Moral Issues In Shakespeare's Hamlet By William Shakespeare

I. Introduction to Hamlet

“Hamlet” is a play, compose by William Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers for drama. This play is centered on the young Norwegian prince named Hamlet. The exact age of Hamlet is not noted in the play, but it can be deduced from the clues presented in the play, like Hamlet goes to school away from his home country and Hamlet knowledge of fighting with swords. In the play Hamlet father died, however it is not until Hamlet finds out how his father died that the plot start to gain momentum. Hamlet’s father spirit claims his death, a “foul and most unnatural murder” (Shakespeare, Act I, scene v, line 25). This lead Hamlet to be roused into taking revenge for his father. The killer of Hamlet’s father is revealed

In the play Hamlet, the moral issues that get explore are revenge, incest, and murders within a family. Revenge is the major theme of this play and it causes Hamlet to destroy himself to get it. Without revenge pushing forward the plot to create the conflict this play would not be known for what it is. The spirit of Hamlet’s fathers asked Hamlet to get revenge. “Hamlet (the man) is dominated by an emotion which is inexpressible, because it is in excess of the facts as they appear” (Eliot, 1921, par 13). Hamlet has difficulties expressing himself and this leads to him taking more lives than was necessary for his revenge. The way Shakespeare portray this moral issues make the reader question what they would do if their father was killed by his brother and the spirit of their father asks to be revenge. Incest is also explored and Shakespeare uses the word many times to refer to the relationship between Hamlet’s mother and his uncle. Claudius is considered Hamlet’s mother, brother by marriage and to marry her during the time of his brother’s funnel is unnatural. The relationship between Hamlet and his mother is not considered to be physical incest, but since Hamlet care more about his mother love life than his own is a form of incest. Laertes and Ophelia seem to be closer than a brother and sister should be and there are times when Laertes speak to Ophelia in a sexual tone. In the beginning Laertes persists in telling Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet and even tells his father about Ophelia’s relationship to Hamlet to get their father to join his side. When Ophelia was being buried Laertes jumps down into the grave to hold her in his arms, “Hold off the earth awhile, till I have caught her once more in mine arm” (Shakespeare, Act V, scene i, lines 246-247). Shakespeare portrays different forms of incest to get the reader to question