ipl-logo

Moral Ambiguity In Hamlet Essay

810 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analyzing Hamlet’s character during the course of the play

Clara Chen
Hamlet ICW Revision
Mrs. Yurchak
In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, Hamlet, is approached by his father's ghost, the last king, and told to avenge his murder by killing Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. Throughout the play, Hamlet struggles to kill Claudius despite being given multiple opportunities. Hamlet shows no remorse for hurting characters he previously was close to through rashness and illogical/tunnel visioned thinking, painting him as an immoral character. Yet he also acts in the name of justice for his father, which partly defends his in-morality. These factors make it challenging to classify Hamlet’s character as good or evil. The morally ambiguous nature of Hamlet’s justifications and reasonings for wanting …show more content…

Hamlet approaches Claudius with his sword drawn but notices he is praying. Hamlet notes that if he kills Claudius in prayer, he will avoid divine judgment and undeservingly go to heaven. This train of thought implies that Hamlet believes with different nature of Claudius’s death, God would condemn Claudius to hell to receive the appropriate punishment for his sins. If Hamlet hesitated because he knew killing someone in prayer is immoral according to his religion (which he implies by mentioning Claudius will automatically go to heaven), then his mercy was him acting morally. Yet, suppose he let Claudius live just to ensure he goes to hell because of Hamlet’s personal bias due to what his father’s ghost told him. In that case, Hamlet is acting out of a desire to satisfy his revenge mission, not out of morality. Hamlet’s reluctance could have also stemmed from believing Claudius was praying. Hamlet and the royal family are religious, which indicates he was likely …show more content…

After Hamlet spares Claudius's life, he arranges a play to determine Claudius’s guilt. The plan succeeds, and later, Gertrude and Hamlet have an argument where she feels threatened and calls out for help. Polonius, the past and present king’s advisor hiding behind the arras yells as well. Unluckily for Polonius, Hamlet misinterprets his voice for Claudius and instantly stabs his sword at the arras, killing Polonius. This lack of hesitance is logical, as Hamlet had just confirmed that Claudius killed his father, which was a moral action as Hamlet truly wanted to avenge his father. However, when it is revealed that the murdered man is Polonius, Hamlet’s actions are incredibly immoral. Polonius was a family friend and advisor since Hamlet was young, and yet Hamlet dragged his body out of the room without a word. Dragging a dead body is extremely disrespectful, yet Hamlet does this to the past friend and innocent man he murdered. This disrespectful action, in hand with no words of remorse, indicates Hamlet has lost his morality. His lack of remorse for killing Polonius implies that Hamlet has become tunnel-visioned, only able to care about things relating to his goal of killing Claudius. When he recognizes he failed to achieve that and killed the wrong person, disappointment is likely the

Show More
Related
191 Words | 1 Pages

In the Elizabethan life, this act by Hamlet who is supposed to become the new king as he is next in line since his father had been murdered, would pass over and no one would believe that he did it without any physical proof of him doing it. It could just be sign of jealousy from king Claudius and would backfire on him if he were to try and presume legal action for the death of Polonius. The motivation of King Claudius is to try and get Hamlet sent away so he can cover up the fact that he had murdered his own brother so he could marry his wife. The motivation of Hamlet is to get revenge on King Claudius for his father, but if he was sent away then thee would be no one to get revenge on him for his sins. I think Shakespeare portrayed King

Read More
165 Words | 1 Pages

The Prince of Denmark, Hamlet, stands out as a morally ambiguous character due to his conflicting morals and indecisiveness, making it more apparent that Hamlet’s intentions are unclear. Hamlet’s intentions to avenge

Read More
785 Words | 4 Pages

Hamlet was given the prime opportunity to kill Claudius when he found him on his knees begging for forgiveness. Hamlet negated not to kill him right then and there because he wanted Claudius to go to hell, not heaven. Hamlet’s lack of sanity, or his tragic flaw, in the play is definitely what caused his inability to

Read More
382 Words | 2 Pages

Hamlet also completely ignores the ghost’s advice to be gentle with his mother, showcasing his lack of empathy or understanding for feelings beyond his own. Furthermore, Hamlet demonstrates arrogance when he accidentally kills Polonius, mistaking him for Claudius. During their argument, Gertrude worries that Hamlet is going to kill her, so she begins crying out for help, this causes Polonius to begin squirming behind the curtain that he is hiding behind. Hamlet’s arrogance leads him to believe that it is Claudius behind the curtain, so he confidently stabs the moving figure, killing Polonius. Unfortunately, once he realizes his mistake, Hamlet is neither remorseful or apologetic about killing an innocent man and the father of the woman he claims to love.

Read More
1358 Words | 6 Pages

Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, centers around Hamlet’s contemplation of killing his uncle in order to avenge his father’s death. His decisions and values determine his fate. However, Hamlet’s intended action to avenge his father’s death is continuously postponed due to his moral dilemma. However, this moral dilemma causes him to make the decisions he does, and therefore, demonstrates the theme of his uncertainty versus his faith. Not only does faith stop him from taking alternative routes to achieve his goal, but his uncertainty causes him to either delay his revenge or make the wrong decisions.

Read More
1704 Words | 7 Pages

That action shows that Hamlet no longer hesitates his actions and immediately slays Polonius. Hamlet regrets his actions as soon as he reveals who was behind the curtain. Him and his mother are utterly shocked by the actions that have taken place. Next, Hamlet actually shows some sort of emotion toward the situation. Hamlet says, “I will bestow him and will answer well the death I gave him.”, which is surprising considering he never thought about the consequences that could have been presented to him if he had murdered his uncle.

Read More
254 Words | 2 Pages

Claudius, as seen in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is both intelligent and clever, two traits that, put together, complement his manipulative and dangerous nature. Due to his cunning nature he portrays the role of a very complex villain. The death of King Hamlet by Claudius results in Prince Hamlet to act out of character, which thus resulted in the tragic death of Polonius and Ophelia. While Hamlet and Gertrude were having conversation, Polonius was hiding behind the huge carpet that was hanging on the wall. Unknowingly, Hamlet stabs Polonius.

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

To test Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet adds a scene reenacting the murder of Hamlet’s father. Claudius abruptly leaves the play, and afterward, tries to pray. When Claudius is praying, Hamlet is considering killing him, but decides not to because he wants to kill him in sin so that he does not get a chance at last confession. They also all end up dying later in the story due to a sword fight and poison.

Read More
999 Words | 4 Pages

Since Christian religion is reflected in the play, hamlet does not kill Claudius because he thinks Claudius will go to heaven as he is confessing his sins. (3.3,80-83). This quote displays the point on hamlets strong belief and obedience to Christianity. As he is about to kill Claudius he stops and wonders what will happen as a result. He will satisfy

Read More
575 Words | 3 Pages

When he learns Claudius is responsible for the death of his father, he intends to reveal this newfound information to not only Gertrude, but the rest of the characters. He is smart enough to know that she will not believe him based solely on his encounter with the ghost, and must create a trap where Claudius will reveal his guilt on his own. When the players arrive at the castle, he alters their script to mimic the king’s murder and “catch the conscience of the king” (II.ii.567). During the performance, Claudius shows signs of guilt and worry, making Hamlet’s plan a success and proving his

Read More
710 Words | 3 Pages

His conscience was aligned with his religious beliefs which got in the way of allowing him to act on his thoughts. This sparked an inner conflict in Hamlet about what to do. When Hamlet was first told by the ghost to kill King Claudius, Hamlet overthinks the decision on throughout the book. Hamlet knows his conscience driven mind will prevent him from acting on his instincs to kill Claudius. “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all” (3.1.87) Hamlet is angry with himself that he has let his conscience come in the way.

Read More
1380 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, it is evident that Hamlet is indecisive and contemplative, he is stuck in an internal conflict between what choices he should make and how he should go about avenging his father’s death. Hamlet acts mad in order to make people believe he has gone crazy so no one is suspicious of his plans to kill Claudius. He does not want to kill Claudius while he is praying because he believes Claudius may go to heaven-- he wants Claudius to pay for the murder of King Hamlet and burn in hell. Hamlet suggests that he kill Claudius “when he is drunk asleep, or in his rage,...about some act That has no relish of salvation in ’t—Then trip him,...his soul may be as damned and black As hell, whereto it goes”(83). Hamlet often overthinks situations and in this process fails to act and releases the

Read More
932 Words | 4 Pages

In this paper, the audience will understand how Hamlet’s moral ambiguity is significant to Shakespeare’s play as a whole. In the beginning of the

Read More
461 Words | 2 Pages

Hamlet is stressed over his own father's murder, but he has to plan the right way to murder his Uncle Claudius. At one point, he thought he had finally murdered Claudius but it turned out to be Polonius, the chief counselor to the king . This murder only complicated things for Hamlet and caused him to be more confused about what to do with the situation. Shakespeare decided to depict Hamlet in a way that shows his flaws because it creates drama in the play.

Read More
1510 Words | 7 Pages

In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the title character Hamlet’s mind is violently pulled in divergent directions about the morals of murder. He feels an obligation to avenge his father’s death and thinks that it may be excused, since it is a case of “an eye of an eye.” But he is conflicted because the Bible has also taught him that murder is a sin and revenge should be left to God. Hamlet’s struggle to interpret this moral dilemma and his indecision, together are the ultimate cause of all the tragedy in the play; this internal conflict illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole: that murder, greed, and revenge are sins, no matter the reason, and procrastination is very detrimental.

Read More

More about Moral Ambiguity In Hamlet Essay

Related Topics

Open Document