Speculations as to whether the Shakespearean drama Hamlet meets the requirements of an Elizabethan revenge tragedy are discussed in this article, with extensive critical commentary. Richard A. Lanham in "Superposed Plays" comments on the lesser revenge tragedy within Hamlet's greater revenge tragedy: There is now no doubt about how to read Laertes' play: a pure tragedy of revenge, to be taken – as I tried to suggest in my summary – without solemnity. We must take advantage of rants as well as rants. When we receive tears instead of a diatribe, as in the case of Laertes cited above, an apology for our disappointment does not hurt. We must no more allow ourselves to be taken in by the vigorous sentiments of Laertes than by the bawdy puns of Ophelia. We savor it. (88-89) Howard Felperin sees in Hamlet a return to the once-vanished game of revenge (Felperin 105). Although gone for some time, the revenge tragedy was resurrected before the date of Hamlet's composition. From the start, the prince has a possible motive for revenge: he is dejected by the “hasty marriage” of his mother with his uncle. Hamlet's first soliloquy sees the expression of his negative feelings and their growth in intensity; he emphasizes the corruption of the world and the fragility of women – an obvious reference to his mother's hasty and incestuous marriage: Should I remember that? well, she clung to him, as if her appetite had increased thanks to what he fed on: and yet, at the end of a month — don't let me think about it — Frailty, your name is woman! — (1.2) Based on the meeting of the hero and Horatio, AC Bradley in Shakespearean Tragedy presents convincing evidence of the depth of the hero's melancholy. He is powerful enough to take revenge: ...... middle of paper ......ves of Eloquence: Literary Rhetoric in the Renaissance. Np: Yale University Press, 1976. Levin, Harry. General introduction. The Shakespeare by the River. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974. Mack, Maynard. "Hamlet's World." Yale Review. flight. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rep. in Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Rev. Ed. Leonard F. Dean. New York: Oxford University P., 1967. Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Hamlet, prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. “Hamlet: a man who thinks before he acts.” Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar. N.p. : Paperbacks, 1958.