Hamlet Religion Quotes

Thought: Although the play's story is set in the late middle ages (before the Protestant Reformation), critics tend to agree that Hamlet is a quintessential "Protestant son." Not only does he live in Denmark, a Protestant nation by the time Shakespeare wrote the play, but he also attends school in Wittenberg, Germany. This, as we know, is where Martin Luther wrote his Ninety-five Theses in 1517 (considered to be the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation). Why does this matter? Well, the play can't seem to make up its mind about whether or not the play is set in a Catholic or Protestant world, which seems to register the kind of religious and spiritual anxiety and confusion that was brought on by the Protestant Reformation and England's official break with the Catholic Church under Henry VIII (1534).

Thought: Hmm. This is interesting. The Ghost not only claims to be Hamlet's "father's spirit," it also suggests that it's a Purgatorial ghost. (Purgatory was often imagined a fiery place where souls "purged away" their sins before going to heaven. Purgatorial spirits returned to ask loved ones for prayers that could help them to reach heaven faster.)

The problem with this is that Protestants (and we've already established that Hamlet's a Protestant) don't believe in Purgatory. At the time Shakespeare wrote the play, England was a Protestant nation that persecuted practicing Catholics. So, it's a big deal that the Ghost seems to be a Catholic.

In terms of plot, this partially explains why Hamlet is so skeptical of the Ghost's claims (that it's the spirit of his father and also that it was murdered by Claudius). This has some major consequences for the way the action of the play unfolds – Hamlet spends much of his time trying to figure out if the Ghost is trustworthy and whether or not Claudius is guilty of murder, which is one of many things that delays Hamlet's revenge.

Thought: The fact that the Ghost appears to be Catholic (while Hamlet appears to be a Protestant) isn't the only thing that makes the spirit a suspicious figure in this play (see discussion above). We should also keep in mind that Purgatorial spirits weren't in the habit of asking living relatives to murder other people (murder being a major sin for both Protestants and Catholics) to help them get to heaven. At the same time, Hamlet belongs to the generic category of "Revenge Tragedy," which doesn't exactly square with the kind of Christian ideologies that are registered in the play. All of which is to say that Shakespeare is working within and weaving together multiple literary and cultural traditions. If you want to think about this some more, check out "Genre" and also our discussion of "Tragedy."

Thought: We've seen (1.5.5 above) how the Purgatorial Ghost returns and asks Hamlet to help him "purge" his sins in order to hasten his ascent to heaven. We've also discussed how this impacts Hamlet's delay in avenging his father's murder.

In Hamlet in Purgatory, literary critic Stephen Greenblatt argues that the Ghost in Hamlet is significant for much more than its impact on the plot. For Greenblatt, the Ghost registers the complexities of the 16th century debate about Purgatory without coming down on one side or the other. Perhaps more than anything else, praying for Purgatorial spirits, argues Greenblatt, was a important way for the living to remember and express grief for lost love ones. According to Greenblatt, when the Anglican Church officially rejected the doctrine of Purgatory in 1563, it eliminated an important social and psychological function for the living. The Ghost in Hamlet, then, represents the bereavement process. (Hamlet, unlike the rest of the Danish court is still working through his grief for his dead father when the Ghost appears.) Greenblatt also argues that the Ghost registers general anxieties (among the living) of being forgotten after death – hence, the Ghosts demand that Hamlet "remember" his father.

Thought: For Hamlet, whose suicidal tendencies lead him to wish that his "flesh" would "melt" and dissolve, the issue of "self-slaughter" is a religious and moral dilemma that will haunt him throughout the play. Here, he laments that suicide is an unforgivable sin, an issue that will resurface after Ophelia's mysterious drowning. Check out 5.1.2 below.

Thought: Hamlet insists that Gertrude's hasty marriage to Claudius (after Old Hamlet's death) has turned the world into an "unweeded garden." This seems to suggest that, for Hamlet, Denmark was once a kind of idyllic Eden when his father was alive. Hamlet's view of Gertrude's remarriage also recalls Eve's temptation and the fall of man, which has some pretty significant implications for Hamlet's attitude toward women. Be sure to check out our discussion of "Gender" if you want to think about this some more.

Thought: The play frequently alludes to the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Here, Claudius admits to murdering Old Hamlet, which he compares to the "primal" (first) and "eldest" (oldest) murder in the Book of Genesis. Compare this to 5.1.3 below.

Thought: This isn't the play's first allusion to Cain, the infamous biblical figure who committed the first murder by killing his brother, Abel. (See 3.3.3 above.) Here, Hamlet visits the cemetery and complains that the gravedigger handles a skull without delicacy. In other words, the bones of the dead (except, perhaps, those that belong to murderers like Cain) should be handled with more care and respect. This seems to say a lot about our sensitive protagonist. Despite all his morbid musings about death and suicide, Hamlet values life. He also remains preoccupied with remembering and honoring his dead father (who was, as we know, murdered by a brother).

Thought: Ophelia's death is suspected to be a suicide and, although some strings are pulled to ensure that she receives a "Christian burial," she ultimately gets a shoddy service. Here, the Priest claims that doing anything more than the bare minimum for Ophelia "should profane the service of the dead." Understandably, Laertes's response to this is violent and emotionally charged. Clearly, he's devastated by his sister's death, which is made even more traumatic because the stingy burial rites don't seem to do Ophelia's memory justice.

Perhaps more than anything else, this scene reminds us that such services are rituals for the living. That is to say, they're rituals that help the living through the process of bereavement and can help alleviate some of our pain when we lose a loved one. What's so striking about this moment is the way we see how Shakespeare repeatedly returns to the idea that religious ideologies and practices are so central to the process of human grief. (Compare this to our discussion of Hamlet's memory of his father and his confrontation of the Purgatorial Ghost, above). In the play, Shakespeare seems particularly concerned with what happens to the living when we're denied the right to remember and honor lost loves ones in a meaningful way.

Thought: This is an especially important moment for Prince Hamlet. When his good friend, Horatio, warns him that he will lose the duel with Laertes, Hamlet reveals that he has decided to give in to God's "providence" and is ready to accept what's in store for his future. He seems to know his death is imminent and he accepts it with a sense of peace and "readiness." The reference to the "fall of the sparrow" is from Matthew 10.29 – "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father" – which is taken to mean that God oversees and determines the life and death of every single creature, even the sparrow.