“To what extent do you see Hamlet being constrained by duty

Hamlet lives in a society where the church forbids vengeance, however personal honour often overcomes the ecclesiastical law. At the time that William Shakespeare wrote this play these were also the circumstances in England, which would mean that members of the audience would be able to relate to Hamlet’s personal conflict. He is a man of great contradictions, being reckless yet cautious, tender yet ferocious.

Hamlet’s cultural identity causes conflict between his two primary duties. As the son of Old Hamlet, it is Hamlet’s duty to avenge his father’s murder yet as a citizen and Prince it is also his duty to protect the king and keep stability in society. Because it is Claudius, the King, whom Hamlet would need to kill in order to fulfil his duty to his father, a tension is created as to which duty should take precedence. Hamlet’s essential dilemma, and perhaps something that the modern men in the audience would be able to relate to, is the conformation between duty and morality, courage and fear.

The Ghost, claiming to be the spirit of Old Hamlet, tells the story of his murder and commands Hamlet to kill the culprit, the newl

The end of the play shows Hamlet dying, fulfilling his two conflicting duties. He fulfils the obligation to avenge his father’s murder by Killing Claudius; also, by killing Claudius the King, he is purging the corrupt from the monarchy. Just before Hamlet dies at the end of the play he asks his true friend Horatio to tell the people of Denmark his "cause aright", he wants everybody to know that his murder of their King was an act of justice, and not one of personal vengeance.

Hamlet is not the only son whose duty it is to avenge his father’s death in this, one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies; it is also the motivation behind Fortinbras’ and Laertes’ actions. However, Laertes’ revenge occurs very speedily in comparison to Hamlet’s and Fortinbras’. The theme of revenge still plays a major role in many modern films and plays. The genre of Westerns in particular use this Elizabethan routed motif of a troubled hero as a starting point for their plots, which shows the endurance of a revenge tragedy.

Prince Hamlet finds himself in a difficult situation. In Shakespearean times the audience would have understood how much a ghost in purgatory would suffer which would affect their reaction to this scene, however there would have been both Catholics and Protestants in the audience who would not share the same views. The Catholics believed that purgatory was where those who died without confessing their sins burnt away. The Protestants would be more suspicious of the ghost, perhaps viewing him as an agent sent by the devil to tempt Hamlet, as the new protestant religion abolished the notion of purgatory. The different religious beliefs in society came after Henry VIII founded the Church of England. An audience watching “Hamlet” in today’s society would most definitely share more than two religions, some people having very little, if any, religious beliefs, whilst others would have very strong beliefs. Therefore the reaction to this scene would vary, as it would for the original Elizabethan audiences Shakespeare wrote for.

Hamlet delays killing the King and even though he walks in on Claudius in prayer, a prime opportunity to fulfil his duty, he cannot bring himself to commit the murder. Here, Hamlet is being constrained once again by his religious beliefs. Because Claudius is praying Hamlet believes that, if he were to kill him, Claudius would go to Heaven and not Hell. He may also be uncomfortable with the morality of murdering a

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