Essay About Shakespeares Hamlet And Ethical Absolutes Of The Medieval Christian World

Hamlet – Essay – Monty tay
Search
Essays
Sign up
Sign in
Contact us
Tweet
Index
/English
Hamlet
Set against the shifting cultural/ontological parameters of the Elizabethan Era, Shakespeares Hamlet manipulates Kydian Revenge tragedy in an attempt to rationalise the philosophical and theological uncertainties of the playwrights changing/evolving world.This conflict resonates through the dramatic representation of the eponymous figures struggle to reconcile with/navigate  ……. and…… (put main words of question here), .finding resolution in the final act, allowing Shakespeare to advocate his own philosophical response to the inconstancy of the human experience.Emerging from the Renaissance Humanists response to the moral and ethical absolutes of the Medieval Christian world, Shakespeares Hamlet reflects a contemporary theological and philosophical search for moral clarity in the [shifting ontological paradigm] of the Elizabethan world of the 15th and 16th C, through his dramatization of the central protagonists struggle /to reconcile the moral absolutes of Christian orthodoxy with a powerful impulse for personal punitive retribution/with the moral ambiguities of his contemporary world.  This conflict  between faith and autonomous/individual will is foregrounded in Hamlets Too too solid flesh soliloquy, where the relational dialectic between orthodox Christian [moral] convention of the Everlasting… canon and his own desire for self-slaughter foreshadows the eponyms central dilemma of a personal impulse for revenge/retribution restrained by the convention of Christian dogma/doctrine. Accentuated by  the ongoing  biblical allusions to the Holy sacrament, Nicene Creed  and Judgement day , the purging of the soul and salvation  and sin that permeate the text,  this disharmony/ tension   between hamlets  filial obligation and a   world ordered by divine providence  embodies  the philosophical and theological tension that shapes the dramatic  burden of the play, precipitating a protracted philosophical inquiry into the ontological and existential parameters of Hamlets contemporary world.  Shakespeare situates this search in a world of indiscriminate failure ennui establishes the christian court as a metonym for duplicity, dishonestly and moral putrefaction …through an ongoing motif of moral decay, where sycophancy and artifice metaphorically “skin and film” the “rank corruption” of the Danish court that “infects unseen”. and to be “honest is to be one man in ten thousand”. Set against the eponyms search for moral truth, Shakespeares manipulation of an  this unweeded garden of human iniquity littered with “things rank and gross in nature’ , where words of pretence rise up but thoughts remain below, and the inky cloak of affection film the ulcer place and as corruption infest sunseens, exacerbate the inadequacies of / traditionally Christian treatment of sin  , challenge audiences perception of universal morality  and efficacy of moral absolutes in the increasingly secular world of late Renaissance England. Reflecting the ongoing tension between the epistemological and ontological parameters of the contemporary world, Hamlet engages in a protracted process of philosophical inquiry in an attempt to rationalize the cognitive and moral uncertainties of the Elizabethan era. Hamlet’s disillusionment with the duplicity and artifice of the Danish Court precipitates a metaphysical inquiry into the futility of human endeavor, where he juxtaposes the assertion and denial will in his “to be or not to be” soliloquy. Challenging orthodox Christian representations of death, Hamlet manufactures an extended topographical metaphor, comparing the ambiguities of the afterlife to an “undiscovered country”, suggesting it this uncertainty of the shadow world that suffocates great action, reducing the native hue of resolution to the detritus of existential anxiety. Imbued with anxiety and stasis, Hamlet’s metaphorical allegory of human resolution “sickled over the pale cast of thought”,. emulates the deep anxieties felt in an era of religious and philosophical disorientation evoking the inscrutable and enigmatic world in which humans had to orient themselves for the first time.  Left unresolved, this uncertainty is part of an ongoing pattern of questioning that is woven into the fabric of the play. From the play’s opening scene through to Hamlet’s protracted examination of the world, asking “Am I a coward?”, “Are you honest?”, or “What is this quintessence of dust?”, these questions, Reflect a contemporary shift in hierarchical notions of salvation and virtue, emulating  contextual  societal and cultural tensions and a questioning of dominant Christian, religious dogma that had underpinned medieval society.  Culminating in Hamlet’s confrontation with Opheli, asking “What should fellows such as I do crawling between earth and heaven?” this curious groping and tapping of thoughts captures what  C.S Lewis describes as, the ‘essential conflict of the play and the element of Hamlet’s predicament, arguing it is this search for clarity and moral absolutes amidst the shifting existential and theological parameters of a changing world that defines the protagonist’s passage through the play.

Continue for 4 more pages »
Read full document
Download as (for upgraded members)
Citation Generator
MLA 7
CHICAGO
(2016, 06). Hamlet. EssaysForStudent.com. Retrieved 06, 2016, from
“Hamlet” EssaysForStudent.com. 06 2016. 2016. 06 2016 < "Hamlet." EssaysForStudent.com. EssaysForStudent.com, 06 2016. Web. 06 2016. < "Hamlet." EssaysForStudent.com. 06, 2016. Accessed 06, 2016. Essay Preview By: Monty tay Submitted: June 18, 2016 Essay Length: 1,041 Words / 5 Pages Paper type: Essay Views: 439 Report this essay Tweet Related Essays A Critical Analysis of Hamlet Why is Shakespeare considered to be one of the greatest playwrights of his time? Shakespeare lived in the Elizabethan era and had to write for 1,751 Words  |  8 Pages Analysis of Hamlet's Emotional Character Disillusionment. Depression. Despair. These are the burning emotions churning in young Hamlet's soul as he attempts to come to terms with his father's death and 937 Words  |  4 Pages Analysis of Hamlet's First Soliloquy Hamlet's first soliloquy in Act I, scene ii, lines 133-164 is a passionate and startling passage that strongly contrasts to the artificial dialogue and actions 864 Words  |  4 Pages Death and Corruption in Hamlet Death And Corruption In Hamlet Harold Blume said it best when he said, "Hamlet is deaths ambassador to us." Throughout Hamlet, we have the images 1,572 Words  |  7 Pages Hamlet Analyzed in Terms of Aristotle's Poetics Hamlet Analyzed in Terms of Aristotle's Poetics Aristotle's Poetics is considered the guide to a well written tragedy; his methods have been used for centuries. 974 Words  |  4 Pages Similar Topics Hamlet Essay Hamlet Get Access to 89,000+ Essays and Term Papers Join 209,000+ Other Students High Quality Essays and Documents Sign up © 2008–2020 EssaysForStudent.comFree Essays, Book Reports, Term Papers and Research Papers Essays Sign up Sign in Contact us Site Map Privacy Policy Terms of Service Facebook Twitter