Lesson 2/1/2011- How should Hamlet be played at the end of Act Two?

Hamlet’s behaviour at the end of Act Two seems to be based on one main point of debate- that Hamlet is not a classical tragic hero.
Towards the end of Act Two, the audience sees the way Hamlet is affected by the power of the theatre. His soliloquy is entirely based around the fact that the actor he watched 'turned his colour and had tears in's eyes'. Hamlet obviously deeply respects the power of the theatre and all players, and tells Polonius that 'you were better have a bad epitaph than their ill report while you live'. He is passionate about being included in the play, asking if he could write an extra scene ‘and insert in’t’. He also speaks in an extremely intellectual and thoughtful way (unlike classical heroes), using almost poetical phrases such as ‘what would he do had he the motive and that for passion that I have? He would drown the stage in tears’. A character like this, who loves the power of words, portrays more similar conventions of the classical tragic villain than the conventions of a hero.
Hamlet also does not seem to have the Hubris of all classical tragic heroes, as he completely lacks any kind of pride or self-esteem, calling himself ‘a rogue and peasant slave’. He easily conjures pictures in his dialogue of violent actions, for example between 2.2.496-500 he uses words such as ‘drown… cleave… make mad… confound’. These frightfully powerful and potentially destructive actions are not however carried out. His other outbursts include ‘remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindles villain’. Yet Hamlet still does nothing.
Another quality of Hamlet’s character to suggest his lack of heroicness is his female-like character. He describes himself as a ‘whore’, the lowest kind of woman, for not yet acting upon the words of the ghost. He says ‘I am pigeon-livered and lack gall’, which means he lacks guts and bravery, the stereotypical traits of a manly figure.
I believe Hamlet should be portrayed as weak in this soliloquy. I believe the words suggest he has reached a low point, where he has done nothing and hates himself for his lack of bravery, but even as he talks he admits to himself that he isn’t the sort of character to act upon his thoughts. I like the way David Tennant performs the scene- curled up, protecting himself from his own hurtful words. It portrays Hamlet’s character as fragile, utterly alone, and with need of a guiding light that doesn’t exist. So although Hamlet may not fit as a classical tragic hero, by the end of Act Two the mood and atmosphere is indeed that of a tragedy.