Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Hamlet and Christianity
Religion theme in Hamlet
Religion theme in Hamlet
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Hamlet and Christianity
with his idealistic Christian reality. Claudius is caught praying, this shows that even though there is evil in his uncle there is also pure guilt that proves to be his conscience coming back. Hamlet wants to kill him while he is praying, but that would immediately send him to heaven, so he wants to catch him while he is performing an act that would have "no taste of salvation in it." His Christian beliefs teach him not to seek revenge, however, revenge is what he is told he must seek by his deceased father that is seemingly suspended in a ghostly purgatory for his unfinished business. The ghost's thirst for revenge conveys that his father is not as perfect and saintly as Hamlet thinks he is throughout the play. His father's words and his rage
Unfortunately for Hamlet, in this play he does not have all the time in the world to get revenge towards Claudius. Early on in the play Hamlet sees the ghost of his father’s spirit and it beckons him to follow if he wishes to speak to it. Hamlet being encouraged not to follow by his comrades says, “It will not speak, then I will follow it” (Shakespeare 1.4). Almost without thinking Hamlet makes the decision to follow the ghost, this will later prove totally uncharacteristic of him. Thinking they can still convince him, his friends, Horatio and Marcellus, try once again to stop him only to hear, “Hold off your hands; my fate cries out; by heaven I’ll make a ghost of him that let’s me” (Shakespeare 1.4). Hamlet lets it be known here that he has made his mind up and anyone who tries to stop him, he will make a ghost out of, heaven willing. Hamlet does not show any signs of hesitancy here, but will soon allow it to get in his way for at the wrong time.
The vengeance of his father 's death is the prime cause of Hamlet 's obsession with perfection, his tendencies of over thinking philosophically, and idealistically, are what cause Hamlet 's delay. Hamlet is exposed to multiple opportunities to take the murderer of his father, Claudius ' life, the most notable being when Hamlet stumbles upon Claudius alone, praying; when about to act Hamlet says "When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed, at gaming, swearing or about some act that has no relish of salvation in 't: then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven and that his soul may be as damn 'd and black as hell, whereto it goes"(3.3.90-96) This inability to act when the chance is given exclaims how Hamlet is not willing to send Claudius to heaven and he will only act if he is to arrive in hell, which will in turn fulfill his need for the perfect
Hamlet wonders whether to live or die, to suffer or take arm. Given to the pain he feels at his father's murder, and his mother's hasty remarriage to his uncle, to the murderer. he wonders if it is nobler to bear his grief, or to take action. His dad’s ghost has told him what really happened at the night his father died and told him to revenge. Now Hamlet has another choice to make. To trust the ghost or not. When Hamlet made the choice to listen and believe the apparition of his dead father, he willingly buys into the spirit's claim that he has been murdered by Claudius. This decision has huge repercussions for the rest of the play.
During the first act, Prince Hamlet meets the ghost of his father, King Hamlet. His father's ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius poured poison in his ear while he slept. The spirit also explains that he wishes for Hamlet to avenge his death, but not to punish Queen Gertrude for marrying Claudius. He tells Hamlet that she will have to answer to her conscience, and eventually God for her incestuous actions (absoluteshakespeare.com 1 of 4). It was believed during these times that when a person died, especially in such a tragic fashion, that their spirit lingered about while suffering in Purgatory. This could cause a normally virtuous person's spirit to become filled with malevolence and begin to meddle in living men's affairs (en.wikipedia.org 4 of 9). This belief caused Prince Hamlet to want to investigate his father's spirit's claims to ensure that they were indeed true. In order to do this, Prince Hamlet feigns madness in order to remain hidden from members of the court's suspicions while he plots his revenge on King Claudius (www.sparknotes.com 1 of 3). He also takes advantage of a group of actors who come to Elsinore Castle to perform by rewriting a play to recreate the scene of his father's murder. He does this with the hope of flushing a confession out of Claudius' guilty conscience. When Claudius sees the play, he stands up and leaves the room (en.wikipedia.org 5 of 9). After many more events, Claudius' guilt becomes more obvious. Claudius then begins to change his focus towards killing Hamlet, as he is beginning to become aware of the Prince's plans to kill him. Claudius then arranges a fencing match between Hamlet and Polonius' son Laertes and has Laertes poison the blade of one of his swords to be used in the match (Hamlet).
In the prayer scene, Hamlet misses his best opportunity to kill Claudius and avenge his father’s death. With no guards around, Claudius is alone and he is unaware that Hamlet is lurking in the shadows. The scene is set for Hamlet to take vengeance for his father’s unsettled spirit. However, Hamlet does not kill him, because Claudius is repenting for his sins, allowing him to go to heaven when he is to die. As one’s religion often dictated the afterlife of one’s soul, King Hamlet is doomed to an eternity in purgatory. Hamlet does not feel it is fair for Claudius to go to heaven, while his father is at unrest, so he decides instead to kill Claudius while he is doing something sinful. This is ironic because Claudius says he is not really praying; he is just going through the ...
Hamlet encounters a dilemma when an excellent opportunity to avenge his late father offers itself. He finds Claudius knelt down and has the appearance to be praying; however he is not praying. Observing this, he restrains his murderous intentions because he believes Claudius is absolving his sins. Hamlet: A took my father grossly, full of bread, with all his crimes broad blown. But in our circumstances and course of thought, ‘tis heavy with him.
"To take him in the purging of his soul, when he is fit and season'd for his passage? No!" This is what Hamlet says when he finds his uncle kneeling in prayer, the man who killed his father, took over the kingdom, and corrupted his mother Gertrude. Hamlet can't find it inside himself to kill a man who is praying for forgiveness. When in reality Claudius isn't praying for forgiveness of his sins, for his murder, but he is asking to keep hold of the things he has gained from his murderous past. Hamlet not knowing of
The first stage of Hamlet’s metamorphosis of turning to a being fuelled by revenge is that he begins to believe he has a divine right to engage his vengeance on Claudius. In the text Hamlet is told by his father’s ghost from purgatory, a spiritual place of unsaved souls, “ If thou didst ever thy dear father love- revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” (Shakespeare I.v. 23-25). This line gains interest to the act of revenge by Hamlet. He is already willing to execute his act of vengeance on his father’s murderer by stating “Haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge.” (Shakespeare I.v. 29-31). Hamlet basically reveals that he is indeed ready to carry out revenge as soon as the ghost reveals the murderer’s identity. The ghost tells Hamlet his murderer was his uncle, Claudius. The ghost informs Hamlet “But thou howsoever thou purest this act, Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive Against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge To prick and sting her.” (Shakes...
Hamlet seeks the truth about his dad’s death through his madness, as he states “So help me god no matter how strange or weird I may appear or act, since, from now on, i might act like a madman”. Hamlet feels that he has to put on this “mask”, to break the appearances of others, who are being dishonest, evil and sneaky, in order to discover the truth. He then orchestrates a play to know, for sure, if Claudius (uncle), killed his father (king Hamlet), and when he sees the reaction from Claudius it ensures him of his evil doings. However, when hamlet gets the chance to kill Claudius, it’s while he’s in prayer and he decides not to do it, at that exact
Knowing that his uncle is wrongfully living life as King is the cause of the biggest issues in Hamlet’s life, it becomes a factor that contributes to the decision making process of To be or not to be. Hamlet feels that the crimes committed against his family by his uncle will never allow him to rest peacefully unless they are avenged, and that killing himself will not solve any of those problems, but only be in favour of Claudius. The fear of not knowing if death would release him from this trouble seems to give him more resolve to follow through with the revenge that was requested by the ghost instead of releasing himself from the
Once Hamlet has learned of his father’s death, he is faced with a difficult question: should he succumb to the social influence of avenging his father’s death? The Ghost tells Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.31) upon which Hamlet swears to “remember” (1.5.118). Hamlet’s immediate response to this command of avenging his father’s death is reluctance. Hamlet displays his reluctance by deciding to test the validity of what the Ghost has told him by setting up a “play something like the murder of (his) father’s” (2.2.624) for Claudius. Hamlet will then “observe his looks” (2.2.625) and “if he do blench” (2.2.626) Hamlet will know that he must avenge his father’s death. In the course of Hamlet avenging his father’s death, he is very hesitant, “thinking too precisely on the event” (4.4.43). “Now might I do it…and he goes to heaven…No” (3.3.77-79) and Hamlet decides to kill Claudius while “he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in th’ incestuous pleasure of his bed” (3.3.94-95). As seen here, Hamlet’s contradicting thought that Claudius “goes to heaven” (3.3.79) influences him to change his plans for revenge. Hamlet eventually realizes that he must avenge his father’s death and states “from this time forth my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth” (4.4.69). From this, Hamlet has succumbed to the social influence and has vowed to avenge his father’s death.
Hamlet’s indecisiveness plays a considerable role in the tragic outcome of this play. Throughout the time he knows about Claudius’s treachery, Hamlet is hesitant to exact his revenge. He claims to want Claudius to suffer as much as possible. As Hamlet was about to get his revenge while Claudius is praying, he changes his mind saying that he wanted “that his soul may be as damn’d and black as hell, whereto it goes.” (Shakespeare, 71) According to Hamlet he wants his Uncle to die while sinning so that his soul goes to hell rather than heaven. Passing up on this opportunity
As the whole kingdom celebrates Claudius’ wedding and subsequent coronation, Hamlet walks around in dark clothes talking about death. He is still mourning his father’s sudden death. He sees his life as holding a low value because no one else is mourning his father, his uncle took away his right to the throne, his uncle married his mother, and both Claudius and Gertrude are trying to tell him how to live his life. Hamlet contemplates suicide, but fears the afterlife that the ghost has described. He imagines death being as easy as falling asleep. The ghost, however, convinces Hamlet that it is not his own life that he should be taking, but rather Claudius’. As soon as Hamlet accepts the ghost’s words, he throws away reason and gives in to passion. It is passion that drives him to stab Polonius who is hiding behind the curtain. Passion drives him to manipulate the players to tell a story that parallels his father’s death. He passionately mourns Ophelia when he finds her grave and passionately struggles with Laertes in the final battle. Hamlet’s passion and its control over his life directly or indirectly results in the death of at least five people and destroys the kingdom of
Hamlet does not initially have a strong enough will to act solely on revenge. Even though Hamlet had proclaimed that he would be "swift" and "sweep to my revenge,"In the "rogue and peasant slave" soliloquy, Hamlet admits that he has been "unpregnant of my cause" and wonders whether he is a "coward". Not until Hamlet becomes completely fed up with his own inaction, does he finally examine the guilt of Claudius. However this task is thwarted when Hamlet witnesses Claudius praying. His will is rationalized by the notion that Claudius' soul might escape eternal damnation. Hamlet finally address his "dull revenge" in his climactic soliloquy admitting," I do not know/ Why yet I live to say This thing's to do/ Sith I have cause and will and strength and means/ To do't" Here Hamlet finally swears against his previous inaction "O! From this time forth,/ My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth"
While contemplating, Hamlet thinks to himself: “now might I do it pat, now he is praying and now I’ll do‘t: and so he goes to heaven: and so am I revenged” (3.3.75-76); however, readers can see the thought process of Hamlet and the way religious thinking weighs in on his decisions. Hamlet then states, “that would be scanned; A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do the same villain send to heaven” (3.3.77-78). Hamlet realizes that killing Claudius right then when he is getting forgiveness from God for his sin he committed, would send Claudius to heaven, thus, not getting his revenge at