Thesis Statement: Numerous researchers and individuals following up on Shakespearean plays will concur that the playwright develops his characters by employing elements from religion, particularly Christianity. In his famous tragedy, Hamlet, the conflicted Hamlet is portrayed utilizing several Christian, especially Catholic, practices and analogies, giving rise to the claim that Hamlet was, himself, Catholic, despite the play’s backdrop being a Lutheran country.
The character, Hamlet, largely engages with his community, and his conduct and speech are a reflection of his religious beliefs. He refrains from taking his own life as he firmly understands the necessity of obeying God’s orders:
Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God! God! How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world! Fie on’t! ah fie! ‘tis an unweeded garden (Hamlet, I.2,131-135 cited as Shakespeare, 2005).
His articulated views reveal that he is a pious man, staunchly opposed to immorality. He disapproves of the proliferation of licentiousness and drunkenness within his community:
This heavy-headed revel east and west makes us traduced and tax’d of other nations: They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish Phrase Soil our addition; and indeed it takes. From our achievements, though perform’d at height, (Hamlet, I.4, 17-21 cited as Shakespeare, 2005).
Shakespeare considers Hamlet’s faith to be on par with that of his fellow community members. But after being shocked by his mother’s illicit marriage, his piety increases. Why is such sort of marriage deemed unlawful? How do readers know that it impacted Hamlet?
Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, is considered vulgar and lecherous for marrying the widow of the brother he murdered. In that day, such a marriage was regarded as incest. Thus, this ‘religious’ reason was a chief source of Hamlet’s loathing of Claudius. A noteworthy fact is: Islam and certain other present-day religions regard such marriages as lawful. The author confirms readers’ doubts that Hamlet was enraged and frustrated prior to speaking to his murdered father’s ghost. I believe...
References
Alsaif, O. A. (2012). The significance of religion in Hamlet. Journal of English and Literature Vol. 3(6), pp. 132-135.
Guiley RE (2008). The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca. 3rd ed .New York: Facts on File.
Shakespeare W (2005). Hamlet, Edited by B. Spencer with an introduction by Alan Sinfield. General Editor: Stanley Wells. London. Penguin Group.
Summers M (1973). The history of witchcraft and demonology. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.
(Shakespeare 1994) The play stands out from many aspects. However, there are some elements which make it one of the most important of Shakespeare's works and one of the most acclaimed. The tragedy comes from the eventual incompatibility between true love and the code of honor. Convinced by Iago's evil plan that his wife was unfaithful, Othello the Moor of Venice becomes blind to any explication and swears revenge. In
In the challenge, Laertes will put poison on the end of his weapon so that when he slashes Hamlet it will kill him. To guarantee Hamlet's death, Claudius poisons the wine that is set out for Hamlet to drink during the competition. Unfortunately, Gertrude decides to toast Hamlet's success and drinks some of the poisoned wine. Hamlet receives a slash with the poisoned tip. When he realizes that his
Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is perhaps one of the most famous and hotly debated literary artifacts ever written. However, because literary critics and historians have discussed the work so often, it is easy to forget that Shakespeare wrote his tragedy as a play to be performed in the context of an Elizabethan production, to an Elizabethan audience. It is a refreshing antidote to some of more modern textual analysis of this performed
Hamlet's Ghost has presented a problem for critics and readers since it first appeared on stage some four hundred years ago. Serving as the pivot upon which the action of the play is established -- Hamlet's father's ghost delivers him important information about his death and the throne -- one is likely to ask whether the ghost is truly the soul of King Hamlet or rather a devil appearing in
..render up myself...Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night...And for the day confined to fast in fires, / Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature/Are burnt and purged away." (I.5). At first, Hamlet believes the ghost is from Purgatory because of the vividness of these images. Then Hamlet constructs a test for the ghost as he worries: "the devil hath power/to assume a pleasing shape;
It is the same in the Bible with the tragedy of King Saul, the first King of Israel. He has turned his back on God, but continues to seek advice before battling against the Philistines. For help, he sees a medium, or witch, and asks her to summon the spirit of the recently deceased prophet-priest Samuel, who used to help Saul he was serving God. In the same way
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now