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The Moral Code Of Hamlet

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“I would not do that if I was you,” is a common statement made by someone addressing a child who is about to do something they should not. As soon as a baby is born, they must learn and implement their understanding of what is right and wrong by how they observe those around them. A moral code is naturally observed and understood by everyone in the world and it is enacted by the laws set within each country. This idea of a moral code is set forth in the story of Hamlet in The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. His actions are defined by a code defined within the David Brooks’, The Humility Code, which describe 15 sets of suggestions and explanations for ways of behavior. Hamlet’s character fits the mold for many of these descriptions of …show more content…

Hamlet fails to develop a life that is led with a fulfilling purpose as he has been caught up in anger due to his father being killed and his uncle marrying his mother soon after this event. Hamlet’s reaction to visualizing his mother and uncle together and his father dying lead him to saying, "O God, God, How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world!" (Shakespeare 1.2.138-140). The utter distaste for these two thoughts leads Hamlet on a bitter path of revenge. The path and constant efforts for revenge leaves Hamlet room for only one goal in his life, removing the meaningful purpose described in The Humility Code. Brooks explains in the first code, “The best life is oriented around the increasing excellence of the soul and nourished by moral joy.” () It is best to describe this explanation by saying that the best life is found within the pleasures that people surround themselves with. Hamlet finds himself unable to do so due to revenge finding its way into every crevice of his mind leaving him with one sole reason for …show more content…

An internal struggle develops within Hamlet because of this and draws him to begin to question continuing on with life or fighting against those who have wronged him. Hamlet wonders, “To be or not to be, that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles” (3.1.64-67). After trying to process all of the sudden events in his life, he faces many questions that he does not know the answer to, which in turn degrades his overall character as a person. He has become full of hate, selfishness, and pride by wanting to fulfill his angry desires alone. Brooks says in The Humility Code, “If you make selfish, cruel, or disorganized choices, then you are slowly turning this core thing inside yourself into something that is degraded, inconstant, or fragmented” (). By becoming selfish and cruel, Hamlet has ruined his character and become full of hate. The code has outlined Hamlet as a character in this example and has exemplified the degradation of Hamlet as a

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He would rather avenge the death of his father and push everyone away, than lean on those who care for him. This quote foreshadows his death, and in the end, it is his fault. Hamlet’s sense of pride is again closely related the the ideas in the “Humility Code”. The fifth code states that, “pride blinds us to our own weaknesses and misleads us into thinking we are better than we are” (Brooks 109). Hamlet believes that he will be able to kill Claudius and get his revenge.

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Throughout the play, Hamlet is forced to make difficult decisions; as he is conflicted with almost every decision he makes, his uncertainty and unsophisticated thoughts will eventually lead to his downfall. Man vs. Self is a common theme in Shakespeare’s work, and Hamlet is no exception. The most distinct example of this sophisticated concept is Hamlet himself. When analyzed thoroughly, Hamlet is his greatest obstacle and enemy. The earliest of his internal conflicts is when his mother married his uncle, Claudius, in such a short window of time after his father’s death.

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In one of the most famous soliloquies in English literature, Hamlet contemplates the ultimate question of life and death when he says, "To be or not to be, that is the question. " Hamlet's internal conflict is whether it is nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and, by opposing, end them. His burdens are the overwhelming grief he feels after the death of his father, the betrayal of his mother's hasty remarriage to his uncle, and his sense of duty to avenge his father's murder by murdering the new king, Claudius. Hamlet is torn between his desire for revenge and his fear of the consequences of taking action. He is also struggling with the existential question of whether life is

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Hamlet Character deception is a common characteristic that has and will be a reflecting characteristic in literature for centuries. In many of William Shakespeare’s tragedies, deception, whether positive or negative, is being used to mislead, to protect characters, or to hide a crime or future crime. Analyzing why the characters are using deception against each other is very important to the reader’s understanding of the work as a whole. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, He uses Hamlet’s deception of character and also the character’s use of deception towards Hamlet to carry out the overall theme of the tragedy. The theme that is represented, is that in able to get malicious revenge, you must be able to act as if you are someone different than your true self while in turn, being able to deal with others deceiving you.

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The personality of such characters as Hamlet from William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is much remarked upon. However, it is even more meaningful to analyze changes in Hamlet’s character throughout the play. As Hamlet becomes more driven in his revenge, his actions lose morality and gain consequences. In fact, Shakespeare uses the relationship between a character’s cruelty and the meaning in the pain they cause to comment on the cyclically destructive nature of cruelty.

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This ideology, mixed with Hamlet’s traumatizing experiences throughout the play are bound to pester with Hamlet’s internal conflicts and thus, affect the ways he acts. After all, the human mind can only wander so far before the existential ideas take the mind to a dark place. The philosophical rabbit-hole, mixed with Hamlet’s pre-existing depression, is destined to affect not only his moral views, but also his actions. Hamlet’s philosophical views of humanity and the mechanics of life and death contribute to his indecisive nature because Hamlet constantly attempts to reason the meaning of life. For instance, when Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are directed by Claudius and Gertrude to elicit information out of Hamlet, Hamlet begins to elaborate on his pessimistic perspective on humanity.

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The reader completes their examination of the Hamlet tragedy, and we agree that Hamlet is a significant text, as it encourages us to think again about our values and

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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

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Through the entirety of the play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, the characters were overcome with the need for revenge as the outcome of many deaths. Therefore, no one was happy through “Hamlet” and it resulted in a tragedy. The character Hamlet played a big role in turning towards revenge and never would classify himself as being happy. Hamlet displays positive and negative behavior throughout the play. Hamlet exhibits strengths and weaknesses as well, although his weaknesses of over-thinking, bitterness, and his inability to accept the death of his father overshadow his strengths.

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The morals of the time are defined by the principles that religion and the Bible at the time set forward, which also dictate social norms. The morals of the time, set by religion’s strong influence in society, are the driving force of Hamlet’s internal conflict about whether or not killing for revenge is morally excused. Leartus’ answer that revenge is never excused and the results of Claudius killing King Hamlet out of greed, illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. Through the play, Shakespeare shows that murder, greed, and revenge are sins, no matter the reason or justification, and how detrimental procrastination is. The play also brings up the weight of one’s morality, the meaning of life, it’s complexities, and gives various advice that can be applied to everyday

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