Although Hamlet is plotting to murder a king which is the highest form of treason any person could commit in his time, is made to seem like an honorable and justified action. Through the ghost of his father demanding that Hamlet avenge his untimely death by the hand of his brother, the audience disposes of this idea that plotting against and killing a king is treason. The audience understands Hamlets rage and desire for revenge and is encourages it although Claudius is the new king of Denmark and father to Hamlet. This betrayal Hamlet commits against his former uncle now his adoptive father would disgust the audience had it not been that Claudius was guilty of murdering Hamlets father and plotting to murder Hamlet. By having this double crossing it establishes how not even the bonds of family can quench the thirst for power and
However, seeing him praying made Hamlet think that Claudius is asking God for forgiveness for his sin he had made. If Hamlet were to kill Claudius, it can send Claudius up to heaven, and not to hell. This is
Hamlet is presented with several opportunities to pursue his vengeance, but delays each time for multiple reasons in which reveal his true nature. There are many reasons Hamlet restrains from killing Claudius. Firstly, Hamlet does not know whether the ghost should be believed or if it is just the devil in disguise trying to trick him. This is a valid reason because if the ghost is the devil, then Hamlet’s soul will be damned to the Hell. Hamlet’s
Hamlet is very secretive about the ghost, until he tries to convince Gertrude he is there, and fails in the process, which only causes her to believe he is more crazy. King Claudius is a character full of corrupt power, lies and mystery. Claudius’ entire life as king spirals from the secret that he killed his brother, married his wife and essentially stole the crown. Carrying around that disastrous secret
Firstly, Hamlet is a play of a man by the name of Hamlet, whose father was murdered by Claudius, his uncle. Claudius murdered the king by pouring poison in his ear to claim the throne for himself. Hamlet is then told by a ghost to murder Claudius for revenge, and he struggles within himself for the length of play whether to do it or not. When Hamlet begins to hesitate it does more damage than good and causes a chain reaction of tragic events, and makes the readers question whether Hamlet is truly sane or not. Claudius’s corruptness begins to show when he uses his authority to order those around him to rid of Hamlet.
Hamlet’s perspective causes him to stall and make excuses as to why he should wait to kill Claudius such as waiting till Claudius has sin, in order to ensure that he wouldn’t go to heaven. His perspective on life through his soliloquy “to be or not to be” allows us as readers to interpret to the development of Hamlet’s character. It reveals his inner thoughts and adds more quality to the play. In this soliloquy, Hamlet is contemplating suicide, but is haunted by the unknowns of the
Instead of taking action and killing claudius, he questions whether the ghost was actually his father asking to revenge his death or the devil resembling his father to try to tempt him into murder. In No Fear Shakespeare from Sparknotes, Hamlet talks about his doubts to believe the ghost is actually his father or not by saying “May be the devil, and the devil hath power T’ assume a pleasing shape. Yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me (Act 2 Scene 2 Page 24). This shows how Hamlet was indecisive and how the ghost of his father was one of the major reasons why he was indecisive.
The ghost of Hamlet’s father later appears on the battlements of the castle before a group of guards, who then summon Hamlet to speak with the spirit. The Ghost leads Hamlet away from the guards and informs him that he was murdered by his brother Claudius, the new King. The knowledge imparted from the ghost causes Hamlet to go mad and form a plot to kill the King, “which even in Elizabethan times was not allowed by law or religion…”
As Claudius repents, Hamlet feels as though it's the best time to kill him until he says: And so ’a goes to Heaven; And so am I revenged. That would be scanned. A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his son, do this same villain send To heaven (3.3.73-78) Essentially, Hamlet wanted to murder Claudius because he was the Old King’s murderer.
In the play Hamlet, we find that Hamlet meets with his father’s ghost, and about his father murder by the hands of blood related brother, Hamlet takes a decision, to revenge and restore the glory back
When Hamlet meets with the ghost King Hamlet in the opening scene, he realizes that his father is murdered by Claudius. From Act I scene 5, the ghost King Hamlet is asking Hamlet to seek for revenge, “So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear” (1.5.12). By knowing this, Hamlet starts the revenge for his father and sets the tone of the entire play where death, revenge, murder, and suicide become the symbols of the whole play, and leads to the deaths of almost all the characters, including Claudius, Laertes, Polonius, Ophelia, Queen Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet himself. Also, because of his father’s death and his mother’s quick marriage with Claudius, Hamlet has the idea of committing suicide. From Act I scene 2, "O, that this too sullied flesh would melt,Thaw, and resolve itself to dew" (1.2.133-134).
The ghost also reveals that his death was no accident and was murdered by his brother Claudius and should be revenged. These events challenged Hamlet and cast’s a burden to his moral faith. Hamlet decides to not act quickly with his plans of revenge considering there was no evidence to prove that Claudius killed his
Conscience is inner critical thinking about one’s behavior and acts of rightfulness or wrongfulness- this can affect how one deals with death and the idea of an afterlife by subconsciously guiding one to act a certain way to obtain the ‘promised afterlife’ in the Christian religion. In the time of Shakespeare- the Elizabethan era, the two main religions were Catholic and Protestant, the reader can see influences of religion throughout Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In ‘Hamlet’, the Christian concepts of one’s conscience, death and afterlife are demonstrated through Hamlet and supporting characters. Shakespeare gives these Christian concepts a larger meaning. Religion adds uncertainty and fear to a character’s decision making process.
The ghost’s appearance has a significant impact on Hamlet’s behaviors and forms his decisions through the play. Hamlet, who is suffering from depression since he is dealing with his father’s death and the hasty marriage of his mother with Claudius, his uncle, became obsessed with the concept of life and death after seeing his father’s ghost. In the first appearance of the ghost, he reveals the truth about the how the king has been murdered, which drives Hamlet to seek revenge, and by revenge killing his uncle. The ghost establishes a dilemma and gives Hamlet time to think about his father’s request. But Hamlet has an uncertainty about the existence of the ghost as he notes “the spirit that I have seen may be the devil, and the devil hath power T ' assume a pleasing shape” (2.2.561–563) here, Hamlet is concerned that the ghost may be the devil and questions the motivation of the ghost for killing Claudius.
A tragic hero is a multifaceted, admirable character with a tragic flaw that turns his life from glory into suffering. Hamlet is an example. ‘Born’ personality, shifting mentality, and inevitable fate leads to its tragedy which eventually triggers audience’s pity. Unlike other tragedies where tragic heros discover the truths by their own actions at the end of the story, realizing that the reversal was brought by their own actions. Hamlet begins differently by knowing the truth from things happening to him.
