The focus of Foundations of the World 201 is the recurring themes of Redemption, Moral Truth and Just Society. We observed these themes as they recurred through history in Foundations of the World 101 and now we see how they continue through time into the 17th century. William Shakespeare wrote this play in a Protestant England at a time when the pious and the humanist were each trying to find their way. He approached these universal themes in a variety of ways. The moral truths that guide all nations and all men, are those truths revealed to man by God. His standards, or Truth, do not change over time, but are everlasting. The lust for power leads the characters in this play to abandon moral truth. Deception is seen in Hamlet as he feigns
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Most of the characters we meet are looking for some way to make up for wrong choices or correct something that has gone amiss and return it to a previous state, or a better state of being. Hamlet is led to believe, from his dead father’s ghost, that he must be redeemed from purgatory because he died in his sins, without the rites that would save his soul. Hamlet believes he must redeem his mother from her hasty and worldly marriage in a culture that views it as incestuous. We could go so far as to say Hamlet feels a need to redeem Denmark from the corrupting influences Claudius has brought upon the country. “Something is rotten in Denmark.” Is there any mortality left? Hamlet comes to see himself as a “savior” who is charged with making everything right …show more content…
Ideally, that would be the desire for a Just Society, a community where people are following moral truth as best they are able and then seeking redemption for their transgressions. To become a Just Society, people must be motivated by pure desires for goodness, for love precedes all action. Is this the climate of Denmark at the time? No. King Claudius was the stone that began the ripple. His debauchery has led to political instability which will ultimately see Denmark swallowed up by Norway. His actions have led to the instability of his family and the court as his murder of his brother and the taking of his wife causes Hamlet to plot against the King (treason), hurt and deceive Ophelia - the woman he said he loved, kill Polonius unintentionally, and thusly, lose his lover, as well as his good friend Laertes who is driven to intrigue and murder himself. Claudius’ cowardice contributes to the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Laertes, Hamlet, and even his wife.
Most often, the morals of a leader will determine whether a Just Society will develop, or whether that society will come to ruin. The universal and timeless appeal of Hamlet is that all men through all time have to wrestle with their own foibles and the weaknesses of those around them. They will be forced to make decisions that will either hold to moral truth, or reject it. They will either be pricked by a desire to redeem
Most of the characters we meet are looking for some way to make up for wrong choices or correct something that has gone amiss and return it to a previous state, or a better state of being. Hamlet is led to believe, from his dead father’s ghost, that he must be redeemed from purgatory because he died in his sins, without the rites that would save his soul. Hamlet believes he must redeem his mother from her hasty and worldly marriage in a culture that views it as incestuous. We could go so far as to say Hamlet feels a need to redeem Denmark from the corrupting influences Claudius has brought upon the country. “Something is rotten in Denmark.” Is there any mortality left? Hamlet comes to see himself as a “savior” who is charged with making everything right …show more content…
Ideally, that would be the desire for a Just Society, a community where people are following moral truth as best they are able and then seeking redemption for their transgressions. To become a Just Society, people must be motivated by pure desires for goodness, for love precedes all action. Is this the climate of Denmark at the time? No. King Claudius was the stone that began the ripple. His debauchery has led to political instability which will ultimately see Denmark swallowed up by Norway. His actions have led to the instability of his family and the court as his murder of his brother and the taking of his wife causes Hamlet to plot against the King (treason), hurt and deceive Ophelia - the woman he said he loved, kill Polonius unintentionally, and thusly, lose his lover, as well as his good friend Laertes who is driven to intrigue and murder himself. Claudius’ cowardice contributes to the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Laertes, Hamlet, and even his wife.
Most often, the morals of a leader will determine whether a Just Society will develop, or whether that society will come to ruin. The universal and timeless appeal of Hamlet is that all men through all time have to wrestle with their own foibles and the weaknesses of those around them. They will be forced to make decisions that will either hold to moral truth, or reject it. They will either be pricked by a desire to redeem