The Many Doubts of Hamlet

The Many Doubts of Hamlet

C.S. Lewis once said that "the world of Hamlet is a world where one has lost one's way." This statement has many truths to it for the play opens at midnight, which represents a world where man is essentially lost and filled with doubts. According to Lewis, doubt, along with dread and loneliness, are the feelings the world of Hamlet makes us ponder. These feelings are best expressed by none other than Hamlet, who is an emotional human being who feels guilt, remorse and a sense of responsibility to take revenge of his father's murder by Claudius. Much of the information we know about Hamlet come from his soliloquies.

A soliloquy is a device often used in drama whereby a character reveals his or her thoughts and feelings to the audience, though not to the other characters in the play. It often creates dramatic irony for the audience is given insight into a character's thoughts and intentions, all of which is withheld from the others.

Hamlet's soliloquies stand out in particular as fundamental pillars of the play itself. Nearing the end of the first act, Hamlet encounters the alleged ghost of his newly deceased father. It is in Hamlet's second soliloquy where it is revealed to the audience that he has a number of doubts, one regarding the identity of this spirit. Adhering to his Christian faith, he must determine whether the ghost was sent by the devil or the spirit of his father who came back from purgatory. "…The spirit that I have seen / May be a devil…" (2. 2. 529-530). The manner in which the ghost tells Hamlet to avenge his death is questionable; he makes it seem as though it is an easy task to carry out. Without comforting him...