On Shakespeare’s Hamlet
In the cosmic struggle between good and evil, Shakespeare presents the relentless conflict between two philosophies that shape the human condition.
The philosophy of Claudius, the usurping tyrant who secretly poisoned his brother King Hamlet and married his wife Queen Gertrude, assumes that might is right, man is a god, and the end justifies the means. The philosophy of Hamlet, the noble prince of Denmark, acknowledges that justice is divine and eternal in origin, that man is the servant and creature of God, and that one cannot do evil to achieve good. Claudius has no more qualms about killing Hamlet than in murdering the king. Suspicious that Hamlet knows the truth about the foul murder and wary by the danger Hamlet poses, Claudius schemes to send Hamlet to England under the pretext of a change of scenery to cure him of melancholy over his father’s death. Traveling with two so-called former friends from the university, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet discovers a packet of letters ordering his execution in England. Claudius, the master Machiavellian, plots, lies, and kills with the brutality of the lion and the cunning of the fox. He is the godlike arbiter of life and death, and he is determined to rape Fortune for his selfish ambitions.
Sensing that “something’s rotten in the state of Denmark” and that his uncle’s hasty marriage to his mother a month after the funeral hints of foul play, Hamlet’s conscience urges him to seek justice and avenge the death of his father. King Hamlet’s ghost keeps appearing to exhort the prince to do his moral duty. Hamlet, however, cannot merely trust the voice of the ghost, especially if it is a not an “honest” ghost but a demon from hell. Hamlet cannot wantonly kill Claudius at the slightest opportunity even though such a moment presents itself when the king appears contrite and in prayer. Hamlet cannot do evil to achieve good. He cannot assassinate the king, blindly trust the voice of the ghost, or commit suicide. Hamlet’s Catholic conscience will not be violated. Revenge and despair are sins.
These immoral acts of revenge, rash judgment, and “self-slaughter” violate Christian teaching and debase Hamlet. In a quandary of self-examination and introspection Hamlet ponders the moral crisis he suffers. On the one hand, he feels hopeless weak, powerless, and insignificant. “To be honest, as this world goes is to be one man picked out of ten thousand,” Hamlet agonizes. He regards himself as the victim of uncontrollable evil forces, “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” and his enemies at the court are legion. The king he suspects of treachery, his mother he accuses of weakness and folly, his lover Ophelia betrays him and spies for her father Polonius, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are convenient hirelings ready to escort Hamlet to his death. To use the phrases of Montaigne, Hamlet regards himself as impotent as “a feather in the wind” and as insignificant as “a dot made by a fine pencil.” He suffers “The whips and scorns of time, / The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely” that reduce him to nothing.
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Read more: www.crisismagazine.com
Sensing that “something’s rotten in the state of Denmark” and that his uncle’s hasty marriage to his mother a month after the funeral hints of foul play, Hamlet’s conscience urges him to seek justice and avenge the death of his father. King Hamlet’s ghost keeps appearing to exhort the prince to do his moral duty. Hamlet, however, cannot merely trust the voice of the ghost, especially if it is a not an “honest” ghost but a demon from hell. Hamlet cannot wantonly kill Claudius at the slightest opportunity even though such a moment presents itself when the king appears contrite and in prayer. Hamlet cannot do evil to achieve good. He cannot assassinate the king, blindly trust the voice of the ghost, or commit suicide. Hamlet’s Catholic conscience will not be violated. Revenge and despair are sins.
These immoral acts of revenge, rash judgment, and “self-slaughter” violate Christian teaching and debase Hamlet. In a quandary of self-examination and introspection Hamlet ponders the moral crisis he suffers. On the one hand, he feels hopeless weak, powerless, and insignificant. “To be honest, as this world goes is to be one man picked out of ten thousand,” Hamlet agonizes. He regards himself as the victim of uncontrollable evil forces, “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” and his enemies at the court are legion. The king he suspects of treachery, his mother he accuses of weakness and folly, his lover Ophelia betrays him and spies for her father Polonius, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are convenient hirelings ready to escort Hamlet to his death. To use the phrases of Montaigne, Hamlet regards himself as impotent as “a feather in the wind” and as insignificant as “a dot made by a fine pencil.” He suffers “The whips and scorns of time, / The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely” that reduce him to nothing.
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Read more: www.crisismagazine.com
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