Hamlet and Macbeth: The Moral Struggle
Morality, or the struggle between right and wrong, is abundantly present in the 21st century. Human beings have struggled since the beginning of time with what is acceptable and not acceptable. Religions try to make the issue of morality more transparent by outlining a set of rules for people to follow that they believe to be morally correct. One prominent religious topic in the U.S. is whether or not abortion should be legal. Regardless of a person’s view on the topic, it has become a battle between what is morally right and what is not. Similarly in Hamlet and Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, morality is often questioned through the two main characters, Hamlet and Macbeth. Hamlet wants to kill a king …show more content…
Hamlet wants to kill King Claudius, but he consistently hesitates to act throughout the entire play. Hamlet hesitates because of fear that he won’t get proper revenge on Claudius thus, in his mind, his actions would be unjust. Hamlet is about to kill Claudius when he stops and says, “why this is <hire> and <salary,> not revenge” (3.3.84). Hamlet wants revenge for his father; he does not want to kill a man and let him go to Heaven, while his father is in Hell. Hamlet fears that if Claudius is allowed to repent for his sins than Hamlet will not get any revenge, and it would be an unjustified regicide. Unlike Hamlet, Macbeth is quick to act. Once Macbeth murders the king, he continues to commit murders in fear of losing his power. When Macbeth goes to the witches demanding answers they send out apparitions, the first tells him “beware Macduff,” but the second tells him not to fear anyone “of woman born”(4.1.53-54). Despite this Macbeth is still fearful of Macduff, so he decides to kill him anyway just in case. Macbeth allows his fear of losing his power to drive him to kill before he gets a chance to think about the morality of his actions. People often act impulsively in the face of fear, sometimes doing things that go against their own moral values. In the world today, there are people like Hamlet and people like Macbeth, and these two sets of people often clash in their struggle to create …show more content…
Guilt is the feeling of dread one gets when he knows he has done something wrong or unjust. When Hamlet murders Polonius heand says, “Take thy fortune” (3.4.39). He is basically saying that Polonius deserved to be murdered because he was listening in on Hamlet and Gertrude. Hamlet has a lack of guilt for Polonius’s death because he feels as though what he did was justifiable. This relates to Hamlet’s hesitation when murdering Claudius because if he didn’t do it in the right way he wouldn’t have been getting proper revenge on Claudius. In Hamlet’s mind it wouldn’t have been justified therefore he would have felt guilty about it. On the contrary, Macbeth feels guilty because he can’t stop thinking about what he has done, so much so that his imagination conjures up Banquo in ghost form (3.4.43-45). Macbeth’s internal moral struggle is externally projected through the ghost because he can’t get away from the feeling that what he did was wrong. He knows what he has done isit is wrong, yet he continues to murder on impulse because he finds power to be too tempting to resist. Similarly, in certain morally questionable situations, some people feel guilt while others feel no guilt. It is dependent on the person and their own views of right and
Morality, or the struggle between right and wrong, is abundantly present in the 21st century. Human beings have struggled since the beginning of time with what is acceptable and not acceptable. Religions try to make the issue of morality more transparent by outlining a set of rules for people to follow that they believe to be morally correct. One prominent religious topic in the U.S. is whether or not abortion should be legal. Regardless of a person’s view on the topic, it has become a battle between what is morally right and what is not. Similarly in Hamlet and Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, morality is often questioned through the two main characters, Hamlet and Macbeth. Hamlet wants to kill a king …show more content…
Hamlet wants to kill King Claudius, but he consistently hesitates to act throughout the entire play. Hamlet hesitates because of fear that he won’t get proper revenge on Claudius thus, in his mind, his actions would be unjust. Hamlet is about to kill Claudius when he stops and says, “why this is <hire> and <salary,> not revenge” (3.3.84). Hamlet wants revenge for his father; he does not want to kill a man and let him go to Heaven, while his father is in Hell. Hamlet fears that if Claudius is allowed to repent for his sins than Hamlet will not get any revenge, and it would be an unjustified regicide. Unlike Hamlet, Macbeth is quick to act. Once Macbeth murders the king, he continues to commit murders in fear of losing his power. When Macbeth goes to the witches demanding answers they send out apparitions, the first tells him “beware Macduff,” but the second tells him not to fear anyone “of woman born”(4.1.53-54). Despite this Macbeth is still fearful of Macduff, so he decides to kill him anyway just in case. Macbeth allows his fear of losing his power to drive him to kill before he gets a chance to think about the morality of his actions. People often act impulsively in the face of fear, sometimes doing things that go against their own moral values. In the world today, there are people like Hamlet and people like Macbeth, and these two sets of people often clash in their struggle to create …show more content…
Guilt is the feeling of dread one gets when he knows he has done something wrong or unjust. When Hamlet murders Polonius heand says, “Take thy fortune” (3.4.39). He is basically saying that Polonius deserved to be murdered because he was listening in on Hamlet and Gertrude. Hamlet has a lack of guilt for Polonius’s death because he feels as though what he did was justifiable. This relates to Hamlet’s hesitation when murdering Claudius because if he didn’t do it in the right way he wouldn’t have been getting proper revenge on Claudius. In Hamlet’s mind it wouldn’t have been justified therefore he would have felt guilty about it. On the contrary, Macbeth feels guilty because he can’t stop thinking about what he has done, so much so that his imagination conjures up Banquo in ghost form (3.4.43-45). Macbeth’s internal moral struggle is externally projected through the ghost because he can’t get away from the feeling that what he did was wrong. He knows what he has done isit is wrong, yet he continues to murder on impulse because he finds power to be too tempting to resist. Similarly, in certain morally questionable situations, some people feel guilt while others feel no guilt. It is dependent on the person and their own views of right and