Decisions Based On Tenets Of Religion In Shakespeare's Hamlet

Hamlet’s determination and addiction for revenge is confirmed when he is willing to sacrifice his entrance to heaven by separating from his values and beliefs. Initially, Hamlet wishes “that this too too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!” He is contemplating suicide as a result of his father’s death and his mother’s haste in remarrying to his father’s brother, Claudius. However, Hamlet brushes off this idea as an option by saying, “Or that the Everlasting had not fixed his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! Oh, God, God” This portrays the religious beliefs of Hamlet at the time. He wishes suicide was not a sin. However, since it is, he cannot commit it. Similarly, Hamlet also shows his beliefs and values when the Ghost shares his story and then commands Hamlet to avenge his death.

    Does the Shakespearean drama Hamlet represent a strictly secular writing, or does it veer into the spiritual dimension from time to time? This essay will delve into the spiritual side of the play.

Instead of just spying on the King, Hamlet has players put on a play to show how the Claudius can prove guilty of the murder of Hamlet. He knows acting out and rebelling against what royalty should do, will bring out the guilt in Claudius. Hamlet later on thinks of committing suicide due to his state of life. The act of committing suicide goes against Catholic norms of which one does not commit suicide. Ophelia shows forms of rebellion when she commits suicide after the death of her father, Is she to be buried in Christian burial when she willfully seeks her own salvation?

Since the beginning of the 17th century when William Shakespeare’s Hamlet was first performed by the crew of a ship Red Dragon, the play itself has gone on to become one of the most famous literary tales of all time, creating four centuries’ worth of legacy. Attracting lead actors of all backgrounds, the titular character’s convoluted personality and life has spawned countless variations and interpretations of the play for 400 years. In William Shakespeare’s Act 5 Scene 1 of the play particularly, the scene introduces the gravediggers who argue as to why Ophelia is being buried. Christian theology claims that because she committed suicide, she is to not be given a proper burial. However, Claudius insisted that she deserves one, even if it’s

“To be, or not to be: that is the question” (Shakespeare 3.1.56). Audiences know Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a play that contains frequent meditations on suicide, yet despite suicide’s obvious religious connections, audiences do not often consider how religion as a whole functions within the play. This lack of awareness partially results from the subtlety of many of Hamlet’s religious elements. Through his religious references and the resulting emphasis on the gravity of the sins of murder and suicide, Shakespeare clarifies the contradictory attitude given to these sins and illuminates that the characters practice religion inconsistently and hypocritically because their concern is ultimately for their reputation in a Christian world rather than truly for their religion.

The circumstances of Ophelia’s death and burial, although not entirely certain, suggest suicide. The gravediggers introduced at the beginning of act five discuss openly the manner of Ophelia’s death, the First Clown questioning why she is “to be buried in Christian burial that willfully / seeks he own salvation” (5.1.1-2). That he phrases this inquiry in terms of a “pursuit of salvation” suggests the religious implications of suicide, in that the individual, despairing of salvation from God, acts on his own behalf. There is likewise the implication of active pursuit rather than the cultivation of Christian patience and long-suffering. Yet, despite Ophelia’s obvious display of insanity, the Second Clown speculates that “if this had not been / a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out o’ Christian / burial” (5.1.22-24). Seeing the approaching funeral procession, Hamlet observes the “maimed rites,” suggesting in his awareness of the implications of such a subdued funeral ceremony that he is conscious of the ramifications of committing suicide. The amount of speculation on Ophelia’s death and burial in the play, even among lowly gravediggers, points to the growing discussion surrounding suicide that emerged at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

It is widely believed that “Living life without honor is a tragedy bigger than death itself” and this holds true for Hamlet’s Ophelia. Ophelia’s death symbolizes a life spent passively tolerating Hamlet’s manipulations and the restrictions imposed by those around her, while struggling to maintain the last shred of her dignity. Ophelia’s apathetic reaction to her drowning suggests that she never had control of her own life, as she was expected to comply with the expectations of others. Allowing the water to consume her without a fight alludes to Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia as merely a device in his personal agenda. Her apparent suicide denotes a desire to take control of her life for once. Ophelia’s death is, arguably, an honorable one,

During the Renaissance, the discovery of some of these ancient texts was a main spur for the ideas that followed the Renaissance. Most of the Renaissance intellectuals generally affirmed with the ideas of the church about suicide. In Shakespeare’s time suicide had become a paradoxical issue. On one side of the matter it carried the medieval Christian associations of shame and despair. On the other side it was seen as a noble and courageous act in the growing Renaissance tradition. In Hamlet the Christian view of suicide is best played out at Ophelia’s funeral. Her ceremony is very perfunctory and she can only be buried in consecrated grounds, grudgingly because of Ophelia’s high connections. Instead Shakespeare’s plays pity his characters problems which drive them to commit suicide and some approval for their courage. Hamlet has a reluctance to commit suicide because of his religion that he believes in. In his first soliloquy he states “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt,/ Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,/ or that the Everlasting had not fixed/ his canon ‘gainst self slaughter.” When he states that the “Everlasting had not fixed his canon against self slaughter” he wishes that God had not made it a law to not commit suicide. Hamlet is a Christian therefore if he were to take his own life it would be a sin against God. His soul would be condemned and he does not know what would come from the afterlife. We see this best in

Throughout the entire play, Hamlet becomes engrossed, obsessed and fascinated by death and what happens after death. The uncertainty of the afterlife, an overarching theme throughout the play, pushes Hamlet to act in certain ways. In his soliloquy in Act I, Hamlet describes death as nothing more than someone decomposing in the ground and that the body will eventually become nothing more than bones. Yet, Hamlet displays an uncertain fear of dying. Throughout the play, Shakespeare mentions the fear that Hamlet has of uncertainty of not only the future but with death as well. Hamlet’s curiosity with what happens after death and how his choices will impact where he ends up plays a huge role in his character development. One of the ways that Hamlet discussed death dealt with suicide. Throughout the play, Hamlet stated and believed that he was out of control of his life. He believed that suicide was the only way out of the negative situation. Yet, he never actually took his own life, which connected back to his fear of uncertainty and of the future. Not only was Hamlet impacted by suicide but Ophelia actually committed suicide after her father died ( Act IV. Scene VII ). Suicide became intertwined in Hamlet’s struggle to avenge his father since he viewed death as a exit strategy. Hamlet’s rational and irrational beliefs revolving around

Religion plays a large role in most literary works , but more so in Hamlet than many i’ve seen. A couple things i will discuss are hamlets religious beliefs and superstitions . I intend on going into as much depth as i can. This is an interesting topic and i hope you enjoy it as much as i do. “To be or not to be , that is the question”, said Hamlet as he contemplated life and death.

Texts reflect their context and paradigms but transcendental texts that explore aspects of humanity can resonate through time and remain relevant and accessible to audiences. William Shakespeare’s introspective play, Hamlet, explores the complexity of the human condition by reflecting ideologies such as justice, loyalty and morality. Although these deeply human ideas ensure the plays resonance, they are somewhat secondary to the depths of Hamlet’s human struggle. These thematic concerns reflect how flaws in the values of society descend into corruption. Through an exploration of the characterization, Shakespeare invites a re-evaluation of the values that shape human nature. The textual integrity of Hamlet makes it of distinctive

Hamlet's view of death morphs through the course of the play as he is faced with various problems and troubles that force him to deal with life differently. This holds particular significance for a modern audience who, unlike the predominately Christian audiences of Shakespeare's time, contains an assortment of perspectives on the subject. For the majority of the play, Hamlet yearns for death, but there are different tones to his yearning as he confronts death in different circumstances; from his encounter with his father's ghost to the discovery of his beloved Ophelia dead in the ground, Hamlet feels an irrepressible urge to end his life. There are obstacles that get in his way, both internal and external, and Shakespeare's play is an

In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, religion is a key theme in the play. Throughout the play Hamlet struggles with trying to avenge his fathers death, and how that would impact his and other’s standing with God. The relationship Hamlet has with God plays into the way he responds to certain things. Hamlets actions are impacted by religion, and Hamlet stops and thinks about his actions and thoughts and how that would impact his stance in heaven. In Hamlet religion plays a vital role in Hamlet’s actions and thought process.

Hamlet is strongly held by archetypes that can be revealed throughout the play. Death, itself, is a very strong archetype in the story exploring the social beliefs in that era; superstitions and societies loyalty to religion. Throughout the play, Hamlet experiences his main trifles over the concept of death. Reviewing the murder of his father and the task given to him to kill his uncle, Hamlet becomes fascinated with the idea of existence and afterlife.As a whole, Hamlet is primarily concerned with exploring the individual's relationship with death in which our fear of death comes from the notion that there must be something else, eliminating the fact that we can't ever know for sure if there is. This idea is explored in Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy, which questions the righteousness of life over death in moral terms. When Hamlet utters the pained question, “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” (Act 3, Scene 1 59-61) there is little doubt that he is thinking of death. Although he attempts to pose such a question in a rational and logical way, he is still left without an answer of whether the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” can be eliminated since life after death seems so uncertain. All of this mirrors aspects of human nature as man has always questioned the meaning of life and the events that occur after. Theoretically, one will never understand the full nature of our

Hamlet recognizes that suicide is a sin in the eyes of God, so consequently wishes that he could simply cease to exist. In doubting that life is worth all the hardships one must face, Hamlet briefly relishes in the concept of death, equating it to nothing more than a sleep wherein one can be rid of the “heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks” of physical life (III.i.70). Though immediately thereafter Hamlet acknowledges the startling unknown, and the fact that one does not know what comes after death. Hamlet feels a great deal of uncertainty, which surely enhances his overall frustration. Herein lies Hamlet’s reservations in regards to committing suicide: it is a sin, and the afterlife may prove to be more unpleasant than life itself.