Hamlet: Moral Order
In Shakespeare's Hamlet, a very clear moral order is established as
the protagonist, Hamlet, completes his journey through the phases which
define a Shakespearean tragedy. The play begins with Hamlet encountering
his father's ghost, at which point he learns his father had in fact been
murdered by his own brother, Claudius. It is Hamlet's wish to avenge his
father that causes all other moral dilemmas in the play, and this is what
defines the play's particular moral order: As the play progresses, the
gravity and seriousness of Claudius sins lessen, and Hamlet's grow,
although never reaching the moral plateau on which Claudius rests. In the
beginning of the play, Hamlet is morally "in the right", always taking
precautions to ensure this remains so. Claudius, on the other hand, not
only murders Hamlet's father, but then plots to do away with Hamlet as soon
as he feels threatened. As the play progresses, Hamlet continues
attempting to right the original wrong, but only succeeds at the finish,
with Claudius' death. Hamlet's words in Act III, Scene IV -- "thus bad
begins, and worse remains behind" illustrate the moral order well; the
actions against him were wrong, but, to a lesser extent, so was his revenge.
Near the start of the play, The Ghost tells Hamlet of the crime
committed by Claudius. When Hamlet finds out his father was murdered by
his own brother, who then stole his wife and crown, he immediately commits
himself to avenging the murder; "Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as
swift/As meditation or the thoughts of love/May sweep to my revenge." At
this point, Hamlet is completely justified in his feelings, and most would
agree that his revenge is morally right. Although the act of murder itself
is wrong, an "eye for an eye" almost wholly justifies it. The gravity of
Claudius' crime grows when one considers that all the deaths throughout the
play would not have come if it were not the murder. The crime itself is,
in a sense, worse because of the circumstances; not a simple murder, but
the murder of one's brother wholly for personal gain, his crown and queen.
It is this which balances out any morally wrong actions Hamlet may take.
Hamlet, on the other hand, begins the play as a very rational and
intelligent man. Although it is shown he can be impulsive and rash, his
rationality wins out - at least in the beginning of the play. When seeing
his father's ghost, he unquestionably accepts all he hears as truth, but
doesn't act on it until he can verify it in some way.
... & Lenox, R. (2000). The nature of bipolar disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 61(13), 42-57.
Hamlet: Hamlet's Sanity & nbsp; & nbsp; “Great wits are sure to madness near allied, and thin partitions do. their bounds divide.” Though John Dryden's quote was not made in regard to William Shakespeare's Hamlet, it relates very well to the argument of whether or not Hamlet went insane. When a character such as Hamlet is under scrutiny, it can sometimes be difficult to determine what state he is in at. particular moments in the play.
Antigone clearly captures the audiences pity. Creon’s stubbornness and lack of compassion do not win pity. When Creon’s wife and son die the pity is shifted to them not Creon. All of Thebes sympathizes with Antigone, especially after she has been sentenced to die. Haemon even tells Creon what people have said. “And I have heard them, muttering and whispering…No other woman‘, So they are saying, ‘so undeservedly Has been condemned for such a glorious deed‘” (Lines 693-695). It is obvious that she had the pity of the entire city except for Creon. Only the chorus sympathized with Creon at times. Not having pity disqualifies Creon as being the tragic hero.
“A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action.” (Jawaharlal Nehru) Leaders throughout history have been idolized as the magnificent humans with the ability to sway the heart of man with both silent and thunderous footsteps. One such man being Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Shakespeare dictates that a leader is cunning, sharp minded, and a caring person who is prepared to dedicate their life to a goal and to the people they care for; the reason be “right” or “wrong”.
...her children’s life. Andrea knew that her act was legally wrong but she claims she felt it was morally correct. While laws and morality are intertwined, the duty of our court system is to enforce laws not to legislate morality. Andrea Yates was aware that her premeditated act would be legally wrong, and did in fact think about the crime prior to coming it. These actions are distinct characteristics associated with the classical theory of crime.
The significance of the players exceeds the sole purpose of entertainment, as each possesses the power to unveil the "occulted guilt" (3.2.75) and conscience of the King. Hamlet assumes the responsibility to advise these players with precise and adequate direction so that a "whirlwind of passion" (6) may not effectively separate Claudius from personally identifying with the play. Hamlet's enthusiastic approach toward direction may be so that he encourages the players to "suit the action to the word, the word to the/ action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not/ the modesty of nature" (16-18). However, this exercise of caution may justify Hamlet's too often delayed attempt toward the action of avenging his father's murder. His direction confines him to the overflow of words as he experiences imprisonment within the truth of his own identity.
In Sophocles’ classic play Antigone the main character Antigone faces the impactful and controversial choice between god’s laws and man’s laws, fate and free-will, and family versus government. With her heroic and ultimately fatal decisions, Antigone would normally be the character everyone defines as a stereotypical tragic hero, however, not many people take into consideration that her counterpart Creon, is the real tragic hero. Creon is often portrayed as the antagonist within the play, yet he has all the qualities that make an ideal tragic hero.
During the Elizabethan era, the philosophy that established social order was known as the “Concept of Order”, stating that everything had its own place and contributed to a certain position. Elizabethans believed that establishing order was the only way for a civilization to function and progress. This philosophy that governed the minds of many individuals seems to have been a prevalent thought in Shakespeare’s mind, the evidence being the recurring theme of the disorganization in social order. The disruption of social order, as described by the Great Chain of Being, was to be avoided, because the consequences would be destructive. The conflicts that arise throughout “Hamlet” are due to a disturbance in the Concept of Order, resulting in a disrupted social hierarchy.
Of course Augustus consolidated and brought all of the powers of Rome closer together allowing Augustus to slowly take most of the Republics power for himself. Some of the titles and powers that he senate executively gave to Augustus were: “principate”, this means meant “first citizen” which was basically the claim to emperor. Then there was “tribunica potestas” full power of the tribunes, which allowed Augustus Caesar to call the entire senate into a session whenever he wanted. Lastly there was “pontifex maximus” which made him the head of the religious part of Rome. With all of these large powers confined to himself along with his huge influence with the people he became the strongest political power in Rome forming it into a constitutional monarchy where he ruled at the top and then took advice from the senate. Other than just giving him extra power and titles the senate also carried out his decrees, an example of this would be when Augustus wanted to change the way extortion was handled and then the senate made it law shortly after. (WRW. Sc. #1,7, pp. 78-81, 82-83, 88-90.) (McKAY. pp.
William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Hamlet invites various interpretations of the structure because of the play’s complexity. Let us in this essay analyze various interpretations of structure.
Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is a complex and ambiguous public exploration of key human experiences surrounding the aspects of revenge, betrayal and corruption. The Elizabethan play is focused centrally on the ghost’s reoccurring appearance as a symbol of death and disruption to the chain of being in the state of Denmark. The imagery of death and uncertainty has a direct impact on Hamlet’s state of mind as he struggles to search for the truth on his quest for revenge as he switches between his two incompatible values of his Christian codes of honour and humanist beliefs which come into direct conflict. The deterioration of the diseased state is aligned with his detached relationship with all women as a result of Gertrude’s betrayal to King Hamlet which makes Hamlet question his very existence and the need to restore the natural order of kings. Hamlet has endured the test of time as it still identifies with a modern audience through the dramatized issues concerning every human’s critical self and is a representation of their own experience of the bewildering human condition, as Hamlet struggles to pursuit justice as a result of an unwise desire for revenge.
Creon is the tragic hero in Antigone for many reasons. His stubbornness by not wanting to be proven wrong because of his pride is one of the many reasons Creon is the tragic character. Creon believes it is okay to give Eteocles a proper burial because he died, as a man should, fight for his country. On the other hand, Creon treats Polyneices’ death in a distasteful, uncaring manner. Creon believed Polyneices’ should not receive a proper burial because Polyneices’ broke his exile to come back with fire and sword against his native city and the shrines of his father’s gods, whose idea was to split his blood and sell his own people into slavery. Creon also said that anyone that touches Polyneices’ or says the least prayer for him would be stoned to death. The Choragus attempted to inform Creon that he made a mistake by saying nobody can bury Polyneices, but it is to no avail. When Creon finds out someone has buried Polyneices, he assumes it is the men, the anarchists, that buried him because they want money, but Antigone is really the one that buries Polyneices. When the people of Thebes tried to tell Creon Antigone did the right thing, he did not want to listen to them. Creon believed that if he made an ex...
Morality is a remarkable dispute of a person’s actions within one’s own mind. Typically, everyone in the human species possesses a sense of their own regards to the matter of positive or negative outcomes. In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character faces a vast majority of internal struggles throughout his story. Hamlet is surrounded by tragedy and betrayal. Hamlet’s endeavors in the play coincide with those of a modern day soldier. Hamlet’s character relates to a soldier on the aspects of honor and murder, but they differ in their sense of morality.
Hamlet's problem is not exact; it cannot be pinpointed. In fact, Hamlet has numerous problems that contribute to his dilemma. The first of these problems is the appearance of King Hamlet's ghost to his son, Hamlet. Hamlet's morality adds a great deal to his delay in murdering the current king, Claudius. One of Hamlet's biggest drawbacks is that he tends to think things out too much. Hamlet does not act on instinct; however, he makes certain that every action is premeditated. Hamlet suffers a great deal from melancholy; this in turn causes him to constantly second guess himself. The Ghost is the main cause of Hamlet's melancholy. Also, Hamlet's melancholy helps to clear up certain aspects of the play. These are just a few of the problems that Hamlet encounters throughout his ordeal.
Hamlet is one of the most often-performed and studied plays in the English language. The story might have been merely a melodramatic play about murder and revenge, butWilliam Shakespeare imbued his drama with a sensitivity and reflectivity that still fascinates audiences four hundred years after it was first performed. Hamlet is no ordinary young man, raging at the death of his father and the hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. Hamlet is cursed with an introspective nature; he cannot decide whether to turn his anger outward or in on himself. The audience sees a young man who would be happiest back at his university, contemplating remote philosophical matters of life and death. Instead, Hamlet is forced to engage death on a visceral level, as an unwelcome and unfathomable figure in his life. He cannot ignore thoughts of death, nor can he grieve and get on with his life, as most people do. He is a melancholy man, and he can see only darkness in his future—if, indeed, he is to have a future at all. Throughout the play, and particularly in his two most famous soliloquies, Hamlet struggles with the competing compulsions to avenge his father’s death or to embrace his own. Hamlet is a man caught in a moral dilemma, and his inability to reach a resolution condemns himself and nearly everyone close to him.