Shakespeare’s play, "Hamlet," tells a dark and mostly melancholy story of a prince avenging the death of his father. Throughout much of the play, Hamlet’s character fits into the mold that Joseph Campbell describes as an archetypal hero in his work The Hero with a Thousand Faces. However, it becomes clear by the end of the play that Hamlet is in fact the anti-hero. An anti-hero lacks the characteristics of a conventional hero and often has flaws or what Aristotle calls “hamartia”. Hamlet lacks conviction and he displays rash judgment and unpredictable behavior. Aside from Hamlet’s flaws, his characterization as an anti-hero is most strongly solidified at the end of his journey when he strays from the path Campbell’s defines below. “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man” (Campbell 30). In many ways, Hamlet follows Campbell’s hero equation: “the call to action”, “the separation” and “the return” (30). Hamlet’s character experiences a “call to action” upon the death of his father. As a result, Hamlet is drawn to the stage of “separation” to avenge the death of his father after the appearance of the supernatural ghost. However, the primary flaw in Hamlet’s depiction as a hero comes at the end of his journey upon his death and subsequent realization that there is no ultimate boon or life-enhancing “return” to society. Hamlet begins his quest as an antihero with an unexpected “call to action”. The play begins when Hamlet’s father has already been killed and the public misled to believe the king died from a snakebite. Gertrude requests that Hamlet forgo his life at school to stay at home. She proclaims, “Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet. / I pray thee, stay with us” (Branagah I.2.115). And soon after this statement we see Hamlet’s first mention of darkness and suicide when he says Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, Or that the everlasting had not fixed His cannon ‘gainst self slaughter!” (I.2.129-132). This first mention of suicide characterizes in Hamlet imperfections that Aristotle refe