Hamlet Final Paper

1 Gloria Lloyd English 300 Professor Lori Newcomb December 13, 2004

“Remember Me”: Hamlet’s Father Vs. Hamlet’s King “Murder most foul, as in the best it is,/ But this most foul, strange and unnatural”— with these words, in Act One, Scene Five of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the ghost of Hamlet’s father tells Hamlet the secret of his murder, and encourages him to kill his murderer, the ghost’s own brother, Claudius. Hamlet must choose whether to honor his king, Claudius, or honor the wishes of his father the ghost, by killing the new king. In a speech to Parliament in 1610, King James I said, “Kings are justly called gods for that they exercise a manner or resemblance of divine power upon earth” (James 329). Hamlet’s father maintains that he is the rightful king and that only Hamlet can help him to restore the natural order, intended by God. However, Hamlet’s situation is extremely complicated—his father was his king, and his father’s murderer, whom his father wants him to kill in revenge, is his new king. By the end of the passage and the encounter with his father, Hamlet realizes the complexity of the decision that he will ponder for the rest of his life—whether he will follow his father or his king. In her article “The Once and Future Kings: Four Studies of Kingship in Hamlet,” Sara M. Deats concludes that Hamlet’s ghost is authentic. As the ghost leaves, Hamlet makes this same decision, choosing to follow his father, declaring that the ghost’s “commandment all alone shall live/ Within the book and volume of my brain” (Shakespeare 1.5.102-3). In 1610, King James I of England and Scotland gave a speech to the English Parliament, in which he attempted to convince them that the king not only had a

2 divine right to rule, but that the monarch had supremacy over all that he ruled, including any government bodies, such as Parliament, that may try to overrule his ideas. In trying to convince Parliament to grant his wish to raise taxes, James argued that “monarchy is the supremest thing on earth” and that kings “are justly called gods for that they exercise a manner or resemblance of divine power upon earth” (James 329). As God rules over His people, so does the king rule over his people. As God knows what is right and the best for His people, the king also has a duty to protect his people and do what is best for them– James believes that not only is a king naturally placed in charge by a higher power, but that the king also must serve his people on the “grounds of policy and philosophy,” doing what is only in their best interest (329). Just as the kings’ subjects serve the king, the king must also serve his subjects and do what is best for them. When Hamlet’s father’s ghost appears to young Hamlet, the ghost evokes the aura of his kingly demeanor, appearing in full armor, reflecting the glory that he used to radiate as king over all of Denmark—part of his attempt to convince Hamlet that he is the rightful king. He begins by associating himself with a kind of righteous war for God, mentioning his “eternal blazon” (Shakespeare 1.5.21). The Oxford English Dictionary defines “blazon” as “a shield used in war” or a “record of virtues or excellencies” (OED 1, 2). The ghost displays his shield along with his words, showing Hamlet that he is in the right, attempting to convince his son to join his side in the battle against Claudius. The “record” that his armor and “blazon,” or words show, display what a good king the elder Hamlet was, in battle and in life. The old King Hamlet, dressed as he is in his soldier’s uniform, is ready for battle— and Denmark is at war with Norway. The reader

3 does not know if Claudius is a good soldier, but the palace guards, while watching for his ghost, reveal that the old King Hamlet was an excellent warrior, who defeated Old Fortinbras of Norway. In this way, Claudius’ murder of his brother the king even placed the people of Denmark in danger—“So the whole ear of Denmark/ Is by a forged process of my death/ Rankly abused” (36-8). The old king “was not only a valiant warrior but also a just and popular sovereign” (Deats 17). Indeed, the descriptions of the late king are only positive. Sara Deats holds the elder Hamlet as a “standard of kingship against which the incumbent and the pretenders to the throne of Denmark may be evaluated” (Deats 17). Despite all this evidence in his favor, the ghost of the dead king must still beg his audience of one to listen to him, which contrasts with the absolute command he once held over his subjects as king—“List, list, O, list!” (Shakespeare 1.5.22) Hamlet is his only chance for revenge. The prince must follow his instructions, the ghost says, if he “didst ever [his] dear father love” (23). Since Hamlet is the “true heir of such a father,” he knows what he has to do, and immediately says he will do it upon the mention of murder: “I, with wings as swift/ As meditation or the thoughts of love,/ May sweep to my revenge” (Filmer 284, Shakespeare 29-31). He has only “thoughts of love” at the idea of murdering his father’s murderer, until he hears who it is-- his own uncle, and king, Claudius. As soon as old Hamlet died, it seems, he was replaced on the throne by Claudius. And even in Hamlet’s mind now, Claudius is the sole king. Killing him would be like killing God, in a way. Hamlet’s initial fervor for revenge cools when he learns who the perpetrator is—and his reluctance to act continues for the rest of the play.

4 Hamlet must decide what the correct course of action is when the “Pater Patriae” is murdered (283). What is the next step when the murderer then becomes king? Since kings are divinely chosen, perhaps God chose the second king over the first. Or is God upset over the usurpation? These are conflicts that Hamlet has to face after his confrontation with his father, and none of them are easily addressed or solved. He must decide between obeying his father, a good and honorable king, viciously murdered, or his uncle the new king, an “incestuous… adulterate beast” (42). If he chooses to obey his father, he rebels against the idea that kings are divinely chosen, and therefore the very idea of kings in and of themselves: if a king is not divinely selected, the only power they would possess is that bestowed on them by the people, and kings are not chosen by the people. At the same time, Claudius has become Hamlet’s father in many ways—he is now his stepfather, and according to the definitions of the time, would be considered Hamlet’s father and guardian (OED 1.e.), certainly much more than a ghost, especially considering how Claudius treats him— in a “paternal, authoritative, or severe manner” (3.d.) Hamlet finds himself in an impossible situation. His father and true king, Hamlet, has told him to kill his uncle and usurper. Like Denmark before him, he must choose who to grant sovereignty to. Do his loyalties lie with his father, his king, or his God? Was the removal of old Hamlet from the throne an act of God, or “sinful and damnable”? Should Hamlet wait to see how God wants to deal with the situation? Perhaps, as Deats theorizes, God wants Hamlet to do His bidding by killing Claudius. The ghost calls his own death a “foul and most unnatural murder”, implying that his death violated the natural order of life, the laws of nature and God (Shakespeare 1.5.25) As

5 Hamlet exclaims, “O my prophetic soul!/ My uncle?”, his concerns and worries over the depth of the situation are already surfacing (41). His “prophetic soul” had in some way sensed the situation, but the true horror of the circumstances are only now fully revealed. James I told Parliament, “God has power to create, or destroy, make, or unmake at his pleasure, to give life, or send death, to judge all, and to be judged nor accountable to none; to raise low things, and to make high things low at his pleasure, and to God are both soul and body due. And the like power have kings” (James 329). By appointing himself the divine avenger for his father, Hamlet would be assuming a king-like or god-like position himself, deciding whether Claudius shall live or die. Even to discern whether the ghost of his father is divine or a demon is assuming that he has some sort of superhuman powers, also. For Hamlet, a choice must be made—whether he places his father at a higher, more divine level of kingship than he places his uncle, and whether he is also willing to risk assuming this higher level of kingship to take action. In her article “The Once and Future Kings: Four Studies of Kingship in Hamlet,” Sara M. Deats writes of this kingship question, and ponders “the king that was, King Hamlet; the king that is, King Claudius” and “the king that might have been, Prince Hamlet,” to decide which king is divinely chosen and which king is best for Denmark. She explains how Claudius is almost always portrayed in a negative light when compared to old Hamlet, especially in the scene in which old Hamlet’s ghost encounters Hamlet, in which the ghost reveals Claudius that Claudius is guilty of “five of the most heinous sins in the Elizabethan canon—fratricide, regicide, usurpation, adultery and incest” (Deats 18). Indeed, Claudius is often portrayed as a “stage Machiavel,” often shown

6 manipulating others to achieve his will (Deats 19). But despite his efforts, Claudius never rises to the level of success his predecessor, old Hamlet, did. Claudius becomes “not only a source of disorder, but a source of corruption in the state of Denmark,” his own evil actions imperceptibly corrupting the entire state. Deats asserts that when Claudius murdered the king of Denmark, he also killed the whole of Denmark through a “gradual poisoning of the state” (Deats 20). If he were divinely chosen by God as the rightful king over old Hamlet, he would have been doing what is best for Denmark all along, as James I said a good king should, and Claudius demonstrates throughout the play that he rarely considers Denmark’s needs over his own. James also elaborates in his speech, “So were he a foolish father that would disinherit or destroy his children without a cause… And it were an idle head that would in place of physic so poison or phlebotomize the body as might breed a dangerous distemper or destruction thereof” (James 330). By killing the elder Hamlet, Claudius had only his own selfish desires in mind—to rule Denmark and win Gertrude. He actually placed the people of Denmark in danger by ignoring the divine order of hierarchy. He may hold the position of king, but he did not earn it by divine right, and does not prove within the play that he deserves the title over Hamlet’s father. However, a second question that Hamlet faces is whether the ghost of his dead father is an actual ghost or a fiend from hell sent to spur him to murder. Deats writes that “since divine permission alone could release a spirit from purgatory, the ghost’s demands must be not only a personal call for vengeance but a divine injunction appointing Hamlet as God’s minister to punish Claudius and to purge Denmark of his polluting influence”

7 (20). Because of this, she concludes that Hamlet’s father is the rightful king, both divinely chosen and the best for Denmark. James says that “kings are not only God’s lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon God’s throne, but even by God himself they are called gods” (James 329). Kings do God’s bidding on Earth, the same as Hamlet’s father’s ghost wants Hamlet to do. If Hamlet’s father is divinely sent, Hamlet must follow his commands and kill the usurper Claudius. However, if Claudius was divinely chosen to kill the king and assume his place on the throne, Hamlet would be no better than he thinks Claudius himself is. Hamlet’s ghost evokes and even usurps the role of God by insisting that Hamlet “[r]evenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (Shakespeare 1.5.25). It is reminiscent of another Old Testament admonition, to take “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, but Hamlet’s father insists on an earthly revenge for Claudius, along with the damnation he will eventually receive (Word 51). Gertrude merits no such treatment—he tells Hamlet to leave her punishment to God. Hamlet’s father takes matters entirely into his own hands in this situation, rather than leaving matters to the divine being—unless he is sent from God himself, as Deats theorizes. The ghost provides more evidence to support his claim to authenticity. By claiming that his murder was “most foul, strange, and unnatural,” old Hamlet shows that his death went against the natural order of him who would “sit upon God’s throne” (Shakespeare 1.5.28). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “unnatural” can be defined as “abnormal, monstrous” and “having no natural right or claim” (OED 1.b., 4). Old Hamlet distinguishes himself from his murderer—Claudius is the demon from hell, not the ghost. Claudius is “a wretch whose natural gifts were poor/ To those of mine!” (51-2). Unlike himself, wrongfully usurped as the rightful king of

8 Denmark, the ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius was never divinely blessed, and would never have been chosen as a better king than old Hamlet. At the conclusion of the encounter with his father, Hamlet seems to realize that the ghost is divinely inspired, saying, “thy commandment alone shall live/ Within the book and volume of my brain” (102-3) By using the word “commandment,” as God did with His Ten Commandments, Hamlet places his father in the realm of divine being, rather than hellish, and vows to follow his commands and kill Claudius. James I made clear in his speech to Parliament that kings have divine powers as “lieutenants of God” Himself. But in Hamlet’s encounter with his dead father’s ghost, these issues become more complicated. At first, Hamlet is eager to avenge his father’s death. But upon learning that he would also become the killer of a king, Hamlet pulls back from executing a hasty revenge. Hamlet must decide whether his father or Claudius is God’s choice as king, and therefore, whether kings are divinely chosen at all, as James I declared in his 1610 speech to Parliament. At the conclusion of the scene, the ghost convinces Hamlet—for the time being—that he is divinely inspired and Hamlet decides to carry out the ghost’s—and therefore God’s—will. His loyalty shifts from Claudius, his new king, to his father, the rightful king.