How Does Hamlet Show Moral Integrity
The character Hamlet from Shakespeare’s text Hamlet shows a conflicted demonstration of moral integrity. To dissect the morals in question, they are compiled from religious rules, logic, common sense, conscience and the local laws of the Elizabethan era.
Religion plays a key role in dictating correct behaviour during the Elizabethan era; only part of which Hamlet follows. ‘The Divine Right of Kings’ was a well known and accepted concept; insinuating that kings had the support of God, and that to go against a king was to go against God himself. Though Claudius also upset this order (by murdering King Hamlet), for Hamlet to even consider killing Cladius, he crosses a moral taboo. Furthermore, when the ghost charges Hamlet to ‘Revenge his foul …show more content…
In this regard, Hamlet displays no moral integrity, as he firstly used Ophelia by displaying to her a faked ‘antic disposition’ (Act1, Sc5.) to which she was ‘so affrighted’ (Act2, S1) before allowing her to believe that her love had been betrayed when he stated ‘I love you not’ to her reply, ‘I was the more deceived’ (Act, S1). After this, when given the opportunity to kill Polonius, ‘Now I might do it pat’ he refrains because the victim ‘now a is a-praying’ and the murder then would send him ‘to heaven’. He shows no mercy, deciding to wait till later when he is behaving in a way ‘That has no relish of salvation in’t’ choosing then to ‘trip him that his heels may kick at heaven,/ And that his soul may be damned and black/ As hell whereto it goes...’ (Act3, S3). It is possible however, that this example of postponing the revenge is an indication that Hamlet was perhaps reluctant, and did not truly wish to kill him. This indication of repressed guilt is also shown in Act3 Scene1 where Hamlet states ‘... I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things, that it were better my mother had not borne me. I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act them
Religion plays a key role in dictating correct behaviour during the Elizabethan era; only part of which Hamlet follows. ‘The Divine Right of Kings’ was a well known and accepted concept; insinuating that kings had the support of God, and that to go against a king was to go against God himself. Though Claudius also upset this order (by murdering King Hamlet), for Hamlet to even consider killing Cladius, he crosses a moral taboo. Furthermore, when the ghost charges Hamlet to ‘Revenge his foul …show more content…
In this regard, Hamlet displays no moral integrity, as he firstly used Ophelia by displaying to her a faked ‘antic disposition’ (Act1, Sc5.) to which she was ‘so affrighted’ (Act2, S1) before allowing her to believe that her love had been betrayed when he stated ‘I love you not’ to her reply, ‘I was the more deceived’ (Act, S1). After this, when given the opportunity to kill Polonius, ‘Now I might do it pat’ he refrains because the victim ‘now a is a-praying’ and the murder then would send him ‘to heaven’. He shows no mercy, deciding to wait till later when he is behaving in a way ‘That has no relish of salvation in’t’ choosing then to ‘trip him that his heels may kick at heaven,/ And that his soul may be damned and black/ As hell whereto it goes...’ (Act3, S3). It is possible however, that this example of postponing the revenge is an indication that Hamlet was perhaps reluctant, and did not truly wish to kill him. This indication of repressed guilt is also shown in Act3 Scene1 where Hamlet states ‘... I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things, that it were better my mother had not borne me. I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act them