Revenge or Scruples?

                                           Andrew Brian

                                                    11-17-96

                                               Fresh Sem.  II

"'Vengeance is mine,' sayith the Lord".  What does this mean?  I

believe what the Christians meant it to mean is that we, as humans, have no

right to seek revenge, that only "the Lord" has the right to decide when to

take revenge.  We say this, but do we follow it?  No, I think not.  We all try

to take revenge into our own hands, in one form or another. 

Revenge is one strong theme that holds throughout "Hamlet".  We see

Prince Hamlet try to execute a kind of private vengeance, an eye for an eye,

which is completely opposite of the Christian teachings.  Hamlet is a man

who believes in heaven and hell and who feels that a man who challenges

divine ordinance will ultimately face judgment.  We might look at the ghost

of the late king Hamlet as the part of us that wants to take vengeance into our

own minds.  Like the little voice in our heads that tells us to do something,

when in our hearts we know it is wrong.

When Horatio, Barnardo, and Marcellus tell Hamlet of their sighting of

the ghost, Hamlet agrees to join them that night and see if he can observe the

ghost firsthand and possibly speak with it. That night when Horatio,

Marcellus, and Hamlet sight the ghost, it beckons Hamlet to leave the other

two and speak to it in privacy. Hamlet follows, despite the protests of the

others, who fear it may be an evil spirit, disguising as King Hamlet in order

to gain their trust. Horatio suggests that it may lead him astray and then

"assume some other horrible form / Which might deprive your sovereignty of

reason / And draw you into madness..." (I, iv, 80-82). Hamlet insists on

listening to the message of the ghost. Although he does not state it, perhaps

Hamlet subconsciously considers that Horatio is right, that the ghost is indeed

a false messenger sent to trouble him.

Hamlet does not kill Claudius immediately following his encounter

with the ghost because he is unsure of the ghost's accusations of Claudius

and does not want to murder him without proper motive. Hamlet would

suffer in the eyes of the people if he were to murder Claudius, the reigning

king, and claim his motive was the words of a ghost. Hamlet already

disapproves of Claudius due to his marriage to Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, so

soon after the death of her first husband, King Hamlet. Prince Hamlet feels

that the widow did not sufficiently mourn and that the marriage is incestuous

due to the relation between the late husband and the new groom. The timing

of the marriage causes Hamlet to suspect that Claudius and Gertrude had an

affair during her marriage with King Hamlet. Despite this, most Danes see

nothing wrong with the marriage and express no suspicions about King

Hamlet's death. Because he must expose Claudius's murder of King Hamlet

in order to legitimize his own murder of Claudius, Hamlet can not

immediately kill Claudius and explain his motive later, once he is guilty of

murder. He must first find proof that Claudius did in fact do wrong that

brought about his father's death.

Some of Hamlet's opportunities for killing King Claudius are poorly

timed, most notably following Claudius's expression of alarm after watching

an enactment of the murder of Gonzago. This is a time when Claudius's

image has been tarnished and the people may be suspicious of him in

connection to the death of King Hamlet. However, when Hamlet goes to the

royal chambers to confront him, but finds Claudius kneeling in prayer.

Now might I do it, now he is a-praying,

And now I'll do 't. And so he goes to heaven,

And so am I revenged. That would be scanned:

A villain kills my father, and for that,

I, his sole son, do this same villain send

To heaven.

Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge.

He took my father grossly, full of bread,

With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May;

And how his audit stands who knows save heaven.

But in our circumstance and course of thought

'Tis heavy with him. 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.

(III, iii, 77-93)

Hamlet decides that if he were to kill Claudius during prayer, Claudius

would be sent to heaven, which would not be the proper revenge he seeks, so

instead, Hamlet decides to wait and take his life at a time he is in sin. Hamlet

hesitates and analyses the situation of each assassination opportunity in a

likewise manner. Instead of simply acting on an opportunity he considers

each consequence of the timing and circumstances; each time he decides,

"The time is out of joint" (I, v, 210).

After promising his father's ghost that he will gain revenge on

Claudius for the "foul and most unnatural murder" (I, v, 31), Hamlet lets

opportunities to murder Claudius pass by, waiting for a time when all will

realize he is right in the act so that Claudius will die in shame. He hesitates

because he is unsure the ghost was indeed his father's ghost, he can not be

sure that Claudius did murder King Hamlet, and because there are times

when Claudius's soul and/or public image would benefit from Hamlet's

deed, thus he would not die a villain's shameful death. In the end Hamlet

does accomplish this goal of revenge and Claudius is known to be the villain,

but due to the delay in the murder, both Hamlet and his mother, Queen

Gertrude, also join the two kings among the realm of the deceased.

I believe that humans have a craving for revenge and this

unquenchable thirst is depicted in "Hamlet".  But I do not feel that anyway,

man or god, has the right to take revenge.  I believe that this is one wall that

Humanity must climb before it is to reach the next plain of evolution.  We

need to look past what others do and try to show them why it is wrong and

how they not only hurt others, but themselves as well.  When we become one

as the human race, then we shall be able to move out of the rut we have been

in for centuries.  "How we approach other people determines how quickly we

evolve, how quickly our life questions are answered.  You must be

completely open as are the people who bring you messages.  They will help

you by opening you up.  And they will fill you with warmth and energy."

(The Celestine Prophecy)  I do not remember seeing Hamlet trying to

understand his step-father, nor did he try to help him see what he had done

wrong.  No, he only saw anger and hatred.  He let this hatred eat him inside

and control his actions.  So I see "Hamlet" as a reflection of the rut that

humanity is stuck in.  So I now end with this one question; "do two wrongs

equal a right one?"