Purgatory Religion In Hamlet

Everyone has a religion, whether that person is a believer or nonbeliever. During William Shakespeare’s time, the main two religions were Protestant and Catholic. As for being raised in a Catholic household, there is a mystery as to what religion Shakespeare identified with. However, he used this struggle of Catholic vs. Protestant in his writing. Shakespeare’s Hamlet mocks and dramatizes purgatory, confession, and other aspects of Christianity during that era..

The first idea that Shakespeare highlights is purgatory. Hamlet believes that his father’s soul is resting in purgatory where his sins are being purged and repented. One night, Hamlet is visited by the ghostly figure, which is revealed to be the ghost of Hamlet’s father. The ghost tells him

of how he is suffering in purgatory and that he has one request from him and that is, “Let not the royal bed of Denmark be / A couch for luxury and damned incest. / But howsoever thou pursuest this act, / Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive / Against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven / And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge / To prick and sting her.” (Act 1, Scene 5, 82-88). The ghost is asking Hamlet to seek revenge and kill his Uncle Claudius, which goes against the idea of purgatory and being purged for his sins. However, Hamlet believes that by doing this, this will alleviate and release his father from suffering in purgatory. According to Karen Kay’s article, “In following the ghost’s command to exact vengeance upon Claudius, it is not clear whether Hamlet would be dispensing divine justice, or, led by the Devil, committing as bad a sin as Claudius’ original act of murder”. In the religions of the time, murder and sinning is a clear entrance to hell, but many people argue against that. People could also argue that the ghost is not residing in purgatory, but that he is already in hell. In the same article, “His appearance is frightful: he is called a ‘dreaded sight’ [15] and an omen of disaster, [16] he shrinks away from daylight, [17] and he never mentions atonement. He preaches murder and revenge, rather than mercy or forgiveness. All of these aspects seem to link the ghost with hell rather than with purgatory or heaven”. So, if Hamlet were to kill Claudius, the idea of relieving his father would be irrelevant.
Another idea that is present in Hamlet is that one must pray and confess their sins in order to be forgiven and granted access into Heaven. It is believed that one must pray and ask forgiveness of their sins. One of the most important prayer in Christianity is the Lord’s Prayer. It is so important because it keeps the connection between a person and God and shows Him that a person is loyal and humble. In the scene where Claudius is kneeling and praying to God, 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. / Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent” (Act 3, Scene 3, 85-89). Hamlet realizes the power of prayer and that Claudius is confessing his sins. Since he is confessing, he has a clean and clear pathway to Heaven if Hamlet were to kill him then. So, he rethinks his decision and decides to wait so that Claudius can commit more sins before killing him. Claudius is asking for forgiveness for murdering his brother and assuming the crown, but he knows he does not merit it because he cannot commit to penance for it. In Jennifer Flaherty’s article, “His crime bridges the space between the sacred and the secular, corrupting both the earthly state of Denmark and the heavenly state of his soul. Unlike Everyman, Claudius has no confessor to help him turn his contrition into proper confession to achieve absolution; he remains trapped between his heavenly aspirations and his earthly ambitions”. However, someone could say that Hamlet simply rethinks his decision because he would be sinning if he were to kill him. There are conflicts about the response of sinning in this scene and what will happen to them both if Hamlet were to kill him.
Shakespeare also outlines the concept of God’s will and sinning.

In Christianity it is said that God has mapped out one’s entire life and that a person’s destiny is predetermined. One can also not commit any of the Seven Deadly Sins (pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth) because they directly go against God’s will. In Hamlet’s soliloquy he contemplates committing suicide and says, “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all” (Act 3, Scene1, 84). One of Hamlet’s main points is that there is a fear of the unknown after death, and if things are going poorly, people are prevented to do anything about it because of this fear. Hamlet would also being committing one of the Seven Deadly Sins if he were to take his own life. An article by Pamela Ronson states, “Hamlet's soliloquy contemplates suicide, which is a grave transgression against God's will. By committing hubris, or excessive pride, man reveals himself as the sole ruler of himself, thus not humbling himself to God's will”. One could say that Hamlet was only pretending to be insane and was not really considering committing suicide. If that was the case, then the idea of him committing one of the Seven Deadly Sins is

dismissed.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet dramatizes and the conflicts of the religion of that time period. He does this in order to bring attention to the different religions and their beliefs and how the people reacted to them. He incorporated a lot of the religious conflicts into his writing to his advantage. Shakespeare highlights Hamlet as a character because he is more religious than the other characters and this plays a part in his dilemma of killing his uncle.