Essay on Hamlet -- Spirituality - 1865 Words

Hamlet -- Spirituality Does the Shakespearean drama Hamlet represent a strictly secular writing, or does it veer into the spiritual dimension from time to time? This essay will delve into the spiritual side of the play. In â€Å"Judgment in Hamlet† Gunnar Boklund discusses the spiritual dimension of the ghost of King Hamlet: It is a commonplace to refer to Hamlet’s â€Å"dilemma† and a critical problem to explain in what this dilemma consists. A natural way to come to terms with the problem is obviously through the character that forces the dilemma upon Hamlet, that is to say, the Ghost. This is a particularly attractive approach, since it promises to bring the findings of modern research into Elizabethan†¦show more content†¦The Elizabethan drama was almost wholly secular; and while Shakespeare was writing he practically confined his view to the world of non-theological observation and thought, so that he represents it substantially in one and the same way whether the period of the story is pre-Christian or Christian (40). The first soliloquy, or â€Å"act of talking to oneself, whether silently or aloud† (Abrams 289), occurs when the hero is left alone after the royal social gathering in the room of state in the castle of Elsinore. He is dejected by the â€Å"o’erhasty marriage† of his mother to his uncle. His first soliloquy emphasizes two religious/moral themes: the corruption of the world at large, and the frailty of women – an obvious reference to his mother’s hasty and incestuous marriage to her husband’s brother: Must I remember? why, she would hang on him, As if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on: and yet, within a month-- Let me not think ont--Frailty, thy name is woman!—(1.2) The first soliloquy ends with the arrival of Horatio, the hero’s closest friend (â€Å"Horatio, thou art een as just a man / As eer my conversation coped withal.†), and Marcellus, who escort the prince to the ramparts of Elsinore. At the ghost’s request, Hamlet swears to carry out vengeance on King Claudius for the murder of his father. John Dover Wilson in What Happens in Hamlet tells how the Bard envelopes the ghost in a â€Å"contemporaryShow MoreRelated Spirituality in Shakespeares Hamlet Essay2389 Words   |  10 Pages     Ã‚  Ã‚   Can anyone possibly deny the spirituality within the Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet? Yes, some literary critics do. But most critics agree with the contention of this paper – that there is considerable spirituality present in the play. In his essay â€Å"Hamlet: His Own Falstaff,† Harold Goddard sees that Hamlet was made for â€Å"religion† and several other purposes: He [Hamlet] was made, that is, for religion and philosophy, for love and art, for liberty to â€Å"grow unto himself† – five forcesRead MoreEssay about Hidden Spirituality in Shakespeares Hamlet2169 Words   |  9 Pagesthe author of this essay, the obvious presence of considerable spirituality within the Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet. The purpose of this paper is to identify and elaborate on selected spiritual elements in the play. 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