Hamlet

In what can perhaps be called literature’s most significant play and William Shakespeare’s magnum opus, Hamlet explores the ensuing struggle after Prince Hamlet seeks revenge once he discovers his uncle to be his father’s murderer. As Hamlet progresses, the young prince executes his plan with explicit detail, creating a smokescreen around his loved ones that only he can navigate through. Hamlet’s actions in the play suggest that he is a sociopath, evoking neither emotion nor rectitude. However, Shakespeare paints Hamlet not as an apathetic murderer, but a grieving son. This can be supported through several instances in the play.

            As Hamlet prepares to avenge his father after discovering the murder conspiracy, he falls into a downward spiral. All those around him notice, and when Polonius takes his leave, Hamlet replies, “You cannot, sir, take from me anything that I will more willingly part withal.” (205) This response to Polonius indicates that Hamlet feels he has lost everything. His father is dead, his murderous uncle is the king, and his mother married before the funeral was even over. This evokes a strong response of sympathy and compassion in the reader. Later, perhaps the most famous line in the world, “To be, or not to be: that is the question,” (58) describes Hamlet’s struggle for life. Feeling as if nothing is worth it, he does not plan to kill King Claudius but instead himself. This clearly shows that he is not thinking of murder. As Hamlet prepares to kill him in Act III, Scene III, he notes that Claudius is praying. His reluctance to kill a religious man is a testament to his empathetic nature.

            There is no doubt that some of Hamlet’s thoughts are murderous and cynical in nature. Nevertheless, Hamlet is not a cold-blooded killer. He ultimately kills Claudius not because of what a ghost told him to do, but to release what he had been feeling all along. Thus, Hamlet’s murdering Claudius can be seen not as the ultimate act of a sociopath, but as the ultimate act of a scrupulous human.