Hamlet

”Thus conscience does not make cowards of us all;/ And thus the native hue of resolution/ Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought;/ And enterprises of great pith and moment,/ With this regard, their currents turn away,/ And lose the name of action.” Hamlet here combines some themes of this play: death and life, the connection between thought and action. In act five scene five, he goes into Claudius’ room to kill him. Like the last time he went to kill him, he was on his knees praying. Why send him to Heaven when he should go to Hell? His father wasn’t given a chance to repent his sins before he was murdered, so why should King Claudius? Hamlet thinks about this for a minute, and decides to wait for a more reasonable

Hamlet’s religious struggle resonates with mine and those of many other Christians because God’s will isn’t always clear cut and human will does not always align with heavenly will. The plot of Hamlet revolves around Hamlet’s revenge of his father. But the revenge isn’t quick. In fact,

Hamlet’s determination and addiction for revenge is confirmed when he is willing to sacrifice his entrance to heaven by separating from his values and beliefs. Initially, Hamlet wishes “that this too too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!” He is contemplating suicide as a result of his father’s death and his mother’s haste in remarrying to his father’s brother, Claudius. However, Hamlet brushes off this idea as an option by saying, “Or that the Everlasting had not fixed his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! Oh, God, God” This portrays the religious beliefs of Hamlet at the time. He wishes suicide was not a sin. However, since it is, he cannot commit it. Similarly, Hamlet also shows his beliefs and values when the Ghost shares his story and then commands Hamlet to avenge his death.

Hamlet is a suspenseful play that introduces the topic of tragedy. Throughout the play, Hamlet displays anger, uncertainty, and obsession with death. Although Hamlet is unaware of it, these emotions cause the mishaps that occur throughout the play. These emotions combined with his unawareness are the leading basis for the tragic hero’s flaws. These flaws lead Hamlet not to be a bad man, but a regular form of imperfection that comes along with being human.

Hamlet is as much a story of emotional conflict, paranoia, and self-doubt as it is one of revenge and tragedy. The protagonist, Prince Hamlet of Denmark, is instructed by his slain father’s ghost to enact vengeance upon his uncle Claudius, whose treacherous murder of Hamlet’s father gave way to his rise to power. Overcome by anguish and obligation to avenge his father’s death, Hamlet ultimately commits a number of killings throughout the story. However, we are not to view the character Hamlet as a sick individual, but rather one who has been victimized by his own circumstances.

The relevance and significance of the revenge tragedy is in the way it explores human nature and forces audiences to evaluate ideologies such as revenge and justice. The concept of revenge is accompanied by moral conflict and Shakespeare demonstrates that by acting immorally society is likely to be riddled with corruption. Hamlet seeks to avenge the death of his father but struggles with the ramifications of seeking righteous revenge through an immoral act. The imposition of revenge instills the existential questioning on Hamlet as it contradicts his with his social expectation. His

As the play progresses, Hamlet’s actions tell he actively attempts to escape his self-proclaimed fate. Suspicions rise that Hamlet tests his free-will when he is inactive to plot the murder of his father. Instead, he develops a play to prove that the King is guilty, yet the play’s only effect is such, which does not bring Claudius closer to death. Finally, Hamlet has a chance to assassinate Claudius, but hesitates, believing that since the King is praying, he will go to heaven. This thought process and decision making demonstrates his attempt at free will. Hamlet’s assignment is solely to kill Claudius, yet his own thoughts get in the way, needing Claudius to waste away in hell and not heaven. In addition, when Claudius wishes to send Hamlet to England, he enthusiastically responds “For England!” (4.3.52), accepting being sent away, even though his mission is to kill Claudius, who resides in Denmark. In that instance, Hamlet is content with being shipped away, as he hopes to prolong his fate, hoping free-will will win over.

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

After having an inimical conversation with Gertrude and Claudius, in the opening scene of the play, Hamlet is in ruins, grief-stricken, and despairing; the only killing he wants to execute is of himself. Hamlet is in Hell; his mother and uncle’s “o’erhasty marriage” (Shakespeare II, ii, 57) has presided before Hamlet has stopped mourning his father’s unexplained and unexpected death. He cries out for death, wishing that “the Everlasting had not fixed his canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God!"(Shakespeare I, ii, 131-132), yet he know that he must continue to live miserably, in this

Many people who read William Shakespeare’s Hamlet believe Hamlet to be mentally unstable. Upon reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet psychoanalytically, there appears to be justifiable reasons for his sporadic behavior. A man named Arthur Kirsch, a literature critic, wrote a follow-up to Hamlet, called Hamlet’s Grief. Written the story is an argument that in mourning, grief is resolved, and since he never truly finishes mourning and accepts his father’s death, he is still stricken with grief, and that motivates his actions.

After Hamlet established that Claudius must be guilty from the rage he exposed at the play, he concludes that the time has come for him to kill the King. However, Hamlet finds his uncle in his quarters praying and refuses to do the deed when Claudius “is fit and seasoned for his passage” because he believes anything but an eternity in hell would not be horrible enough of a fate for the villain (III.iv.87). In this scene, Hamlet can be described as overstepping Christian morality completely by not only planning to kill Claudius, but also wanting to play God in a sense by sadistically damning his soul. Although Hamlet’s actions seem fair and rational – his father never got the opportunity to pray and repent for his sins before he was killed, so his father’s murderer should not be given that luxury either – denying one of the chance to cleanse their soul is undoubtedly a cruel and immoral act. According to his supposed Christian beliefs what he is planning to do is vile and corrupt in the purest form.

Although Hamlet is aware of his religion’s beliefs, his lack of faith clouds his judgement. Moreover, his hysteria is shown when he kills Polonius and does not feel guilt or remorse over his death. Instead, Hamlet belittles his mother for marrying Claudius: “And let me wring your heart… bulwark against sense” (III, iv, 36-39). Hamlet loses sight of his mother’s feelings and continues to mock his mother which causes her to go through emotional pain because of her son’s discomfort. Even though Hamlet is fully aware the existence of heaven and hell, he does not acknowledge Polonius’ death and only speaks of his decaying body. This goes to show that his views on death distract him from his faith which lead to Polonius’ death, eventually affecting Polonius’ family. His death lead to Ophelia’s suicide and Laertes’ plan to kill Hamlet. Most Christians learn to repent for their sins; however, Hamlet does not turn to God, but to the ghost of his father for his wrongdoings. Hamlet’s thoughts on suicide can be seen after the death of King Hamlet; “Thaw, and resolve itself into dew… possess it merely, That it should come to this.” (I, ii, 129-138) Hamlet continues to distance himself from his religion and begins to depreciate God’s gift of life. Furthermore, Hamlet’s decline in religious involvement triggers his philosophical thoughts on life and death to become very pessimistic. It is clear that Hamlet’s belief in the supernatural lead to the death of Ophelia, his loved one, and his own

Here, Hamlet shows despite his need to revenge for his father, he is held back from his constant thought of his actions as well as his moral considerations. It’s been clearly stated that Hamlet has a strong sense of heaven and hell; that he won’t kill his uncle while praying, because he thinks he might go to heaven. Hamlet himself doesn’t want to kill his uncle without being assured that he is guilty. This is why, by the end of the play, Claudius' death is something we applaud, regretting only that he was not killed sooner. The reason of this delay is because of Hamlets’ moral triumph. His morality often keeps him from acting; it makes him mull around in his uncertainty and anxiety, instead of just acting and bringing his struggle to an end.

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.

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.