Moral Nature Of Hamlet

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is a timeless play which continues to remain relevant across all generations due to its presentation of ideas that are fundamental to humanity. The play highlights aspects that relate to the society of not only Elizabethan England but also that of our modern society. Hamlet, as a character, considers ideas from outside his time and is somewhat relatable to modern day man. By drawing from ideas of archetypes and the human psyche, it reveals that Hamlet relates deeply to the elements of humanity.

When looking at Hamlet, one could say that William Shakespeare put the play together as a very cathartic tragedy. The emotional result of dealing with so many deaths brings on a plethora of emotions which are not usually felt in a typical play. Hamlet begins not with the normal prosperity and good fortune as do most tragedies, but with a more stifling and depressing sort of mood (Tekany 115). However, something else could be said about this play as well. The play centers on Hamlet and his existential characteristics, such as angst, isolation and his confrontations with nothingness. The exhibition of these characteristics proves Hamlet to be an existential character.

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince Hamlet serves as one of the most multi-faceted characters in the entire play with critics often deeming his personality “paradoxical”. Ultimately, Hamlet provides the audience with the epitomy of internal contrast and instability by rapidly transitioning through periods of caution and rash action, introversion and extroversion and calculation and spontaneity.

Shakespeare’s character, Hamlet, is known for his indecisive personality. It is a trait that humanizes Hamlet in the sense that every man is flawed. However, this feature is Hamlet’s main

character of Hamlet, has many character traits which are contrasted by other figures in the play.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a work of immense depth in character development, most notably the personal, moral and psychological battles

Texts reflect their context and paradigms but transcendental texts that explore aspects of humanity can resonate through time and remain relevant and accessible to audiences. William Shakespeare’s introspective play, Hamlet, explores the complexity of the human condition by reflecting ideologies such as justice, loyalty and morality. Although these deeply human ideas ensure the plays resonance, they are somewhat secondary to the depths of Hamlet’s human struggle. These thematic concerns reflect how flaws in the values of society descend into corruption. Through an exploration of the characterization, Shakespeare invites a re-evaluation of the values that shape human nature. The textual integrity of Hamlet makes it of distinctive

Hamlet, the eponymous hero of Shakespeare’s greatest work, descends swiftly into madness and paranoia after the murder of his father and the realization of his mother’s true, morally reprehensible, nature. As a result of these new responsibilities and extreme circumstances, Hamlet diverges from his usual, logical thinking into paranoia and over analysis, a condition that prevents him from trusting anyone. Hamlet, having been born a prince, is, for the first time, forced to make his own decisions after he learns of the true means of his father’s death. Another contributing factor to his madness is the constant probing of others into Hamlet’s sanity. These factors all contribute to Hamlets delay, and that delay contributes to the tragic

“Hamlet lacks faith in G-d and himself. Consequently he must define his existence in terms of others... He would like to become what the Greek Tragic hero is, a creature of situation. Hence his inability to act, for he can only ‘act’”, i.e., play at possibilities” (Auden, W.H)

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been widely regarded as one of the greatest tragedies ever written. One prominent theme exemplified in this particular play is the theme of rottenness or decay. Shakespeare uniquely uses disease, rotting, and decay in order to reveal the manifestation and consequence of moral corruption. Physical corruption mirrors the moral corruption within the characters in the play. The moral corruption in Denmark is showcased for the readers throughout the play by images of physical corruption and disease. Shakespeare argues in Hamlet that sin or moral corruption is like a disease that leads one to one’s own “death” or demise. Nobody is immune from it.

Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, begins with the appearance of a ghost, an apparition, possibly a hallucination. Thus, from the beginning, Shakespeare presents the air of uncertainty, of the unnatural, which drives the action of the play and develops in the protagonist as a struggle to clarify what only seems to be absolute and what is actually reality. Hamlet's mind, therefore, becomes the central force of the play, choosing the direction of the conflict by his decisions regarding his revenge and defining the outcome.

The theoretical and historical ground we will attempt to cover will still be huge as the question of authority in Hamlet can certainly be approached in different ways. Therefore, we need to narrow the scope of our interest a little further. This is why we will be concerned with two major questions. The first is the question of authenticity and truth and the second is that of time, death and endurance. These two issues are interconnected, for we believe that they are addressed aesthetically in the play.

This quote, in the literal sense, begs for one to be true to one’s self, as someone who is not true to himself is false. This sentiment expressed by Polonius becomes seemingly incongruous with the events and judgments made throughout the play, as the theme of deceit reigns over that of virtue. While the play progresses, the characters demonstrate a growing struggle for virtue and lose the power to be true to their own selves, thus compromising their abilities to uphold justice. As actualities regarding King Hamlet’s death become apparent, either truthfulness and virtue, or the ability to maintain justice is compromised. This concept is especially present in considering Hamlet’s pursuit of revenge for his father’s death. His erratic and ineffective

In the play Hamlet, a key focus of philosophical differences among the characters is the tendency to take action versus the tendency to abstain from taking action. The primary method of thought evident in the characters is that of the Christian-Humanists which separates methods of reason into two distinct categories: subjective reason, and practical reason. Subjective reason is the process by which means are planned according to by what might be. In the play, Hamlet’s lack of action is defined by his tendency towards speculative reason in which his means, the actions he takes, are defined by his uncertainty in if Claudius is truly the killer of King Hamlet.

Morality, sin, and afterlife are important pillars of Christianity. Hamlet intertwines together the attitudes of Christians concerning murder to revenge through the tragedy of the play. In Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, Act III, scene iii, Shakespeare reveals the guilt and Claudius’ ambiguous character through the use of metaphors, similes, allusions, and repetition to convey Claudius’ conflict over asking for God’s mercy.