Was Shakespeare's Hamlet a Catholic Character Research Paper

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Thesis Statement: Numerous researchers and individuals following up on Shakespearean plays will concur that the playwright develops his characters by employing elements from religion, particularly Christianity. In his famous tragedy, Hamlet, the conflicted Hamlet is portrayed utilizing several Christian, especially Catholic, practices and analogies, giving rise to the claim that Hamlet was, himself, Catholic, despite the play’s backdrop being a Lutheran country.

The character, Hamlet, largely engages with his community, and his conduct and speech are a reflection of his religious beliefs. He refrains from taking his own life as he firmly understands the necessity of obeying God’s orders:

Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God! God! How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world! Fie on’t! ah fie! ‘tis an unweeded garden (Hamlet, I.2,131-135 cited as Shakespeare, 2005).

His articulated views reveal that he is a pious man, staunchly opposed to immorality. He disapproves of the proliferation of licentiousness and drunkenness within his community:

This heavy-headed revel east and west makes us traduced and tax’d of other nations: They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish Phrase Soil our addition; and indeed it takes. From our achievements, though perform’d at height, (Hamlet, I.4, 17-21 cited as Shakespeare, 2005).

Shakespeare considers Hamlet’s faith to be on par with that of his fellow community members. But after being shocked by his mother’s illicit marriage, his piety increases. Why is such sort of marriage deemed unlawful? How do readers know that it impacted Hamlet?

Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, is considered vulgar and lecherous for marrying the widow of the brother he murdered. In that day, such a marriage was regarded as incest. Thus, this ‘religious’ reason was a chief source of Hamlet’s loathing of Claudius. A noteworthy fact is: Islam and certain other present-day religions regard such marriages as lawful. The author confirms readers’ doubts that Hamlet was enraged and frustrated prior to speaking to his murdered father’s ghost. I believe Hamlet’s opinions on the socially improper marriage of his mother influence and drive his actions (Alsaif, 2012).

Researchers indicate that the key proof of the impact of the shocking revelations poured forth by his father’s ghost on Hamlet is the change in his opinion of, and relationship with, his love interest, Ophelia.

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Earlier, Hamlet courts her and showers gifts upon her; however, subsequently, his view of womankind, in general, alters, thereby altering his attitude towards Ophelia as well. A later conversation of his with Ophelia depicts him counselling her to practice chastity. Hamlet says:

Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest; but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me (Hamlet, III. I, 121-124 cited as Shakespeare, 2005).

Now, Hamlet believes nuns are the perfect women. His discourse with Ophelia indicates that he might have ended up considering every intimate relationship to be immoral and might also be considering adopting celibacy. He ceases trusting all females after witnessing the cruel betrayal of the late king (his father) by his own wife, proof of which is her immediate wedding to Claudius. Hence, when Ophelia claims Hamlet’s play’s initiation is ‘brief’, Hamlet replies that it is ‘as women’s love’ (Hamlet, III.2, 162-163 cited as Shakespeare, 2005).

Religion constitutes the foundation utilized by pious believers to view the world and differentiate between wrong and right. Furthermore, it aids believers in maintaining balance when shocked. Typically, a calamity increases believers’ abstinence and piety. The shock of his father’s death and mother’s betrayal leads Hamlet to consider himself as both believer and savior:

The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right! Nay, come, let’s go together (Hamlet, I.5, I I. I, 188-190 cited as Shakespeare, 2005).

The following question remains unanswered: What makes Hamlet hesitate if he is aware of all the wrongdoings of Claudius? For answering this question, there….....

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