Definition Of Forgiveness

Forgiveness has a different context depending on where the person is from or what he believes. Religion places a great emphasis on the view of forgiveness.

Forgiveness is not just practiced by saints and not only benefits its recipients but have strong connection with person’s physical, mental and spiritual health. It plays a great role in the health of families, communities and nations. Forgiveness provides common ground for love, acceptance, harmony and true happiness Most spiritual and religious leaders of the world will agree that forgiveness of oneself and others is one way to clear the mind, heart and soul and may result in a feeling of increased peace and happiness.

Many fictional characters are presented with unique circumstances that dictate their life long search for justice, often coming up empty-handed. One character that exemplifies this model of a person in searching for justice appears in Shakespeare’s novel, Hamlet. The title character, Hamlet, understands justice in terms of a noble revenge, but fails to take action, due to his weak disposition to act on his thoughts. Hamlet’s search for justice was not successful because his sense of “justice” was flawed, ultimately leading not only to his own death, but to Laertes who had a very similar mission to that of Hamlet. Hamlet’s fatal flaw leads to the question concerning what differentiates real justice from faux justice.

In the contrary, vengeance can also prevent future hurts since it makes you feel powerful when getting back at a person. However, people who forgive are more likely to have a higher self- esteem and move on with their life. Also, when forgiving someone you acknowledge that you’ve been wronged and hurt, and make a decision of letting that wronged not continuing to hurt you. In addition, you can also forgive the person who wronged you and not continue your relationship with them so you won’t get hurt. As stated in the informational text “Understanding Forgiveness” written by PBS, the author points out that “[a]lthough reconciliation may follow forgiveness, it is possible to forgive without feeling reestablishing or continuing the relationship”(paragraph 7, pg.1). The author also states that how “[y]ou may also choose not to reconcile, perhaps because you have no reason to believe that a relationship with the other person is healthy for you”(paragraph 7, pg.1). This shows how not reconciling with the person who wronged you is also a decision you can make after forgiving them so you won’t get hurt again. It is a step you can make towards protecting yourself from getting hurt and wronged

Throughout time, people have served justice for the wrongs of others, often through revenge. Because of this, some people see justice as taking an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is no exception. The primary form of justice throughout the play is through revenge. There are three characters who demand and successfully achieve the justice by taking revenge on the wrongdoer. Hamlet seeks justice for his father’s murder, Laertes for the death of his father and sister, and Fortinbras for both the death of his father and the loss of his land.

The play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare is about a guy named Hamlet going through a hard time in life, after the death of his father, and the remarriage of his mother to his uncle. Throughout the play were are able to get a greater understanding of who Hamlet really is. The actions of Hamlet in Shakespeare's master piece “Hamlet” proves him to a revenge seeker, emotional, and crazy.

“A bloody deed – almost as bad, good mother/ As kill a king and marry with his brother”, a statement so bold you would assume it was from a bold man, but the reality couldn’t be further from that assumption. In the play Hamlet, the former king’s son Hamlet attempts to take revenge upon the new king, Claudius. As the readers, though we see how Hamlet is indirect in his action and delays his revenge multiple times. Hamlet is a man of inaction. Hamlet waits to kill his Uncle, Claudius, because he is uncertain of the truth, he is afraid of the afterlife, and he is working to exact the perfect revenge.

Forgiveness is the key part to peace. Peace is only achievable when one does not have negative emotions towards another. Those who have forgiven are also given a chance for peace. When you give forgiveness, you receive peace. Peace and forgiveness are closely intertwined and affect one another. The relationship they share is inseparable and closely related.

You can have vengeance and justice together, but not always. Quotes from The Tempest, What We Plant We Will Eat, and The Count of Monte Cristo will compare and contrast vengeance and justice. The first point will emphasize justice. The Tempest is about a sorcerer named Prospero, who was banished from Milan.

As one grows from infant to adult an even elderly age, we experience many events in life. One only grows from mistakes that are inevitable to happen. Like the Yin Yang theory, for instance, shadow cannot exist without light. Therefor forgiveness comes into play, it is defined as the action or process of forgiving or being forgiven. In The Sunflower, by Simon Wiesenthal: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness. It discusses the moral ethics of the matter of forgiveness. Questions are asked by Wiesenthal, what would you do? If a dying Nazi soldier asks for your forgiveness? Forgiveness can often be influenced by religious belief, psychological, and political point of view, one is always capable of asking for forgiveness or granting forgiveness to another, granted or not, one makes a choice and lives with that decision.

Hesburgh explains, “My whole instinct is to forgive. Perhaps that is because I am a Catholic priest. In a sense, I am in the forgiving business… I think of God as the great forgiver of sinful humanity” (169). Prager further explains these religious divides, “It is only meant to explain why to Jews it is so patently obvious that it is morally wrong to forgive a man who has burned families alive, and to Christians it is equally obvious that one ought to” (230). Buddhism also argues for forgiveness as well. Ricard states, “For a Buddhist, forgiveness is always possible and one should always forgive” (235). Lastly, there is an argument that without forgiveness it is difficult to move on to the future. Tutu succinctly states, “Without forgiveness, there is no future.”

Some ideas about justice and forgiveness can go hand-in-hand. Although justice and forgiveness may occur at the same time, they cannot simultaneously be considered as one thing. Forgiveness requires a shift in your thinking towards someone who has wronged you. In order to achieve justice, you must allow yourself to hold onto what happened in order to serve justice. Justice cannot be served if you have a shift in your thinking towards what they have done. Forgiveness and justice will never go hand-in-hand because of the means to acquire them.

“While seeking revenge, dig two graves - one for yourself”, as is what happens to those who take revenge, buried in their own unforgiveness. Francis Bacon’s idea of revenge attempts to bypass this problem of unforgiveness, with the forgiveness of the perpetrator. But not all revenge can be simply forgiven, which is the case in Hamlet; Francis Bacon also knows about this problem, but describes it in his own words with “The most tolerable sort of revenge is for those wrongs which there is no law to remedy; but then let a man take heed the revenge be such as there is no law to punish”(Francis Bacon 15). Sir Francis Bacon’s idea of revenge relates to Hamlet in how revenge is handled, the repercussions of acting in revenge, and its ability to change a person's thought process.

In the revenge play of Hamlet, the idea of poetic justice can be seen throughout the play various times. Shakespeare allows the reader to understand the mistakes of each character by killing them off in a justly manner. While seeking revenge, the main characters of the play earn their poetic ending, permitting Shakespeare to restore the karmic balance of the play. Claudius, Leartes, Polonius, are all killed poetically as a direct result of their actions, while Ophelia is used to reiterate the poetic justices in the other character because of the fact that she is not killed poetically.

Shakespeare goes to great measures to convey countless tragedies in Hamlet to make it the most popular and known tragedy ever written. Not only did Hamlet have to surpass the tragedies life threw at him, but he also had to consider his conflicting views. Shakespeare also writes the play to show how Hamlet’s hesitation to get revenge on Claudius leads other characters to their death. The tragic theme of Hamlet stems from Hamlet procrastinating revenge, while Laertes and Fortinbras immediately sought revenge for their father’s death, creating a foil between the three characters.