The Reactions of a Contemporary and Modern Audience to the Honourable Actions of Hamlet

The Reactions of a Contemporary and Modern Audience to the Honourable Actions of Hamlet

The play of Hamlet includes a theme about honour, but what exactly

does honour mean? The contemporary audience of the play would have

seen honour as being duty to your family, and your principles. A

modern audience would understand honour as being about respect,

selflessness, beliefs, self-awareness, and bravery. Here you can see

that the modern understanding of honour is much different to how

people would have understood honour back when the play was written.

The play is set back in the times when monarchs ruled. This is also

important to remember when considering the reactions of a modern and

contemporary audience to the honourable actions of Hamlet.

Hamlet idolized his father. His father, King Hamlet, was a very noble

man. The contemporary audience saw a king as being God on Earth.

They believed that God picked who was to be king, and that because of

this, they must worship, and obey his beliefs and orders. King Hamlet

was seen as being a very respectable king, and a very good ruler.

However, today, the idea of a king is again, very different. Kingship

to a modern audience means someone who sets a good example. We don

not respect monarchs how the contemporary audience did. We rule by

government, and not just one individual person who makes all the

decisions. Our government is a democracy, and we can vote for the

leader we want. Back then, it was believed that it was God’s job to

do this.

Hamlet, and Fortinbras are both very similar people. For example,

they both inherited their fathers names, and in both cases, the throne

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also killed Polonius when he was arguing with his mother, for no

reason, other than he though that it was Claudius. Hamlet did seek

forgiveness for these actions from Laertes, which is a very honourable

action.

To conclude, the contemporary audience would have been very aware why

Hamlet acted like he did, and took the actions he did. They would

have seen that Hamlet was trying to go about the matter in the right,

and honourable way. They would have been able to recognise the

dilemmas, both moral, and religious, such as Hamlet going to

purgatory, and Claudius going to heaven, that Hamlet was

experiencing. A modern audience would not necessarily understand all

of this, but would however understand his character, so it is very

important to be aware of the historical context behind the play of

Hamlet.