Hamlet, the young prince of Denmark, is considerably successful in keeping his promise to the ghost of his father. While he manages to purge Denmark of its corruption and avenge his father’s death by killing Claudius, the commandment does not live “all alone…within the book and volume” of Hamlets brain, he is not indecisive, but morally astute. Hamlet finds himself trapped between two moral imperatives, whether to obey his filial duty to his father or commit a mortal sin by killing another man. Ultimately, Hamlet overcomes his moral complication and fulfils the ghost’s wishes. 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.
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.
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’.
After King Hamlet's death, Laertes, along with Prince Hamlet return to Denmark for the funeral services. This is the first sign that Laertes will become a foil to Hamlet in the play. Hamlet is devastated but he only mopes around whereas when Laertes father Polonius is murdered he vows for revenge “to the blackest Devil!”(4.5.215) He thinks through his emotions, not with his brain like Hamlet. When Hamlet is trying to solve if Claudius killed his father he uses Gertrude asking, “I know not: is it the King?”(3.4.123) Spying through someone else is typical Hamlet not only keeping his feeling hush but also avoiding a confrontation with the king before he knows for sure if he killed his father. When Ophelia dies Laertes is Distraught and isn’t afraid to show this whereas Hamlet loved her but his lack emotion left him without a connection to her at the end of the play.
Laertes is Claudius’s right hand man and if he got hold of the information that Hamlet is faking insanity, he would unquestionably report it to the king and that will foil Hamlet’s quest for revenge in the future. Ophelia always complies with her father as she follows his advice in matters of Hamlet as she denies Hamlet’s visits and refuses his letters. Thus, Hamlet should make Ophelia believe that he has lost his sanity for his plan to work out and that wouldn’t be possible if he marries Ophelia. To add on, Ophelia’s devoted obedience to her father makes Hamlet allege that Ophelia is deceptive and unfaithful. Hamlet is angry with Ophelia and in rage, he tells her that her beauty is dishonest and that he did love Ophelia once and at the same time, he never did.
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
Hamlet is a moral and intelligent man, he is aware of what is right and wrong and it is due to this morality that he delays the murder of Claudius and ended the cycle of revenge. After conversing with the ghost of his own father, Hamlet already devises a plan to kill Claudius in order to fulfill the ghost’s wishes to get revenge. However, much time passes throughout the play when Hamlet could have taken his revenge but he has yet to complete the deed. He admits he may have been deceived by the ghost when he says, "The spirit that I have seen / May be a devil, and the devil hath power / T' assume a pleasing shape (II:ii, 627-629). Hamlet delays the murder of his uncle due to the doubt he has in the validity of the information provided by the ghost.
For example, Hamlet, after learning that his father’s death was a murder, wants to be certain that he is being told the truth before taking revenge. Even after confirming that Claudius is the murderer, Hamlet thinks to himself, “And now I’ll do’t…/And so I am revenged,” contemplating whether or not to kill Claudius, and he still is not able to do it (Shakespeare. III. iii. 77-79).
133-134). Hamlet wishes that his body would melt away so he would not have to see Claudius and Getrude together again, and pretend as though all is well. Hamlet explains to us that he does want to die, but he says he can not because, “the Everlasting had not fix'd/His canon against self slaughter!” (I.ii. 134-135). If God had not ruled suicide a mortal sin, Hamlet would have commited suicide at once for what he was going through.
A villain kills my father, and for that, I his sole son do this same villain send to Heaven." This shows the audience that Hamlet is religious and that he fears the result of killing, Hamlet knows that if he kills Claudius while he prays, Claudius will go to heaven, and Hamlet will have to suffer the sin of killing. Another reason as to why Hamlet delays the murder, could be that he doubts the ghost, Hamlet conducts a play which reenacts the murder of his father to observe Claudius' reaction to it, if Claudius becomes hesitant, Hamlet will know the ghost speaks the truth, "I'll have grounds more relative