Lit Knowledge and Evil
Knowledge offers the individual who attains it the capacity to differentiate between evil and good or wrong and right. Therefore, must we disregard the likelihood that it may not in fact be knowledge, but rather the decisions we settle for subsequent to its attainment that brings about demise of individuals? The paper will try to examine the viewpoints of two writers, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, concerning the subject of knowledge probably being a downfall as they have inferred in their own plays, Doctor Faustus and Hamlet respectively. Amusingly, the chief persona of both
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If we consider the topic of knowledge from a theological viewpoint, it appears that the heavens do not deny individuals with knowledge absolutely, but instead establish a boundary to it. Eve and Adam did not appear to be completely uninformed before ingesting the prohibited fruit. Therefore, as Faustus becomes conceited of his broad knowledge, his demise is determined upon by the heavens nearly as if he now symbolizes a menace:
"Till, swollen with cunning of a self-conceit,
His waxen wings did mount above his reach,
And, melting, heavens conspir'd his overthrow…" (Marlowe, 2001, Prologue 20-22).
As of a moralistic approach, Faustus' attitude can be compared to that of contemporary day scientists who set no boundaries to their experimentations and attempt to be God. Conversely, this last similarity does not actually relate to the character Hamlet, Hamlet the play concurs with Doctor Faustus in that Hamlet emerges in the play as a scholar. In short, it is supposed that he already owns a immense deal of knowledge, but it appears he is short of the knowledge the occurrences in Denmark whilst he was gone. He is deficient in the knowledge of his father's execution and about the killer. Then it appears that the heavens plot against Hamlet too. Each time his father's spirit tries to elucidate these subjects, the sun ascends, and the spirit has to depart:
Ghost: "But soft, me thinks I scent the morning air;
Brief let me be…
The glow-worm
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness, and moral corruption. It touches upon philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet frequently questions the meaning of life and the degrading of morals as he agonizes over his father’s murder, his mother’s incestuous infidelity, and what he should or shouldn’t do about it. At first, he is just depressed; still mourning the loss of his father as his mother marries his uncle. After he learns about the treachery of his uncle and the adultery of his mother, his already negative countenance declines further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudius, feeling burdened about having been asked to find a solution to a situation that was
Hamlet sees something that is rotten in his kingdom and he knows it is his moral responsibility to resolve this issues however he finishes off by saying that in actual fact he is powerless “but break my heart, for I must hold my tongue” admitting his weakness. Hamlet begins to grapple with the nature of humanity and morality following the confrontation with the ghost. The appearance of the ghost triggers Hamlet’s existential struggle “All is not well… I doubt some foul play… foul deeds will rise” (Act 1 scene 2) through the use of foreshadowing, Shakespeare exposes the nature of humanity to audiences through the construction of Hamlet’s character. He emphasises that a strong sense of morality can cause conflicts in the decision to make noble choices.
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Hamlet went from a mourning Prince of Denmark over the death of his father, to a revenge seeking murderer as the play progresses. This transition in character is evident through Hamlets meaning of life; the desire for justice. After the meeting with the ghost, his worldview completely changed to a craving for revenge. In today’s ever changing world, people who act on revenge are no longer socially acceptable. These people who act on revenge often commit mortal sins and heavy crimes and are set to life in prison. Hamlet is the only person to blame for his death because of his worldview. “A villain kills my father, and for that I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven.” (Shakespeare 3.3 76-78) At this point, Hamlet’s worldview is completely based on getting revenge for his father. There is nothing more important in life at the time. Hamlet has just killed Polonius mistaking him as Claudius. Moments later Hamlet is face to face with Claudius, but chooses not to kill him because he wants the worst for him. Hamlet says “ I, his sole son, do this same villain send to
Literature is at its best when the heart conflicts with the brain. Hamlet takes readers on an emotional journey after the death of his father. Hamlet’s delay in avenging his father has caused a debatable source of discussion among many scholars throughout history. Hamlet has an emotional need for revenge which his mind does not allow him to fulfill. While Hamlet felt anger at Claudius for murdering his father, he had doubts over his source of information, as he identified in his third soliloquy, “the spirit that I have seen may be a devil...and perhaps in my weakness and my melancholy... abuses me to damn me.
Shakespearean literature provides an illumination of otherworldly ideas, interesting concepts, and significant thoughts that encourage the reader to ponder about the question given. In “The Comedy of Errors,” Shakespeare presents the question, “is fate truly an active participant in how we live our lives?” In response to Barthes’ observation on how literature only provides a question but no answer, Shakespeare supports this note of Barthes’ by giving examples of how different effects result our destiny, and no one thing like “fate.” This impacts the reader’s understanding of the work as a whole because it conveys that many things possess a role in directly or indirectly effecting us, and the question of “is fate an active participant” is best
Throughout the play, Hamlet struggles with avenging his father’s death. Hamlet often struggles with killing Claudius, his uncle who murdered his father and married his mother, and his religious views. When Hamlet is introduced in the play, the audience see’s that religion impacts Hamlet’s decision-making process. Once Hamlet meets the ghost for the first time and he sees his father and without hesitation he tells the ghost “haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge” (Hamlet Act 1 Scene 5 29-31). Hamlet agrees to avenge his fathers death but after seeing Claudius pray Hamlet states “the spirit that I have seen may be the devil: and the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me” (Hamlet, Act 2 Scene 2 576-579). Hamlet immediately begins to question his passion for
Hamlet is an intensely cerebral character marked by a desire to think things through and pick situations apart. As such, for the first three and a half scenes of Hamlet, Hamlet broods over his father’s death instead of taking action against Claudius, his father’s murderer. Hamlet finally acts because he experiences three intense emotional jolts that allow him to view his situation from a new perspective and spur him to action. Together, these emotional experiences alter his personal philosophy about the nature of death and God’s relationship with creation, and compel him to finally take decisive action.
William Shakespeare’s dramatic presentation of disillusionment within Hamlet, to a great measure presents the notion that the quality of a leader is derived from one’s possession of integrity. Hamlet’s disillusionment which emerges from the discovery of Claudius’ regicide and the usurpation of his father’s divine position, produces a plethora of human dilemmas, such as the moral struggle between renaissance and medieval ideologies, the paralysing effect of uncertainty and the defining nature of mortality. Thus by exploring the universal complexity of human condition and its ability withhold integrity, Shakespeare connects to audiences of various historical contexts.
The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark is William Shakespeare’s most well-known and analyzed work of literature. As the play unfolds, Hamlet has to face the difficult task of seeking revenge against his uncle, Claudius, for the murder of his father, King Hamlet. Hamlet has captured audiences and readers for centuries and has caused much inquiry and debate. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a very psychologically complex character. Throughout the play, Hamlet conveys two different sides; the young, emotional and intelligent prince, who is committed to honesty and loyalty; and his destructive and impulsive side which led to the death of Polonius and nonchalantly sent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths as
Hamlet concerns about his actions and of the characters around him to be moral to ensure everyone is on the path of morality. During his depression, Hamlet thinks of suicide, but constraints himself," Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! ", where Hamlet shows his concern of suicide being a crime in the books of God (I,ii,131 - 132). In his perception, there is more to life than just moments of sadness, and there is no clue of what happens next in one's life so ending life is not an option for him. Hamlet's perception is based on the ideology of right and wrong in the society. Later in the play, witnessing his own mother's second marriage to his uncle, Hamlet overwhelms," O most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not nor it cannot come to good ", where his concerns for his mother's actions are apparent (I,ii,157 - 159). Hamlet distinguishes his mother's act as disgusting and wicked. Such reaction of Hamlet suggests his concern of morality within other characters' actions for the welfare of the society. Finally, upon knowing of his father's murderer, Hamlet still wants to confirm Claudius's guilt in the crime. To investigate of his guilt, Hamlet devises a plan of a play in which he will show Claudius the murder scene," Observe mine uncle. If his occulted guilt Do not itself unkennel in one speech, It is a damnèd ghost that we have
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Danish prince sets out to avenge his father’s assassination at the hands of his uncle Claudius, the new king. At first, Hamlet is fragile because of his father’s sudden death and the following marriage of his mother Gertrude and uncle Claudius. Originally contemplating suicide, Hamlet dissuades himself from doing so on the grounds of it being a sin. Shifting from an internal struggle to an external one after he meets his father’s spirit, he seeks to kill Claudius but cannot due to his religion again. Finally Hamlet thwarts Claudius’ plans to be assassinated in England and returns to Denmark. He finds peace in his Christian faith before dying in
Hamlet, the broody teenager of the stage, philosophizes life and death within the play Hamlet but it is his fear of religious damnation that gives him his various answers. Many characters in the play Hamlet find themselves questioning different things or actions and after weighing all their moral options it is their religion that gives the final say in what answer they end up with. King Claudius, after killing his brother, takes the throne but King Hamlet returns as a ghost and asks his son to seek revenge on his uncle. Hamlet agrees to this but also finds himself struggling with a moral dilemma about suicide. Religion becomes the major decision maker and plot pusher of the play Hamlet.
Henry Perkinson, a former educational history and educational theorist professor at NYU, wrote it in his book Learning from our mistakes “learning takes place not only in success, but in failure as well” (23). Perkinson’s perspective of education, that education comes from personal experience and academic knowledge, can be used to view Thomas Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus and William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night differently. Both stories have characters that have experienced traditional education, but in both plays the characters obtain true knowledge through revelations, which they receive after their first hand experiences. For Faustus, it is his attempt to gain fame through “necromancy” (Greenblatt 1129.25) that provides a revelation about good and evil during his final moments. For the characters of Twelfth Night, Viola’s disguise and secrets are the triggers for their individual revelations about human interaction and love. In both plays it appears that when characters try to defy pre existing social norms they experience greater knowledge through their experience rather than their academic knowledge.
Throughout this play, we see the theme of free will and predestination. Free will is present when Faustus is discussing his reasons for turning to the devils. He is in search of limitless knowledge and magic. After reading a passage from the bible, “The reward for sinne is death: thats hard”, but does not continue to read the whole statement that says, derived from various translations, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Westlund). He decides that if everyone is subject to death