Kyle Coons
ERH-321WX-01
Short Assignment on Hamlet
11/30/17
Help Received: Hamlet, Microsoft Word, Class Hand-Outs
Part 1:
Revenge had an intricate part in the culture of Early Modern England. Not only was it viewed religiously, to be done by the hands of the Lord, but also as a way to self-incriminate within the confines of the laws in place during this period. The Bible during the Early Modern Period in England was viewed as divine law. In terms of seeking revenge on other individuals, the Bible preaches to let the Lord, not yourself, punish those deserving of it. Jordan includes a passage from Romans 12.19 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine: I will repay, saith the Lord” (Jordan 204). The culture of this time would apply this to their day to day lives. If they were to take revenge into their own hands it would be viewed to be disobeying the word of the Lord and breaking divine law. The way most interpreted this was to pay the Lord would have his way and give the deserving their punishment on his terms. Kings and those in royal power were seen as divine figures, therefore they were granted the ability to carry out the Lord’s justice.
Jordan also includes an excerpt from Francis Bacon on Revenge that defines it as “Revenge is a kind of wild justice; which the more man’s nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out” (Jordan 208). This type of ‘wild justice’ wasn’t seen as justice at all. Instead it was viewed as way that even’s the one seeking revenge with his enemy. The only type of revenge that was viewed as just was the type that had “no law to punish” (Jordan 208). Revenge was something that was to be controlled in the culture of the Early Modern Period in England, with a sense of self-constraint and a strong trust in divine law to have its course.
Part 2:
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Revenge was a main driving force for a lot of the actions the character of Hamlet took. With the news of his father’s murder being committed by his Uncle, Claudius, Hamlet is driven to seek justice. This can be compared to what Francis Bacon calls ‘wild justice’, with no real justice being found. The audience during this play in the Early Modern Period would see this as an unjust action, but the complexity of Hamlet’s character makes the audience question if this would fall into a punishable act or a tolerable revenge due to the fact it was Hamlet’s father being killed for power. Hamlet’s situation was complexed even further with how his revengeful murder would be viewed amongst the divine law or how he would live with not standing up for his fathers’ murder. This situation arises in Act 1 Scene 5 when the Ghost (of his murdered father) approaches him and requests revenge upon his murderer. The Ghost tells Hamlet in response to his questioning of revenge, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (I. 5. 24). The Ghost goes on to identify his murderer as Claudius, and sets up the struggle Hamlet faces throughout the entire play.
Religion is brought up in Hamlet’s struggle to avenge his father’s murder when he has an opportunity to kill Claudius while he was praying, yet he hesitates and decides not to. It makes the audience question if Hamlet sees this as another crime beyond revenge in divine law along with his spiteful nature to make sure Claudius does not have a chance to have his sins erased. This revenge Hamlet seeks totally engulfs his entire purpose in life, with the conclusion leading to the death of not only Claudius but also his mother and himself.
Works Cited
Jordan, Constance, ed.. Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. New York: Claremont Graduate
University, 2005. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Constance Jordan. New York: Claremont Graduate
University, 2005. Print.