Revenge or Scruples?
"'Vengeance is mine,' sayith the Lord". What does this mean? I
believe what the Christians meant it to mean is that we, as humans, have no
right to seek revenge, that only "the Lord" has the right to decide when to
take revenge. We say this, but do we follow it? No, I think not. We all try
to take revenge into our own hands, in one form or another.
Revenge is one strong theme that holds throughout "Hamlet". We see
Prince Hamlet try to execute a kind of private vengeance, an eye for an eye,
which is completely opposite of the Christian teachings. Hamlet is a man
who believes in heaven and hell and who feels that a man who challenges
divine ordinance will ultimately face judgment. We might look at the ghost
of the late king Hamlet as the part of us that wants to take vengeance into our
own minds.
David Garrick in Hamlet, I, 4
Book signing and Hamlet Au's interview with Julian...
HamletLike the little voice in our heads that tells us to do something,
when in our hearts we know it is wrong.
When Horatio, Barnardo, and Marcellus tell Hamlet of their sighting of
the ghost, Hamlet agrees to join them that night and see if he can observe the
ghost firsthand and possibly speak with it. That night when Horatio,
Marcellus, and Hamlet sight the ghost, it beckons Hamlet to leave the other
two and speak to it in privacy. Hamlet follows, despite the protests of the
others, who fear it may be an evil spirit, disguising as King Hamlet in order
to gain their trust. Horatio suggests that it may lead him astray and then
'assume some other horrible form / Which might deprive your sovereignty of
reason / And draw you into madness...' (I, iv, 80-82). Hamlet insists on
listening to the...