Hamlet, by William Shakespeare

When one’s father is dead, their mother is sleeping with their uncle and they have a religious background through an education that is counterintuitive to just about everything that is happening in their life, they might face a struggle with the nature of their existence. Does this suggest insanity? Perhaps eventually, but every case of existential angst is circumstantial. In the case of Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there is a serious demonstration of the purely situational struggle with life, death and spirituality. Because Hamlet’s actions are influenced by events that his detractors are not aware of, such as the appearance of his father’s ghost, he is incorrectly associated with insanity. Therefore, Hamlet acts with more rationale in the play than he is given credit for.

An excellent counter-argument: Hamlet, in theory, is a protestant play, but Hamlet (despite his studies at Wittenberg) seems to conform to catholic ideology when he interacts with the ghost of his father and when trying to decide whether to kill Claudius or not. He doesn’t even follow his own educational background, and he lacks substantive justification for wanting to kill anyone based on what his protestant background should lead him to believe about the on-goings of the play. He demonstrates his conformation to catholic practices through his acceptance of the fact that his father has returned to earth as an apparition from purgatory, and by refusing to kill Claudius whilst he is praying for fear of sending him to heaven. This would be an acute observation of Hamlet’s background as a character, but I disagree with the notion that Hamlet is intrinsically catholic despite his obvious religious background.

What does Protestantism ever demonstrate ...

... middle of paper ...

...ath, specifically when it comes to suicide? It is arguable that Hamlet’s withdrawn and unclear outlook on suicide can be attributed to an internal struggle stemming from the on-goings in the play that directly challenge his fundamental beliefs.

This internal struggle should say a lot to the reader about how they should interpret Hamlet’s behavior. Why call a man inherently bad or inherently insane when everything his higher education has led him to understand is being deeply challenged? Why even give a moment of consideration to the opinion of Claudius who is a known murderer? He arguably serves as the root of every problem that Hamlet faces in the play. Hamlet is, perhaps, simply misunderstood, and if a reader does not bear in mind what he undergoes emotionally and psychologically in the play, his behavior and actions may easily be mistaken for inherent insanity.