Don Quixote and Hamlet

The question of who would be considered a better knight comes up as we discussed Don Quixote and Hamlet. Using information from both Don Quixote and Hamlet, I will discuss what Don Quixote’s evaluation of Hamlet as a knight would be.  Based on the ideals of what a knight should be Don Quixote will take at Hamlet’s use of arms, pursuit of a lady and overall behavior in tough situations.  Using information from how Hamlet conducts himself, I believe that Don Quixote would classify Hamlet as failing to upholding the standards of good knight.

                First we take a look at Hamlet’s use of arms through the play. It is very clear that Hamlet is very skilled in the use of weaponry through the play. I believe that Don Quixote would admire his ability to use a variety of weapons with great skills. Quixote would state that his ability to use weapons effectively would help him fair better in combat as a knight. This is particularly seen in Hamlet’s duel with Laertes, he is able to use his skills successfully despite being poisoned and wins the dual. Don Quixote seems to be a fan of dueling other knights so Hamlet’s role in the dual would win him some admiration from Quixote. Hamlet, however does seem to have a certain degree of carelessness with use of weapons and a civilian population. The scene of him stabbing of Polonius who was hiding behind the tapestry is a perfect example. Hamlet is quick to act, doing so he takes an innocent life without remorse. Don Quixote would be highly opposed to Hamlet’s behavior in this situation; no knight would so carelessly take a civilian life and not be remorseful of his action. In no way would Quixote ever imagine killing innocents, he has read too much on the rules of chivalry to allow this to happen. When it comes to the use of weapons, Quixote would have a neutral opinion of Hamlet due to the positives and negatives of his actions.

                Apart from usage of weapons, we can also take a look at the dealings with a mistress. The main goal of Don Quixote is to find his lady, Dulcinea and win her affection. He attempts to do this by tracking her down and freeing her from any enchantment she is under.  It is clear that Don Quixote places great importance on serving his lady, I think he would have a problem with Hamlets actions.  First of all, Hamlet confuses Ophelia in his plot to seem crazy. Don Quixote would not approve of his deceit especially of the lady that he supposedly admires. Don follows proper chivalry and does everything in his power to try to win the affection of his lady; Hamlet does not seem to care about trying to win Ophelia.  On top of causing her grief and confusion, Hamlet even allows her to take her own life without doing anything to stop it. Quixote would have a big problem with this, Hamlet could have stepped in and made things right with her but instead did not care and let her die. Quixote would not be able to support this at all, his whole quest was to save his lady while Hamlet caused the death of his. The fact that Hamlet is more focused on his own goals of avenging his father’s death, he is quick to disregard the health of his mistress. In Quixote’s eyes this is a huge failure. Quixote has read and learned that in the end, a proper knight comes to the rescue of his lady and is there to save the day. Hamlet seems to do the opposite of this therefore; Quixote would not look upon him favorably when it comes to serving his lady.

                Another thing that Quixote would need to consider when evaluating Hamlet is his day to day actions. Quixote lives by the philosophy of trying to help anyone he can through his travels. He is a knight errant, not attached to any lord but rather to the quest to do well in the world. He would take a look at Hamlet and be disappointed with his involvement with royal matters. Through the whole story, Hamlet is only worried about his stake in the court and avenging his father’s death. Nowhere does he attempt to make time to go out and do good deeds. Quixote would have a problem with this, if Hamlet truly called himself a knight he would make an attempt to proved justice for the world not meddle with personal affairs. Apart from daily travels, Quixote would also look at how Hamlet conducts himself when he converses with others. According to Quixote, a good knight should be a good listener and excellent at telling stories. Quixote’s excellence in this category is seen through the story as he retells stories of knights with great success. Don Quixote would take a look at how Hamlets used his speech but also how it affected his audience. From the extravagant speeches Hamlet makes, I would say that Quixote would admire his ability to use words and entertain. While in the graveyard for example, he gave a extravagant speech about life to his friend Horatio, who was left in awe after Hamlet’s discussion of death. Hamlet has a great ability to be dramatic while delivering an excellent performance; this would prove to be helpful in his consideration of having knightly attributes.

                Taking a look at Hamlet at a whole, there is no doubt that Don Quixote would take a fair look at his attributes and would make a good assessment of how he would fair as a knight. Quixote would look favorably upon Hamlet’s ability to use weapons with great skill. He would also admire Hamlet’s skill with speech and moving a audience. The problem that Quixote would have would be the misuse of weaponry on civilians, lack of chivalry towards his lady. He would also point out how Hamlet seems to just be in things for him and personal gain rather than serving the world for a greater good. Weighting the positives and negatives, Don Quixote would seem to see Hamlet to be a bad representation of what a knight should be. Hamlet fails to fit well in the criteria that Quixote has learned from his readings and would not fare well in a world following chivalric code.