In this post, I complete the work begun here. These contextual details involve sanctions and succession.
Classical vs. Christian Views of the Afterlife: When Hamlet pictures an actual example of revenge, his image is classical. In his dialogue with the player king, Hamlet remembers Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, who avenges his father’s death by killing Priam. This is what the classical world would think of as proper vengeance: without remorse and striking with “malicious sport.” This would be a fitting end for Claudius, if not Priam. The problem is that the classical world could validate such action because there were no excessive eternal consequences for injustice. The Greeks believed that the positive sense of immortality only came through earthly glory.: one’s name living in fame after one’s death The best that a hero can hope for in the afterworld is existing as a shade, something that even the greatest of warriors experiences as a fate far worse than being a slave on earth. The reward for a life well-lived is not eternal bliss. It is earthly glory.
Christianity, on the other hand, views the afterlife as the ultimate realm of judgment. Hamlet is thinking of this in his first soliloquy. He can’t commit suicide because the “Everlasting” has “fix’d His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter.” He calls the afterlife “the undiscovered country” in his “To be or not to be” soliloquy. He considers “readiness” all in Act 5 because he recognizes the doctrine of eternal providence. This eternal vista is a much broader one than that offered by the classical world. The stakes for action are higher.
Perhaps most indicative of this clash is Hamlet’s reasoning in not killing Claudius in Act 3. He has more to consider than Claudius’s earthly punishment. Hamlet does not want Claudius to be materially damned but eternally blessed. He holds back his sword.
Pyrrhus would not have seen this distinction.
The Source Text: The story of Hamlet originates in a 12th Century Danish chronicle by Saxo Grammaticus and is indebted to even older pagan sagas about Danish kings. Amleth, the prince of Denmark, avenges his father’s death by first feigning madness, avoiding his uncle’s traps, then setting the palace on fire and killing his uncle. Amleth goes on to rule Denmark successfully. The story is pagan and brutal and further highlights many elements of Shakespeare’s Christian adaptation.
Experiments in Criticism 