From the outset of the play, and the first appearance of the ghost, Hamlet knows what he must do; however, his moral obligations get in the way. Since murder is a mortal sin and Hamlet as been commanded not to “taint” his soul, he finds it difficult to justify the death of another man, yet, he also knows it is disrespectful to disobey his filial duty to his father, thus, he must find a way to avenge his father’s death without tainting his soul and without being held accountable for the death of a King. To do this, Hamlet organises the “Mousetrap”, a play wherein he’ll “catch the conscience of the king”. If throughout the play, Claudius shows any sign of guilt Hamlet will be certain that he did indeed kill his father and the accusations of the ghosts were true, giving him permission to “drink hot blood” and kill the king. Hamlet finds it difficult to carry out his revenge before he realises that there is a “divinity which shapes us all”, as he is caught up with the concept of death and troubled by his own inability to act.
Hamlet delays the murder of his uncle due to the doubt he has in the validity of the information provided by the ghost. If Hamlet completely trusted the story that the ghost provided him with, he would have easily committed the murder in a more timely manner. Clearly doubt is one of the causes for Hamlet’s delay before finally killing Claudius. Hamlet delays the murder of his uncle since he is not a man of direct confrontation. Hamlet demonstrates peaceful ways when he arranged a getaway on a pirate ship.
But later on, we discover Hamlet is not mad, and that it was all just an act. He puts back on his shoes, and the killing begins. Hamlet is only crazy in the purpose of fooling his step-uncle, to confess to killing the king. Hamlet craves the vengeance, and is successful in a way Claudius ends up paying for his deed. But at the end, everyone loses and dies except Horatio.
Hamlet: Justice or Revenge In the era portrayed in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, justice is mostly carried out by oneself and not the court of law, and it is a thing of honor to avenge the death of a loved one. However, Hamlet’s quest for justice over his father’s murder does at some point turn into personal revenge, as he wants to have vengeance on his uncle in ways that become more personal. Hamlet loses track of the main reason for wanting his uncle dead and hatred grows for Claudius, his uncle, such that he wants to make sure that Claudius does not go to heaven when he dies. His uncontrollable emotions show when he kills Polonius and does not care about his actions. Hamlet even seems to have forgotten the main reason why he is avenging his father’s death.
Although it is quite different than his first encounter with murder, this murder is all Macbeth’s idea. Furthermore, instead of doing it himself he decides to hire hit men to kill his friend Banquo who he believes is in his way of getting what he wants, more power. “I am in blood, stepped in so far that I should wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go’oer” (Act I, Sc.IV, Line 136-137). This serves as a pivotal moment in this play, Macbeth has decided that he is in to far already and there is no point in going back. He has decided that he already has blood on his hands he should just keep killing and getting what he desires, which now is to secure his hierarchy position.
Hamlet is aware of plots against him and he believes this will be bad for Denmark. He thwarts the plots and continues on with his plan to get revenge against the man who betrayed his country by killing his father. He was faced with an immediate obstacle in his plan and he effectively got past it. Even though two men had to die he did what he had to do in the interest of his kingdom. This level of effective problem solving is important to be able to do when running a country and it is clearly a skill Hamlet possesses.
You don't need to make a comparison, but pick which view you agree with, Knight or Shakespeare's, or make it into 2 separate sentences. Are you trying to argue Claudius's motivations or to explain that Hamlet was the true villain? Make sure following paragraphs support that.) Knight argued that Hamlet, and not Claudius, is the villain due to his irrational ways because Claudius had no choice but to commit the murder or to protect his throne from Hamlet. However, Claudius had a chance to make a choice, but since his desires for power and treasures were so overwhelming, he chose the murderous path.
He states ‘tis an unweeded garden’ alluding to the fact that a false king leads to corruption which finally leads to the collapse of the hierarchy. Initially Hamlet has no internal conflict when it comes to avenging his father’s murder, but he is very quickly drawn into contemplation about the world and mortality. Hamlet as a character is enigmatic and it is these aspects of his personality that allow for his pondering of the world. In his Act 3 Scene 3 soliloquy, Hamlet finally reveals to the audience that he is going to honour his fallen father and avenge his death. However, his reasoning behind hesitation is that Claudius will go to heaven with a forgiven soul ‘and so he goes to heaven’.
Tybalt tells his servant “Now, by the stock and honor of my kin, to strike him dead I hold not a sin.” (P. 55 lines 66-67) Although Romeo never harmed Tybalt, he still wants to kill Romeo because he showed up at his party because Tybalt uses Romeo as a scapegoat for all the Montagues. By saying this, Tybalt just doomed Romeo and Juliet to their deadly fate because nothing can persuade Tybalt to end his hatred, and he states clearly that he wants to kill Romeo. When He confronts Romeo on the streets of Verona, Romeo tells him, that he doesn’t wants to fight with him, and Tybalt answers “Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries that thou hast done to me.” (P 119 lines 67-68) He didn’t even know that Romeo just married his cousin, but he makes Romeo responsible for everything the Montagues have done. Tybalt’s impulsiveness leads to
Claudius on the other hand has decided to take his position on the throne by marrying Gertrude in the short time span since the king’s death which is seen as a dishonourable act by Hamlet. We can see that Hamlet does not just want to kill Claudius for his own satisfaction but also for the sake of honour. He wants to redeem his father as he has been told that Claudius has killed him using a cowardly method, the poison in the ear, and during the time in that era it was seen as a cowardly tactic and therefore dishonourable. Laertes also seeks vengeance on Hamlet for his own father as well going as far as doing a dishonourable act of poisoning his sword in what is supposedly a friendly fencing match. Even today honour still matters a great deal, being honest, doing what you believe is right and