Quotes About Religion In Hamlet

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Religion in Hamlet
Alexis Korbey | March 8, 2016 | AP Literature | Mrs. DeFelice

The Christian religion mandates several things, both within and outside of the ten Commandments: thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not covet, and you should forgive those who have wronged you no matter how heinous their crimes. In the time of Hamlet, religion is very important to the people. However, throughout the duration of the play, several characters do things that would be considered as against their faith, and their actions more often than not lead to a disastrous end. Every character in Hamlet (and then some) die Like in most works of literature, there would be no story if there was not at least one person that dared to …show more content…
Like Hamlet he swore vengeance--- even at the cost of his place in heaven, as he reveals when he tells the King and Queen, “To hell, allegiance! Vows to the blackest devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation,” [4. 5. 130-132]. Both Laertes and Hamlet, in their quest for vengeance against he who killed their fathers, wound up dead in the end. Had they done as the Christian religion asks and decided to forgive (however difficult it would have been), the two of them likely would have lived on. Claudius would not have had any reason to send Hamlet to England and attempt to have him executed. More than likely, Laertes and Hamlet never would have dueled, and neither would have been poisoned after getting cut with the sharpened rapier.

It is also worth noting that Laertes’ actions were encouraged by King Claudius. When Laertes claimed that he would slit Hamlet’s throat in a Church should he ever return to Denmark, the King wasted no time in telling him that “No place indeed should murder sanctuarize; Revenge should have no bounds,” [4. 7. 127-128]. Claudius, in a figurative way, poisons those around him. Getrude cause of death supports this claim, as she dies after drinking the wine that Claudius poisoned. He seduced her, as we already know when King Hamlet’s ghost refers to her as his “seeming-virtuous queen” [1. 5.
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