Essay: Explore Religion’s Role in Shakespear’s “Hamlet”: From Faith to Forgiveness

To have faith in a god or spirit is what keeps one’s mind at ease, because having faith that everything happens for a reason makes life easier. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the characters’ religion takes priority over revenge, grief, and guilt in the novel as seen with King Hamlet’s death which mirrors one of the most important biblical stories which leads his son to live a life full of pain and hatred up until the day he faces a gruesome death. By making references to the Bible and historical events, Shakespeare proves that all of the decisions made in the novel are based on the need to honour their religion than simply revenge and guilt.
From the beginning of the novel when the reader is introduced to Hamlet, he is faced with the task of avenging his deceased father. During his first encounter with the ghost of dead King Hamlet, the ghost says, “My hour has almost come/ When I to sulph’rous and tormenting flames/ Must render up myself” (Shakespeare, 1.5, 4-6). The ghost explains how it is trapped in purgatory, a place between life and afterlife where souls have neither made it to heaven or hell. This further infuriates Hamlet, driving him to want revenge on Claudius for the murder of his father. Due to the royal family in Denmark being religious, they believe that all sins that are committed in life will be carried on after death and the person will be punished for the harm they caused.
Later on, Hamlet receives word of how the dead King Hamlet was murdered by the dead King’s ghost. The ghost says, “Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard/ A serpent stung me” (Shakespeare, 1.5, 35-36). The death of King Hamlet is identical to the famous religious story of the Garden of Eden where Eve was tricked by devil disguised as a snake to eat the forbidden fruit. However in this case, Claudius falls for the temptation of killing his brother in order to gain the throne. With both killings sharing the same location, the actions of Claudius impersonate the same actions of the evil-minded serpent, the devil in disguise. Whether or not the ghost is a figment of imagination, it drives Hamlet into wanting to seek revenge because Christianity, the religion he believes in, is directly imitated by Claudius and hence his rash thinking that urges him to send Claudius to hell gets stronger and stronger every day. As a result, it becomes evident that Shakespeare’s continuous implementation of biblical references in the novel shows who are good and who are evil in the eyes of God.
After meeting the ghost and being set on revenge of his father’s death, Hamlet seems to be not entirely committed to the cause until he sees the passion that actor portrays in the play and feels disgust towards himself for not having that same passion. After Hamlet is told that Gertrude would like to speak to him, Hamlet says aside, “O heart, lose not thy nature. Let not ever/ The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom;/ Let me be cruel, not unnatural” (Shakespeare, 3.2, 377-379). Hamlet is seen to refer himself to Nero, a roman emperor, due to similarities between the two of them. Hamlet, like Nero, is very well-liked by the citizens under their reigns, and are both part of a royal family. Moreover, both Nero and Hamlet are motivated by revenge and as a result, makes Hamlet realize that he needs to hide his new urges when he goes to visit Gertrude. Due to being able to realize from characteristics from someone in the past, proves to benefit Hamlet because he is able to understand the consequences from performing the same actions as Nero. With this in mind, Hamlet is able to speak to his mother in peace and be able to hide his growing desire. The play performed by actors has had a huge effect on Hamlet and his intentions, but it also plays an equally as vital role for Claudius.
After Hamlet’s actions on Polonius, Claudius sees the severity of his sins and takes some time to pray to God for forgiveness for his sins. Claudius says, “O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven;/ it hath the primal eldest curse upon’t –/ A brother’s murder” (Shakespeare, 3.3, 37-39). The biblical reference in this quote is about the story of Cain and Abel, the story of how the one brother who appeared weaker of the two kills the other and benefits from doing so. The irony behind this is that the person to tell the reader of this bloody tale is Claudius, the one who overthrew his brother and killed him. The person to make the connection was the killer and for the first time, Claudius feels guilt and sorrow for the murder of his brother, hence his asking for forgiveness because he still reaps the benefits of dead King Hamlet as the new King of Denmark. At this moment, Hamlet hesitates in killing Claudius because he sees that Claudius is confessing his sins and therefore would go to heaven because he is dying guilt free, rather than being sent to hell for killing his own brother Hamlet. As a result, Hamlet’s connection to Christianity temporarily saves Claudius’ life because revenge is not the most important thing to Hamlet which he could of had with this first opportunity to kill him but rather the most important thing to Hamlet is that Claudius suffers eternal pain in hell for the pain he caused him.
To some, religion is the most important aspect of a person’s life; even citizens who are unfortunately lower-class like the gravedigger put their faith in God in front of everything else. After Ophelia’s death, the gravedigger says, “Is she to be buried in Christian burial, when she wilfully/ seeks her own salvation?” (Shakespeare, 5.1, 1-2). Suspecting that Ophelia’s death was due to a suicide, the gravedigger’s belief causes him to not want to bury her in Christian grounds, as it is thought in Christianity that one who causes harm upon themselves is unholy and shall not be blessed in the afterlife.Throughout the novel, the importance of religion in the lives of the monarchs is demonstrated, however Shakespeare shows that religion is just as important for every citizen of Denmark, which shows the importance of Christianity in everyone’s everyday life. Therefore, it is the same religious thinking that steers the main characters towards making the crucial decisions they do.
As the play starts to conclude, Hamlet gains gratitude towards life and death by analyzing the consequences historical and biblical figures had to face in their lives. Hamlet makes a reference to the story of Cain and Abel, “That skull has a tongue in it, and could sing once. How/ that knave jowls it to th’ ground, as if ‘twere Cain’s/ jawbone, that did the first murder” (Shakespeare, 5.1, 71-73), and Alexander the Great, “Alexander/ died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to/ dust” (Shakespeare, 5.1, 192-194). Hamlet conveys that no matter how important a figure is in society, does not matter if they are a biblical figure or a person who changed history, death is the decider of all, and eventually everyone ends up dying. Throughout the play, Hamlet never questions his belief for Christianity however due to his growing anger and fear for Claudius, he questions his faith and faces his death shortly after. Strategically, Shakespeare makes this the ending to the play to show that under the faith of religion, the characters are safe however the moment they doubt their faith, they will suffer the consequences as seen with Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern.
Although revenge and jealousy cause Hamlet and Claudius to make irrational decisions, it is the religious and historical references that cause them to act the way they do and eventually lead them down a spiral of bad decisions. From the beginning go the play when Claudius kill King Hamlet till the end when Hamlet loses faith, religion remains as the most important aspect of their lives as well as all of Denmark at that moment in time. While Hamlet is carrying out his plan, Shakespeare shows and makes it evident that there is a God who has set a plan for everyone which is also known to be associated to the word of fate, because it is easier to face this rather than the idea that some people will never get a happy ending in their lives.