a word from our sponsors
See the new shakespeare.com. This feature, while it still provides useful information, is no longer maintained.
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries & Replies From Everyone Else 4.2.97: Top | Help
Just to start with a couple of comments on the other responses,
Hamlet's father is not a ghost from hell. That is what
Hoaration and the guards on watch that night feared, but he
really was a ghost from purgatory left to wander with
other spirits. Also, I personally do not see Hamlet's
situation as an example of vigilante justice. Yes, he is
revenging his father's death thorugh violence, but there
is som much more at stake than revenge: saving Denmark, an
entire kingdom, from a king who assassinated the true and,
by all accounts, good ruler King Hamlet. I'm not posistve
but I do not assume that this medieval kingdom had the same
court system we have today nor the same concept of justice so
I don't think the parallel works.As far as Hamlet goes, I do not believe that he is a coward.
Rather, he is a rational person who seeks objective
evidence before he carries out his revenge, which does
trouble him. He at times beleives that he should just
trust his father's ghost, but cannot escape the need for
proof: real proof. Furthermore, Hamlet is not mad or insane.
He constantly reminds us that he adopts this "antic
dispostion." He tells Rosencrantz and Guildernstern and he
tells his mother and Horatio. Still, he is emotionally
strained by the number of betrayals he falls victim to:
Claudius, Gerturde, Rosencrantz, Guldernstern, and Ophelia
all betray him. Every close relationship he has has fallen
apart, but he still is quite sane. Every action is done with
a purpose. Even when he goes through the "would you play
upon me like a pipe scene" the logic is still quite in tact.
This is not to say Hamlet is completely innocent: he admits
guilt with the slaying of Polonius, but he is human. But
he is a logical, rational, and ultimately compassionate human
being. He forgives his slayer Laertes, his mother and the
only reason he feels and greives so deeply is as a result
from deep and true relationships with other people.
Posted by Steven on April 11, 1997 at 09:01:36
In Reply to "Was Hamlet a compassionate human or a sniveling coward? What do you think?" posted by Michelle on April 10, 1997 at 02:04:31
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries & Replies From Everyone Else 4.2.97: Top | Help