William Shakespeare's Hamlet

To start with, the ghost heavily influences the development of a few characters in the play which includes Hamlet and his friends. In the opening act, Hamlet’s friends encounter the ghost of the former king while standing guard on the wall of the castle. They are the first and only characters besides Hamlet that the ghost influences. They are also the only ones besides Hamlet that can see the ghost. This furthers the story by sending Hamlet’s friends on a mission to tell him of his father’s return. From the beginning of the play Hamlet is already depressed and down after being called home from school to return to Denmark to witness the funeral of his father. Following the funeral Hamlet meets up with his friends where they tell him of his father’s ghost. Immediately, this sparks Hamlet’s interest and he wishes to hear more of his father. ‘The king my father!/For God’s love, let me hear.” (1.2.192-95 Hamlet) Here Shakespeare shows Hamlet’s interest in the matter

The afterlife plays a critical role, in key decisions made throughout the play Hamlet. This can be prominently seen in the character Hamlet, and the influence his dead father, has on him. As well as the influence that death itself holds over Hamlet, through ideas of suicide and the effect it will have over him, whether he will go to purgatory or heaven. Hamlet also suffers from a fear of the unknown, focused on by Shakespeare, through the themes of death, and what happens when we die. Through these ideas and themes found under the idea of death, Shakespeare creates a masterpiece in which death is both feared and adored, and the concept of the unknown has been ever present.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is one of the most famous tragedies William Shakespeare has ever written. Found throughout Shakespeare’s tragedy are many religious references. According to Peter Milward, the author of Shakespeare's Christianity: The Protestant and Catholic Poetics of Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and Hamlet, “From a purely religious point of view, which is more than just biblical, Hamlet is rich in homiletic material of all kinds, reflecting almost every aspect of the religious situation in a deeply religious age” (Milward 9). These pieces of religious literature are crucial to the plot of Hamlet. The religious elements found in this tragedy provide the plot, allusions, and foreshadowing.

He then moves beyond his earlier need to settle the score and asks for forgiveness from Leartes. Hamlet's need to know is highlighted in his interaction with the ghost, but treated in an unusual way. The ghost brings to attention the themes of truth and ethical behavior, but also serves as contrast to Hamlet's need for belief. The ghost represents death, but that is one thing Hamlet cannot be certain of, because he has not yet experienced it. Even more, he cannot tell whether the ghost is truly his father's spirit or whether it is an evil being who wants to lead him toward destruction as when he says, "O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else / And shall I couple hell' O fie!" (1.5.99-100).

Hamlet’s religion shapes his view on morality, ultimately guiding many of his actions regarding death. Hamlet is a afraid of life after death as demonstrated by his reluctance to kill Claudius during prayer.“Now

In the play by William Shakespeare, the ghost of King Hamlet approaches his mourning and depressed son, Hamlet, who is still affected by his death. The ghost explains to Hamlet how he died and demands that Hamlet avenge his death. Note how the ghost approaches Hamlet when he’s the weakest and still mourning to persuade and manipulate him into taking revenge for him. In Act one Scene 5 the ghost states, “If thou didst ever thy dear father love-/ Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” The way King Hamlet words his request is more as a challenge; in which Hamlet’s love for his dead father can only be proven by carrying out whatever his father wishes. The ghost influences most Hamlet’s behavior, which not only affects the plot, but also the relationships with other characters. The ghost influences the relationship between Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude. He becomes angry at Gertrude because of her fast marriage with his uncle Claudius. Through the use of innuendos, antic disposition, and metamorphic plays, Hamlet makes it his duty to get King Claudius back for killing his father. Hamlet agreed to avenge his father without second thought. As the play advances, Hamlet begins to doubt the apparition. In act 3 Hamlet begins to have second thoughts and states, “The spirit that I have seen/ May be a devil…” This shows Hamlet’s inner conflict between listening to his father and avenging his death or following his ethics. To be sure that Claudius

Hamlet is a complex story that uses many literary devices to help develop the characters in Hamlet. One dominant device is irony. The main plot of the story revolves around irony. Hamlet is a witty character and loves to use irony. Hamlet’s use of irony displays how he insults people, discovers useful information, and reveals his true character. The use of irony in this story helps to add depth to each character, which is why Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most complex stories.

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.

In 1600 Europe had abandoned the ideas and teachings of Catholic Christianity and began having a Protestant view on the world. When Protestants changed their worldview they rejected the idea of purgatory, causing a key foundation of their new religion. The Protestant Worldview and reaction of it can be reflected in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In this time of religious and spiritual changes many people are very confused which can be closely related to Prince Hamlet’s immense amount of anxiety and “madness” that causes tension, due to the lack of knowledge and the ghost of his father.

Shakespearean tragedies all have their fair share of death, but Shakespeare’s Hamlet stands out among the others in it’s overall revolvement around the idea of death and the afterlife. The play itself begins in act 1 with the ghost of Hamlet’s father, the dead king, setting Hamlet on a mission to exact revenge on the ghost’s brother and murderer, the new king Claudius. John Carroll expands on Hamlet’s mindset through the use of metaphysical sociology in, “Death and the Modern Imagination” explaining, “Hamlet was rather paralyzed by his encounter with death, in the form of his father’s ghost, to whom he swore an oath. It was when death became meaningless for Hamlet, and as a result all-encompassing, that life became meaningless” (565). Death loses meaning to Hamlet and, in turn, so does life, causing him to become resentful and detached, leading to his mental torment of the people closest to him and the eventual widespread death of almost every character in the play. Hamlet’s newfound indifference for both life and death develops into a cynical and almost inhumane attitude, infesting his lively surroundings with venomously negative ideals and eventually becoming a metaphor for death himself.

In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, religion is a key theme in the play. Throughout the play Hamlet struggles with trying to avenge his fathers death, and how that would impact his and other’s standing with God. The relationship Hamlet has with God plays into the way he responds to certain things. Hamlets actions are impacted by religion, and Hamlet stops and thinks about his actions and thoughts and how that would impact his stance in heaven. In Hamlet religion plays a vital role in Hamlet’s actions and thought process.

In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the protagonist, Hamlet is obsessed with the idea of death, and during the course of the play he contemplates death from numerous perspectives. He ponders the physical aspects of death, as seen with Yoricks's skull, his father's ghost, as well as the dead bodies in the cemetery. Hamlet also contemplates the spiritual aspects of the afterlife with his various soliloquies. Emotionally Hamlet is attached to death with the passing of his father and his lover Ophelia. Death surrounds Hamlet, and forces him to consider death from various points of view.

Quintessentially speaking, revenge is a thing that many have sought in response to a tragic event unfolding. Typically, as a result, vengeance is contemplated upon by the victim as a means of retribution, a way of making things right and seeking justice on the behest of the victim, if the law will not grant justice through due process due to corrupt forces stemmed deep within it- corrupt seeds of a corrupt plant. Therefore, revenge become an apparent option for those willing to walk that path [of no return]. However, instances of revenge not being attained in the “clear cut” way it is ordinarily acquired have occurred from time to time throughout history. One of the most prominent examples of unconventional revenge attainment can be found within the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, entailing the revenge path walked by its eponymously named main character, Prince Hamlet. Specifically, his intentful delay in attaining his revenge against his uncle Claudius for his direct role in the death of his father, King Hamlet. This literary conundrum has dumbfounded literary critics for over 400 years and counting- due to the fact that a universally accepted consensus amongst them as well as the general public as to why Hamlet delayed his revenge has not yet been reached.

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, it is clearly evident Prince Hamlet is overcome with “madness” due to his father’s murder and other malicious actions taken against him. Throughout the play, there are many examples of how Hamlet displays his insanity due to certain situations he experiences and how he handles them. Hamlet shows his madness through the killing of Polonius, his treatment of Ophelia, his thoughts of suicide, and the treatment of his mother Gertrude.