The Importance Of The Devil In Hamlet

Shakespeare once wrote that “we know what we are, but not what we may be.” What Shakespeare is saying is that other forces along the path of life can change who one can become. In the Shakespearean play Hamlet, the protagonist Hamlet finds himself in the presence of what appears to be his father’s ghost. Is this ghost the devil in disguise trying to make Hamlet do his bidding, or did newly appointed king Claudius actually do devil 's work by killing Hamlet 's father? The word devil illuminates the true meaning of the play, which is men may believe they know who one is, however the devil can change who they will become. Such as Hamlet who sets out to avenge his father’s murder became a murderer himself.

The word ‘devil’ comes from the Greek word ‘diabolos’ which is the spirit or power of evil. The devil is found in almost all religions and is thought to

For example, Hamlet says the word devil in the second and third acts, while Laertes says it in the fourth and fifth acts. The last person to say the word devil is Polonius in the second act. In all these cases these men are describing the devil as someone evil or bad. A reason for Shakespeare only having the male characters say this vulgar word is, it was unbecoming for women to say such foul language. Even when describing how Hamlet’s mother Gertrude is blinded by the devil in the third act, Gertrude does not say the word devil in their conversation, only Hamlet speaks of it. This shows that though it is thought Gertrude is blinded by the devil, she is not influenced by it, her actions are not that of the devil, but those of someone who cannot see past her wrongdoings. How this relates to the meaning of the play is that only men could potentially be influenced by the devil, or be the devil themselves. Though Gertrude was thought to be blinded by the devil, she is never thought to be one herself or to have done the devil’s