Essay

Self-preservation on the Tragic Heroes’ Main Objective in Crime and Punishment and Hamlet

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Course
ENG150 (ENG150)

Institution
University Of Toronto (U Of T )

Final ENG150 compare and contrast essay on "Hamlet" and "Crime and Punishment" for the University of Toronto. The essay received an A as the final grade in 2023.

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Uploaded on May 30, 2024
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Written in 2023/2024
Type Essay
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english
essay
crime and punishment
shakespeare
hamlet
raskolnikov
claudius
literature
literary analysis
english essay
fyodor dostoevsky
dostoevsky
william shakespeare
compare and contrast essay

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‭Sehri Oh‬ ‭Oh‬‭1‬

‭Professor John Rogers‬

‭ENG150: Literary Traditions‬

‭8 April 2024‬

‭Self-preservation on the Tragic Heroes’ Main Objective in‬‭Crime and Punishment‬‭and‬‭Hamlet‬

‭The selected texts,‬‭Crime and Punishment‬‭and‬‭Hamlet‬‭, are both works in which self-preservation‬

‭plays a significant role in the tragic heroes’ decision to pursue their respective main objectives. However,‬

‭through differences in attitudes towards suicide and self-preservation’s relation to inaction, the works are‬

‭able to provide self-preservation with different plot-relative roles. In‬‭Crime and Punishment‬‭,‬

‭self-preservation functions as a plot catalyst due to Raskolnikov’s willingness to live and the alignment of‬

‭self-preservation with his main objective, whilst in Hamlet, it functions as a plot deterrent due to Hamlet’s‬

‭ambivalence towards living and the conflict of self-preservation with his main objective. For the sake of‬

‭this essay, the “main objective” of the tragic hero will be defined as the goal of the character, which, when‬

‭attained, results in the resolution of the main conflict and plot, which is then, by definition, a confession‬

‭to the police, and the murder of Claudius, respectively.‬

‭To begin, along with the choice of the pursuit of the main objective and inaction (that is,‬

‭avoidance of the main objective), both characters contemplate suicide as a third option. However, the‬

‭general attitude of the tragic heroes’ in regards to living and suicide differs significantly. In‬‭Crime and‬

‭Punishment‬‭, Raskolnikov’s strong desire to live causes the removal of suicide as an option, instead‬

‭causing a binary choice (confession or inaction), whilst Hamlet’s ambivalence towards living maintains a‬

‭contemplation of suicide throughout the play.‬

‭Throughout the novel, Raskolnikov is emphasized as being unwilling and unable to commit‬

‭suicide. In the first—and only that is directly narrated from Raskolnikov’s perspective—instance in which‬

‭Raskolnikov attempts suicide by jumping off the Voznesensky bridge, he witnesses another woman jump‬

‭off the bridge and feels disgusted, calling the act “foul. . .not worth it,” then further mutters to himself, “I‬

‭couldn’t.” Even further on in the novel, Porfiry, when asking Raskolnikov to leave a note if he were to‬

‭choose commit suicide, calls the possibility “an absurd proposition” that he is only mentioning “just in‬

, ‭Oh‬‭2‬

‭case,” as he believes Raskolnikov is “quite incapable of it” (439). Further, Raskolnikov is outright‬

‭described as“too eager to live” by Svidrigailov (481). Similarly, in the second and last attempt, which‬

‭Raskolnikov tells Sonia, Sonia attributes his inability as proof that he “believe[s] in life,” too much so to‬

‭be able to kill himself. Thus, the elimination of suicide as a potential course of action limits Raskolnikov‬

‭to the options of pursuing the main objective or inaction.‬

‭In contrast, Hamlet is contemplative of suicide throughout the play, demonstrating a disdain for‬

‭living and an appeal in death, maintaining it as a possible course of action throughout. Even before‬

‭learning of the truth of his father’s death, Hamlet demonstrates disdain towards the state of living, such as‬

‭exclaiming: “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world!” (1.2.‬

‭136-138), or comparing life to "an unweeded garden . . .[with] things rank and gross in nature" (1.2. 135).‬

‭He also states the merits of death, which is the ability to end: “The heartache and the thousand natural‬

‭shocks/ That flesh is heir to,” and describes it as something “devoutly to be wish'd" (3.1. 62-63). Thus,‬

‭both characters attempt suicide, but Raskolnikov, with a strong will to live, is unable to, and hence his‬

‭choices are reduced to the binary choice of the main objective and inaction, whilst Hamlet, who is‬

‭ambivalent towards living, continuously contemplates suicide and maintains it as an option.‬

‭Another difference in choice is the relation of inaction to self preservation, which then influences‬

‭the main objective’s relation to it also. Raskolnikov’s inaction goes against self-preservation and thus‬

‭causes self-preservation to align with his main objective, while Hamlet’s inaction aligns with‬

‭self-preservation and hence conflicts against his main objective.‬

‭For Raskolnikov, inaction goes against self-preservation as it is implied to be accompanied by permanent‬

‭self-imposed suffering due to guilt and illness, eventually leading to suicide. Sonia’s first reaction upon‬

‭realizing that Raskolnikov is a murderer is to exclaim: “Why, why did you take this upon yourself!”‬

‭acknowledging Raskolnikov’s self-imposed suffering. Additionally, when persuading Raskolnikov to give‬

‭himself up, she states that Raskolnikov will “wear [himself] out” otherwise “to bear such torment” (401),‬

‭implying that confession is the only way to be relieved of the current form of suffering he is under.‬

‭Regarding illness, the idea that “the act of carrying out a crime is always accompanied by illness. . .”‬

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