In the play, Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, the main character, Hamlet, and his family are all driven by evil ambitions. Hamlet was driven mad by a desperate need to avenge his father’s murder. His step-father, Claudius, killed his own brother over jealousy and lust for the throne. Hamlet’s mother assisted her brother-in-law in killing her husband and persisted in up the crime so that she could remain queen as she lived in a virtually incestuous relationship with him. The cruel, bizarre, and unethical behaviors exhibited by Hamlet and his family stem from the severe depravity of mind from which they all suffer.
Hamlet’s lack of moral character is illustrated in many different cases. For example, when Hamlet was writing in his journal after he is visited by the Ghost of his father, he wrote, “So Uncle, there you are. Now it is time to deal with the vow I made me to my father” (Act I Scene 3, 110). Hamlet, driven mad by grief, vowed to the Ghost that he would have revenge for his father’s murder, a clear example of his loss of moral conduct and his being overtaken by evil. A second
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Hamlet and the Ghost both discussed the deception of Claudius and how Claudius persuaded Gertrude to aid him in the murder of her own spouse. The Ghost told Hamlet, “With his cleaver words and fancy gifts, he seduced my seemingly virtuous queen, persuading her to give in to his lust” (Act I Scene 5, 42). Gertrude opened herself to being tricked into falling for Claudius by accepting his many gifts and compliments. Hamlet berated his mother, Gertrude, “A murderer and a villain, a low-life who's not worth a twentieth of a tenth of your first husband” (Act III Scene 4, 97). Gertrude helped to hide Claudius’ heinous crime and also profited much by partaking in the riches that were obtained through her husband’s