Essay Sample on Is Hamlet more Idealistic or more Vindictive?

📌Category: Hamlet, Plays, William Shakespeare, Writers
📌Words: 468
📌Pages: 2
📌Published: 15 March 2022

In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the ghost of the main character, Hamlet’s father, appointed him to seek revenge and kill the current king. Hamlet is more idealistic than vindictive because rather than acting on impulse, he carefully perfects his plans to make his uncle Claudius show his guilt and then when to kill him. 

Hamlet’s plan to coax Claudius into revealing his guilt shows his idealistic nature because it’s well thought through and follows his unattainable morals. Rather than jumping straight into avenging his father, Hamlet thought of an unconventional method to confirm what the ghost had told him. He believed that “murder, though it have no tongue, will speak with most miraculous organ.” Hamlet's morals align with that of Christianity, where murder is a sin. This described moral plays into why he chose not to kill Claudius because he didn’t show himself to be guilty. Also, In his soliloquy Hamlet says “If a do blench, I know my course.” Similar to before, Claudius’s reaction dictates Hamlet’s next step. He based his entire plan upon the uncertainty of Claudius’s response making the direct answer he wants unattainable when put into action. The results of this plan also dictate whether or not the ghost of Hamlet’s father is a devil wanting to drag him to hell. During his soliloquy, Hamlet considered “As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me.” Hamlet consistently weighs his choices to formulate a plan. If this thought is true, it undermines his entire plan. If Hamlet needed revenge so badly, he wouldn’t have considered all these factors.

Hamlet’s refrain from killing Claudius also shows that he is more idealistic because he follows the religious morals that influence his actions. When Hamlet was about to kill Claudius and then noticed his praying, he thought “A villain kills my father, and for that, I…do this same villain send to heaven.” In Christianity, Hell is the place where the dead are sent to pay for their wrongdoings through eternal suffering. Hamlet believes that killing Claudius now will jeopardize his ideal vengeful plan, one in which Claudius would perish in Hell. In addition, Hamlet thinks “When he is drunk asleep…or in th’incestous pleasure of his bed.” He realizes that catching Claudius doing one of these sinful acts would guarantee his damnation. Hamlet isn’t willing to sacrifice his perfect plan for easy revenge. Hamlet then concludes that he has to “trip him that his heels may kick at heaven, and that his soul may be as damned and black as hell whereto it goes.” The repeated mentioning of Hell and Claudius show the severity of how badly Hamlet wants his plan to work in his favor.  If Hamlet was truly vengeful, he would have killed Claudius without bothering to think about religion.

Hamlet’s Idealism dominates because of his morals that dictate both his plans for the play and to kill Claudius. The time Hamlet spent stuck in his thoughts could have been used to prevent the deaths of not only his mother but himself.

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