Ethical Issues In Hamlet Research Paper

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Hamlet is one of William Shakespeare’s most popular and controversial plays. It presents different issues regarding morality, sanity, faith, family, and politics. The main issue though is about Hamlet and his approach of killing King Claudius and how this affected him and the people around him. In the play, Hamlet did not delay his vengeance because he was a coward, but due to his intricacy and cautious nature. Hamlet wanted to assure himself that King Claudius was actually guilty of his crimes and was not trustworthy. He devised a play for King Claudius to find out his true feelings. He states “If his occulted guilt Do not itself unkennel in one speech, It is damned ghost that we have seen, find my imaginations are as foul”(3, 2, 138-139). In this quote, Hamlet is trying to show how he will confirm whether Claudius’ crime and guilt are valid. Hamlet is making sure that the accusations of the ghost that Claudius was the one who murdered …show more content…

Hamlet was deciding whether to kill King Claudius as he confesses his sins after Hamlet confirmed the truth about the death of his father through the play. Hamlet states “And am I then revenged To take him in the purging of his soul, When he is fit and seasoned for his passage? No”(3, 3, 89-92). In this quote, Hamlet is questioning whether it is right to execute his revenge at that moment of Claudius’ confession. This implies that Hamlet is giving Claudius a little bit of time to live. Hamlet had the chance to kill him at that very moment, but he chose not to since it will send Claudius to heaven and not to hell, which Hamlet considers unfair after what Claudius did to his father, who he thinks went to hell. Hamlet is making sure that Claudius suffers as he dies and when he dies. He makes sure that it is the appropriate time and action to kill Claudius and not because Hamlet was afraid to kill him. He was waiting for Claudius for the right moment before he kills

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