Hamlet struggles with the inner conflict of the morality of avenging his father’s death as well as his own death. In each of these situations, Hamlet spends a majority of the plot trying to rationalize them. Hamlet eventually comes to a conclusion for both of his inner conflicts.
Upon the ghost’s request for Hamlet to avenge his death by killing Claudius, Hamlet immediately agrees to it, and then later on begins to question it. One of the greatest questions of this story is: Is it morally right to kill another man in order to avenge a family member’s death? In the end, I personally do not believe that hamlet fully answers this question—Shakespeare leaves that to be an eternal mystery for the readers to decide. Instead of giving a direct answer, Hamlet finds other reasons and motives in order to justify committing a murder. In a sense, one could argue that that could be the answer—murder is not fully justified on a basis on avenging one’s father—however, I do not believe that is what Shakespeare meant for us to interpret from this. Hamlet ends up emphasizing his own personal motives for killing Claudius rather than for his father. I find it true that most people do end up acting as Hamlet does and finding personal reasons in order to make the act seem more morally acceptable.
Hamlet struggles to decide whether or not suicide is morally justifiable as well. It is clear from the moment Hamlet speaks in the play that he feels no desire to live; he was not afraid of the chance that the ghost could try to kill him. He continues throughout the play to mention his suicidal thoughts. I believe Shakespeare shows this not only to display his emotional state after the death of his father and the re-marriage of his mother both also to enhance the fact that Hamlet repeatedly questions the morality of both killing someone and oneself. The epitome of Hamlet’s pondering of suicide is in his “to be or not to be” speech. He comes to the conclusion that although he does not have the desire to live, to commit suicide is a sin and he therefore could not and would not do it. In this case, Hamlet does end up with a resolute answer to the question of suicide. In conclusion, Shakespeare makes a point of showing Hamlet’s inner struggles in order to complicate the originally somewhat simple mission to avenge his father through killing Claudius. (418)
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3 comments:
Devin,
I think Shakespeare's concluding ambiguity is sometimes a little frustrating because he does pose this perpetual question: Is it morally acceptable to avenge a loved one's death? I would be curious to know what you believe. In terms of your blog, though, I thought it was very nice and meaningful. You clearly understood the play's core themes.
I think you're right. Shakespeare doesn't answer those questions. As we debated the justifications of taking a life in class, I was thinking that hundreds of school classes must have had exactly the same debates -- with many of the same conclusions. You make an interesting point that Hamlet seems to find unselfish justifications only after he explains his personal grudge. I think those statements only add to the complexity of Hamlet's character and the play as a whole. Great job on your blog!
Toe-ring: the closest Hamlet comes to resolving his crisis of conscience is in his lines to Horatio: "is it not perfect conscience, think you, to quit him with this arm." But I think you're right that the play as a whole is less clear on the justifications of vengeance killing.
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