“And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain” (The Holy Bible, King James Version, John.20). His unsavory actions throughout the play have made it impossible for Hamlet to be equated with Christ in any more specific way, and, unlike the crucifixion (and, of course, resurrection) of Christ, which is center of Christianity, Hamlet's death is not the center of the play. “He acts impulsively and kills people and then bemoans it in soliloquies of self-doubt” (Michael Andrews, Web). Hamlet is not a hero. He is a man who has been presented with a task bigger than he is. When I think of the character, I think of an average person given the assignment of a hero and buckling under the weight of it all. He hesitates just as any of us would hesitate if presented with the same task. That is why Hamlet cannot be directly compared to a Christ-like figure. …show more content…
When Hamlet first sees the Ghost, he has pity for the ‘poor ghost’, saying ‘rest, rest, perturbed spirit’. He states that he will ‘go pray’ after seeing the ghost, although he is in a vengeful, rather than a prayerful mood. This may indicate that Hamlet believes that it is by taking revenge on Claudius that he can alleviate his father’s suffering in purgatory. After promising his father's ghost that he will gain revenge on Claudius for the "foul and most unnatural murder" (Shakespeare I. v. 31), Hamlet lets opportunities to murder Claudius pass by, waiting for a time when all will realize he is right in the act so that Claudius will die in shame. Hamlet decides that if he were to kill Claudius during prayer, Claudius would be sent to heaven, which would not be the proper revenge