In Shakespeare's Hamlet,
harmatia, peripeteia, and
anagnorisis are present in the
play.
Hamartia was seen first in the Greek tragedies. It
recognizes the protagonist's tragic flaw; it also states that the character is "missing
the mark." Harmartia is described as causing problems where they were not intended or
expected. Harmatia is harm...
...committed in ignorance (when the person
affected or the results are not what the agent
supposed...)
An example of
this in Hamlet is found when Hamlet discovers the death of Ophelia. Whereas Hamlet was
angry that she seemed to have forgotten him as she worked with Claudius and Polonius to
weed out his secrets, he never intended that she would die. When Hamlet sees Ophelia
being buried, we understand how much he still cares for
Ophelia.
Peripeteia is also from the Greek, describing a
"reversal of circumstances" or a turning point in a story. "Peripety" is defined
as:
...a
sudden turn of events or an unexpected reversal, especially in a literary work,
or...[a] sudden and violent change in circumstances,
especially in drama
In
Hamlet, I believe this occurs when Hamlet finally gets an
incriminating response from Claudius during the "play within a play," when the players
put on Hamlet's rewritten drama entitled, Mousetrap. At this point,
Claudius is almost certain that Hamlet knows what Claudius has done to become King.
Unfortunately, with this knowledge, the villainous Claudius will now try to do away with
Hamlet. For example, he sends him to England with the hope that the English will execute
him. When that does not work, the King twists the mind of the grieving Laertes and
creates a plot that Laertes will act out to kill Hamlet while participating in a
sports-based activity of "sword play;" Laertes will use a poisoned
sword.
Last, anagnorisis (also from the Greek) refers to a
moment when a character discovers an important piece of
information.
...is a moment in a play or other work when a
character makes a critical discovery...
or,
Anagnorisis is the
recognition by the tragic hero of some truth about his or her identity or actions that
accompanies the reversal of the situation in the plot, the peripeteia. [For example,]
Oedipus's realization that he is, in fact, his father's murderer and his mother's lover
is an example of
anagnorisis.
It can refer to
someone's discovery of his own character or insight into the character of another
character. It is powerful in that it can bring about a "peripety" that brings about a
sudden turn of events.
In Hamlet, we
see this in the combined plot development surrounding the Ghost and Claudius, and
Hamlet's discovery of what his uncle has done.
At the
beginning of Hamlet, the old King's son is approached by the ghost of his dead father
who explains that he was murdered by Claudius, his brother. This provides horrifying
information not only about the true personality of Claudius, but also the terrible news
that Claudius is the murderer of Old Hamlet. This information dramatically shifts the
plot (whereas Hamlet starts on a journey to avenge his father's murder), which
"galvanizes" the entire plot to its conclusion with the death of all of the remaining
principal characters.
Additional
Sources:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Peripety
http://www.talktalk.co.uk/reference/dictionaries/difficultwords/
data/d0009849.html
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~zuern/demo/aristotle/terms/
anagnorisis.html
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