Hamlet and His Problems - by T.S. Eliot

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Patrick

Hamlet and His Problems presents T.S. Eliot’s 1919 critical challenge to how Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been read. Eliot argues that critics have treated Hamlet the play as a secondary concern while projecting their own artistic needs onto the character, often producing their own versions instead of studying the text. Rather than offering a traditional psychoanalytic or moral explanation, Eliot critiques the play’s structure and treats Hamlet’s delay as central to the tragedy, noting puzzling and inconsistent scenes despite the work’s masterpiece status.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Eliot’s Core Argument

Critics’ Misplaced Focus

Hamlet’s Delay and the Tragedy’s Structure

Artistic Failure vs. Masterpiece Reputation

| Hamlet and His Problems (1919)

Hamlet and Its Problem is an influential essay written by T.S. Eliot in 1919, in which he addresses a key issue that has long puzzled critics and readers of Shakespeare’s Hamlet: the protagonist’s hesitancy and failure to act decisively in avenging his father’s murder. T. S. Eliot commences his critical essay, Hamlet and his problems by stating,“few critics have even admitted that Hamlet the play is the primary problem, and Hamlet the character only secondary.
Eliot asserts that the critics like Coleridge and Goethe often find in Hamlet a vicarious existence for their own artistic realization. He adds that they seem to have forgotten their main role as the critic, i.e. to study the play. Hence, their approach sounds misleading. In fact, they have produced their own version of Hamlet.
At the same time, Eliot is very much appreciative of Robertson and Prof. Stoll who have made a right attempt
to turn their critical observation in the right direction which has forced him to say,“Shakespeare’s Hamlet, so far as it is Shakespeare’s, is a play dealing with the effect of a mother’s guilt upon her son, and that Shakespeare was unable to impose this motive successfully upon the“intractable” material of the old play.” It is clear, at this juncture, that Eliot is finding fault with Shakespeare and is also supportive of the critics like Robertson.
Rather than providing a traditional psychoanalytic or moral explanation, Eliot critiques the play's structure and argues that Hamlet’s delay is central to the nature of the tragedy itself.
Eliot strongly asserts that the noted critics had much more to focus their attention on the Hamlet the character than on the play Hamlet. He calls this the actual cause of problems. People consider Hamlet to be the Mona Lisa of Literature mainly because it is interesting. Despite the play being a masterpiece, it is most certainly an artistic failure. Eliot observes, “In several ways the play is puzzling, and disquieting as is none of the others. Of all the plays it is the longest and is possibly the one on which Shakespeare spent most pains; and yet he has left in it superfluous and inconsistent scenes”
The essay, Hamlet and His Problems is the finest example of ‘destructive criticism’.It shows Eliot’s originality

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FAQs

What does Eliot criticize most about traditional readings of Hamlet?

Eliot argues that many critics focus on Hamlet the character instead of studying the play itself, substituting their own interpretations for analysis of Shakespeare’s text.

Does Eliot rely on psychoanalytic or moral explanations for Hamlet’s behavior?

No. Eliot critiques the play’s structure and presents Hamlet’s delay as central to the tragedy’s nature rather than using conventional psychoanalytic or moral causes.

How does Eliot describe Hamlet’s artistic effectiveness?

Eliot acknowledges the play as lengthy and carefully worked on, yet calls it an artistic failure, pointing to superfluous and inconsistent scenes.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Patrick