later on in Pennington’s essay he states that “Hamlet has a kind of sweet optimism, bitterly disappointed; and the struggle to overcome the maelstrom inside him seems truer, and potentially more moving, than a continual public display of his demons” (123).  One way that Pennington says that his Hamlet shows his “sweeter” side is through his “unbetrayed friendship” with Horatio (123). When talking about Hamlet’s “madness” Pennington says, “whatever that is, depends very much on how mad the spectator or actor happen to be” (127).

 

Pennington’s portrayal of Hamlet as “Sweet” works because of the plays characterization as a tragedy. The play cannot be a tragedy unless you believe that Hamlet’s death was tragic. The easy way to make this play a tragedy is to make Hamlet a likeable and relatable character.