Hamlet
Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Shakespeare’s Elizabethan revenge tragedy demonstrates the composer’s ability to address and explore the universalities of human existence. Hence, though the Senecan tragedy, Shakespeare illustrates Hamlet’s tension between duty and resistance through introspection towards his father’s prescribed revenge, which becomes central in allowing Shakespeare to encapsulate the fragmentation of the human experience due to internal and external influences. The oscillation of Hamlet between dispensing aristocratic justice, thus fulfilling his filial duty and resistance in the form of debilitating contemplation, Shakespeare articulates the inherent moral complexities of societal transition, culminating in the Prince’s attempt to ascertain a sense of self. Thus, the tension between the fulfilment of duty and thought acts as an impediment towards Hamlet, as he is able to elucidate the moral ambiguities of this transitional society.
In Hamlet, the protagonist’s contemplation of conflicting moral frameworks acts as a hindrance to his revenge quest. Consequently, Hamlet is unable to derive a coherent sense of self, being problematised by the implications of hiss urge to duty. It is these conflicts which drive’s Hamlet’s psychological journey, one exaggerated by the appearance of his father’s ghost, a morally and religiously ambiguous figure which he questions as “airs from heaven or blasts from hell”. Evident through his refusal to murder Claudius while he is “a-praying”, Hamlet is unable to reconcile Christian beliefs with his filial duty, condoning the restoration of natural order whilst also presenting the prospect of eternal damnation for committing such an act. This moral dilemma complicates Hamlet’s ability to enact revenge, contributing to his paralysis throughout the play. Moreover, Hamlet’s Renaissance Humanism introduces another aspect to the prince’s disposition. Thus, Hamlet is forced to reconsider revenge as light of Renaissance thought.
Shakespeare’s Elizabethan revenge tragedy demonstrates the composer’s ability to address and explore the universalities of human existence. Hence, though the Senecan tragedy, Shakespeare illustrates Hamlet’s tension between duty and resistance through introspection towards his father’s prescribed revenge, which becomes central in allowing Shakespeare to encapsulate the fragmentation of the human experience due to internal and external influences. The oscillation of Hamlet between dispensing aristocratic justice, thus fulfilling his filial duty and resistance in the form of debilitating contemplation, Shakespeare articulates the inherent moral complexities of societal transition, culminating in the Prince’s attempt to ascertain a sense of self. Thus, the tension between the fulfilment of duty and thought acts as an impediment towards Hamlet, as he is able to elucidate the moral ambiguities of this transitional society.
In Hamlet, the protagonist’s contemplation of conflicting moral frameworks acts as a hindrance to his revenge quest. Consequently, Hamlet is unable to derive a coherent sense of self, being problematised by the implications of hiss urge to duty. It is these conflicts which drive’s Hamlet’s psychological journey, one exaggerated by the appearance of his father’s ghost, a morally and religiously ambiguous figure which he questions as “airs from heaven or blasts from hell”. Evident through his refusal to murder Claudius while he is “a-praying”, Hamlet is unable to reconcile Christian beliefs with his filial duty, condoning the restoration of natural order whilst also presenting the prospect of eternal damnation for committing such an act. This moral dilemma complicates Hamlet’s ability to enact revenge, contributing to his paralysis throughout the play. Moreover, Hamlet’s Renaissance Humanism introduces another aspect to the prince’s disposition. Thus, Hamlet is forced to reconsider revenge as light of Renaissance thought.