Familial relationships in Shakespeare's works parallel directly with his own life and the views of the time. I believe that Elizabethan familial relationships are the same as today, and that we can use these relationships portrayed in Shakespeare's literature as tools to learn from the pitfalls and successes.
As I mentioned in my previous post, tragedy not only directly affects families but illustrates the value of families at the same time. Revenge for a father's death is, of course, a central issue in Hamlet--not just for Hamlet himself but also Laertes and Fortinbras. In Family Life in the Age of Shakespeare, Bruce Young explains the connection between family and tragedy in Shakespeare's Hamlet:
"The tragedy results in large part from the intensity of family feelings...Hamlet's anguish...comes from his sense that his mother is deficient in family feeling, failing to grieve adequately for his father and marrying a close relative, with the result that the marriage is incestuous, as it would have been according to English standards. Even apart from that issue, Hamlet is troubled by the confusion of family roles: Claudius and Gertrude are now his "uncle-father and aunt-mother". Of course, Hamlet wants no one to substitute for his dead father. Hamlet...remains one of the world literature's richest and most fascinating treatments of family life." (91, emphasis added)
"Family feelings" is an essential issue in Hamlet because it is what ultimately drives such a tragic ending. Hamlet seems to internalize all of the family feelings about his father's death. He is the only one who expresses depression and anger and who struggles with issues of life and death. Not that his mother doesn't feel sorrow, but she does not express it and her quick re-marriage does not represent it. Hamlet, therefore, must be the one to mope around, question his beliefs, and avenge his father's death because he represents the grieving process. Sadly enough, this is a universal issue within families experiencing tragedy. Many times one child takes the brunt of the family, acts out those intense emotions and more often than not, it results in a more tragic experience than the first. As was such the case with Hamlet--suicide and murder.
I found a study from the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry that studied the young people's risk of suicide attempts in relation to the death of a parent. Interestingly enough, the study was based on a group of Danish children (if this doesn't ring a bell, Hamlet was the Prince of Denmark). The study concluded that "Experiencing the death of one or both biological parents increased the risk of suicide attempts in young people" (181). Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" speech toys with the idea of suicide and, guessing by his demeanor throughout the play, a reader knows his fate does not end well. While Hamlet does not actually commit suicide, Ophelia does after the death of her father.
While some tragedies strengthen the bonds of family, Shakespeare also illustrates in Hamlet how the results of tragedy can tear a family a part. After the death of Shakespeare's son, Hamnet, Shakespeare reacted in a couple of ways, one of which was repairing the relationship between him and his own father. Another way Shakespeare responded is a real life representation on how tragedy, if responded to inappropriately, can cause continued detriment to the family. Michael Wood speculates, in In Search of Shakespeare, that Shakespeare also reacted by taking on a mistress. He had an affair with a married woman, who was musical, and had "dark skin". This woman, Emilia Bassano, drove Shakespeare "mad with desire and guilt."
Thus, Shakespeare gives us two choices following tragedy, it can either strengthen the bond or tear the family a part. There is no in-between in the eyes of Shakespeare.
