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Derrick Lewald
Mr. Pelster
AP Eng. Lit and Comp.
25 February 2014
The Perfectibility of Man
In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over
themselves, noted Harry Truman. Indeed, without the control and satisfaction of self, individuals
cannot progress to control the grandiose or satisfy others. On the other hand, many will fight that
first battle and lose with discouraging results. In Tragedy and the Common Man, Arthur Miller
asserts that tragedy stems from a man's total compulsion to evaluate himself justly, to secure his
sense of personal dignity. As applied to the Tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare illustrates through
Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras, that while these compulsions become the seeds of tragedy, they
also represent the only chance to achieve fulfillment.
Hamlet, although initially portrayed as a prudent student, increasingly embraces the notion
of avenging his father by murdering Claudius, a pivotal internal change that chains him to his tragic
death. After learning the truth behind his father's death, Hamlet decides not to suffer / The slings
and arrows of outrageous fortune but instead to take arms against a sea of troubles that will
follow in his quest to restore dignity and mete out justice (III.i.63-65). Although Hamlet seems to
pose the set of alternatives for consideration, he already displays some frustration with his current
deference to passively using words when even an actor in a fiction, in a dream of passion, / Could
force his soul so to his own conceit that tears spring forth and his voice breaks (II.ii.500-501).
Together with Hamlet's resentment against the queen using seems in describing his mourning,
this frustration marks Hamlet's disgrace at his inability to paint the intensity of his passion through
actions alone. While the actor lives out a dream of passion, Hamlet yet cannot act upon his

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compulsion to avenge his father. This disparity pushes Hamlet to become proactive like Fortinbras,
his foil in the play. In considering the willingness of Fortinbras to wage war for worthless land,
Hamlet arrives at the conclusion that to be great / Is not to stir without great argument, / But
greatly to find quarrel in a straw / When honor's at the stake. (IV.iv.55-58). Rather than consider
the severity of an issue, Hamlet suggests that any problem can be grave provided it invokes a man's
code of honor. As the murder of Hamlet's father constitutes an unacceptable imposition upon
Hamlet's honor, this further pushes him to reclaim dignity through murder, an internal change
proclaimed when Hamlet deems his thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth! (IV.iv.68). By this
point, his full commitment to murder has irreversibly transformed him from the once cautious
observer to a participant resigned to the outcome of his actions. Thus, he sates his compulsion for
personal dignity even as he, too, dies by the same venom with which he kills Claudius. Although a
fleeting victory, Hamlet finally succeeds in his pursuit of honor and justice.
Similar to Hamlet, Laertes' life follows a new path with the death of Polonius, his father;
this path, though similar to Hamlet's, ends in failure because Laertes, in his blind impetuousness,
falls too easily to Claudius' manipulation. Laertes declares that the drop of blood that's calm
proclaims me bastard as he blindly seeks vengeance for Polonius (IV.v.122). The refusal to remain
calm reveals the value of honor to Laertes, that he should so aggressively pursue it. However, as
though the pounding of blood within him smothers his reason, Laertes submits himself to Claudius
and falls under his deception, where he determines to kill Hamlet through trickery. Prior to the duel
between Hamlet and Laertes, a courteous exchange shows that while Laertes claims to absolve
Hamlet in personal feelings, he cannot yet see a way to erase the perceived stain to his honor and
remains unsatisfied in that regard (V.ii.217-220). The notable distinction between personal feelings
and a code of honor resemble Hamlet's distinction between the quarrel in a straw and whether
honor's at the stake. Both men fight to regain their personal dignity. However, Laertes, poisoning

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Hamlet without having known the true sequence of events behind Polonius' death, suffers the
knowledge that he killed his friend rather than the root of his troubles, Claudius. Although
seemingly redeemed in his final exchange with Hamlet, in which both forgive the other, Laertes
fails to attain the same contentment Hamlet does.
Finally, Fortinbras differentiates himself from both Hamlet and Laertes in that he
successfully satisfies his compulsion and lives to appreciate the effects. Notably, Fortinbras did not
set himself against any person, but toward the retaking of Norwegian land and personal pride. Still,
he revealed the same intensity as either of his counterparts in his siege on Polish land. As the land
hath in it no profit but the name, Fortinbras seeks it solely to reclaim land and establish himself
as a superior king to make up for his father's territorial losses (IV.iv.20). More decisive then Hamlet
yet less impetuous or easily swayed than Laertes, Fortinbras surges to victory even before he gains
the crown of Denmark through a stroke of chance. Though with sorrow, he still embrace[s] [his]
fortune as any man would (V.ii.385). A high step above either Hamlet or Laertes, both dead before
him, Fortinbras resounds as the paragon of a man who achieved his compulsion to secure dignity
without a tragic fall.
Fortinbras emerges as the only victor in the Tragedy of Hamlet, yet all three characters
possessed the opportunity to satiate their compulsions. Hamlet, too, achieved a fulfillment akin to
Fortinbras, yet suffered a tragic fall. While Miller notes that all tragedies chronicle a character's
underlying struggle to regain his rightful position, not all seeking their rightful position will
necessarily encounter tragedy. However, many people, the masses, never undergo a struggle at all,
passively accepting their role in life; they will never experience the heights and pits of the human
experience as those who struggle will. From them comes our image of mediocrity. Only because of
those who struggle, Miller contends, can there exist optimism in the perfectibility of man.
1007 Words

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Works Cited
Miller, Arthur . "Tragedy and the Common Man." Books. New York Times, 27 Feb. 1949. Web. 25
Feb. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/11/12/specials/miller-common.html>.
Shakespeare, William . "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark." Heath Introduction to
Literature. 6th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. 633-747. Print.
Truman, Harry . "Harry S. Truman quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes