Hamlets Philosophy of Life - Essay Example

Hamlet’s Philosophy of Life Many audiences have found Hamlet as one of the major characters whose traits are not entirely easily to discern. Probably that is because when he is “mad”, he is a different person from when he is sober. However, Hamlet portrays behaviors that even confuse his own closest friends who have been commissioned to spy on him. Claudius himself tries to understand him, but to no avail. Therefore, Hamlet’s complex nature may be seen to stem from a different approach to life that was not very common (Sandra 13). He is what Plato would term a thinker. This paper shall analyze Hamlet’s philosophical approach to life as seen through his interaction in the play. The thesis statement shall be: Hamlet is more of a philosopher prince than a young man seeking to revenge the death of his murdered father. At the beginning of the play, the ghost comes to Horatio who then calls others to him. Apparently, it is Hamlet’s father ghost. When the ghost reveals that Claudius is the one responsible for his murder, Hamlet is asked to seek revenge (Act 1, Scene 5 Line 7). Revenge is his idea of justice for the injustice done to his late father. Hamlet resolves to avenge his father’s death, but he is first withdrawn in a philosophical search of the meaning of death. One can say that by doing so, Hamlet is following the philosophical principle of reason and logic as the guiding principles for the justification of any action taken (Burnor and Raley 49). His deepest questions about death begin in the aftermath of his father’s death where he seeks to find out how the world of the dead may be like of what it means to be dead. Although he makes not so conclusive steps to find out practically the answers to such questions, one can observe his approach to his father’s revenge as philosophical. It may be taken that Hamlet does so to determine the extent to which the ghost’s claims may be reliable as the informing premises in which his actions would be based (Kane 475). While contemplating about the philosophy of death, Hamlet also delves into thoughts about whether one has the right to take his/her own life. In so doing, Hamlet may be seen to be trying to make comparisons to the nature of his father’s death. He silently engages in deductive reasoning that since it is morally illegitimate for one to take his own right, then it is morally wrong for another man to kill another man for no reason at all. His soliloquy can be seen to lead to a conclusion that his uncle Claudius did a heinous crime by killing his own brother for political greed. It takes some critical thinking for Hamlet to arrive at that unrevealed conclusion. Readers get to know this deductively since his contemplation about death was occasioned after his father’s ghost revealed to them that Claudius is guilty. From the Hamlets philosophical contemplation about life, one may also observe that Hamlet reveals his deep-seated beliefs about moral qualities of a righteous man. He may be seen to rebuke implicitly the man who has no respect for religious moral values especially with respect to life as a sacred state of existence (Peterson and Hasker 72). That is evident when he contemplate suicide yet he cannot bring himself to that point. When he contemplates suicide, he is at cross roads about trying to understand what life is. Hamlet’s religious philosophy towards life is also evidenced when he finds Claudius praying and resolves not to kill him then (Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 73-76). His philosophy of justice that comes out is that when a punishment is subscribed to one, even the consequences of such an action should depict the motive of the action (Burnor and Raley 127). His sparing of Claudius life when he found him praying may have been informed by virtue approach to ethics, consequential approach to ethics and relational approach to ethics. Under virtues ethics, he can be seen to have practiced moderation. That is because he restrained himself although his mission was so easy to accomplish then. Under relational approach to ethics, he is seen to have obeyed the fundamental principle that one should not do to others what they too would not wish done unto them. Although Claudius did not consider that when he killed the king, Hamlet’s actions reveal that he would not wish to kill a man while praying, as he finds it offensive. The most important philosophical approach to life that Hamlet is seen to have adopted when he resolves to avenge his father’s death is consequential approach to ethics. According to this theory, an action is only seen as right in the event that it leads to positive consequence. In this case, it may be an irony of consequence. Hamlet spares Claudius life when he finds him praying as killing him would have led to undesired consequences. Killing Claudius can be seen as the right punishment for his own actions as far as justice is concerned. However, to kill a man while praying would have distorted the whole perception to justice that Hamlet wanted. When a man prays, perhaps he has just prayed for the forgiveness of his sins. Killing Claudius while praying may have meant that Claudius dies a righteous man, and goes to heaven as he may have just repented (Act 1, Scene 3, Line 75). In Christian belief, when the righteous die, they go to heaven. Heaven is a place of happiness and compassion. Happiness and compassion are the last things Hamlet wished for his uncle Claudius. That may the exact reason he refrains from killing him when he found him praying. The consequences of his actions (avenging his father’s death by killing Claudius) are supposed to be a punishment, not promotion to glory. Therefore, it may be seen that consequential approach to ethics makes him tarry. He does not forgive him though. In short, it is observable that Hamlet’s actions have a philosophical perspective behind them (Rhodri 624). In some instance, like his soliloquy about death, he is seen engaging in an open approach of philosophical contemplation about death. He asks himself a number of rhetorical questions, all of which can only be debated by the audience. In some cases, his philosophical approach to life has to be deduced from his actions. One thing that is certain about him is that his approach to life is informed by various ethical philosophies. One can safely conclude that Hamlet is more of a philosopher prince than a young man seeking to revenge the death of his murdered father. Works Cited Burnor, Richard and Raley, Yvonne. Ethical Choices: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy with Cases. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. Kane, Rooks A. “The New Ophelia in Michael Almereydas Hamlet.” Literature-Film Quarterly. April, Vol. 42.2 (2014): 475. Peterson, Michael and Hasker, William. Reason and Religious Belief: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print. Rhodri, Lewis. “Hamlet, Metaphor, and Memory.” Studies in Philology Vol. 109.5 (2012): 609- 641. Sandra, Young. “Recognizing Hamlet.” Shakespeare in Southern Africa. Annual Vol. 26, (2014): 13-14. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. London: Collector’s Library, 2011. Print. Read More