4.3.2

Punishment in Hamlet

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Punishment in Crime Texts

Punishment takes on different forms in Hamlet.

Punishment by Law

Punishment by Law

  • In which, the criminal is caught, put on trial and sentenced by the ruling powers (the State, King, Court etc.).
    • The corruption of the Danish court means that this legal, official, state-sanctioned form of punishment is unavailable to Hamlet in trying to seek justice for the murder of his father.
    • As a consequence, Hamlet must work secretly, feigning madness as a means of keeping from Claudius that he knows his secret and that he is sworn to revenge.
Revenge

Revenge

  • One of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, Francis Bacon, warned that revenge was “a kind of wild justice [which] does… offend the law”.
  • Revenge is forbidden by the laws of state and religion. But the right to consider revenge as a form of just punishment derived from the Old Testament (‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth’) and from a medieval code of honour which justified revenge in cases where one’s person or family had been ‘dishonoured’.
Laertes and revenge

Laertes and revenge

  • Laertes invokes this code when he swears revenge for the death of his father and his sister’s madness.
  • Revenge was condemned by the Church, which considered it a sin, and by the State, which considered it a crime.
  • Laertes tells Claudius that he will defy any consequences from his act of revenge, proclaiming that he is even prepared to “dare damnation” (i.e. risk eternal punishment in Hell).
Revenge and morality tales

Revenge and morality tales

  • Revenge Tragedies such as Thomas Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy were often a form of morality tale in which the act of revenge would also lead to the hero’s destruction.
Divine Justice

Divine Justice

  • Divine Justice is the belief in God being the ultimate arbiter of our sins and that all our crimes will be punished appropriately come the Day of Judgement.
  • It is dramatized in Hamlet by the Ghost’s description of what appears to be Purgatory where he is “confined to fast in fires / Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature / Are burnt and purged away.”
  • The Ghost must suffer for the sins he has committed in life.
Hamlet's considerations

Hamlet's considerations

  • Hamlet perhaps has the Ghost’s sufferings in mind when he decides against suicide in his “To be, or not to be” soliloquy.
  • Hamlet does consider divine justice when he decides against killing Claudius when he is at prayer. He believes that a Claudius who has been absolved of his sins would go to Heaven, which would hardly be a just punishment.
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1

Introduction

1.1

Introduction & Background to Hamlet

1.1.1Introduction to Hamlet1.1.2The Literary Tradition of the Hamlet Story1.1.3Introduction to the Settings in Hamlet1.1.4Introduction to Social Issues Raised
2

Plot Summary

2.1

Act 1: Key Events & Ideas

2.1.1Act 1, Scene 12.1.2Act 1, Scene 22.1.3Act 1, Scene 32.1.4Act 1, Scenes 4-5
2.2

Act 2: Key Events & Ideas

2.2.1Act 2, Scene 12.2.2Act 2, Scene 2
2.3

Act 3: Key Events & Ideas

2.3.1Act 3, Scene 1: Key Events2.3.2Act 3, Scene 1: Key Ideas2.3.3Act 3, Scene 22.3.4Act 3, Scene 32.3.5Act 3, Scene 4
2.4

Act 4: Key Events & Ideas

2.4.1Act 4, Scene 12.4.2Act 4, Scenes 2-32.4.3Act 4, Scene 42.4.4Act 4, Scene 5: Key Events2.4.5Act 4, Scene 5: Key Ideas2.4.6Act 4, Scene 62.4.7Act 4, Scene 7
2.5

Act 5: Key Events & Ideas

2.5.1Act 5, Scene 1: Key Events2.5.2Act 5, Scene 2: Key Events2.5.3Act 5, Scene 2: Key Ideas
3

Character Profiles

3.1

Hamlet

3.1.1Hamlet's Speech & Mind3.1.2Hamlet's Heroic Status3.1.3Hamlet's State of Mind3.1.4Hamlet's Indecision/Action Taking
3.2

Claudius

3.2.1Claudius' Crime3.2.2Changing Impressions of Claudius
3.3

Gertrude

3.3.1Mystery & Hamlet's View of Gertrude3.3.2Gertrude's Character3.3.3Gertrude's Relationship with Hamlet
3.4

Ophelia

3.4.1Ophelia
3.5

Polonius

3.5.1Portrayal of Polonius & Treatment of Ophelia3.5.2Polonius' Spying & Death
3.6

Laertes

3.6.1Laertes' Popularity & Relationship with Ophelia3.6.2Laertes' Character Traits
4

Key Themes

4.1

Regicide in Hamlet

4.1.1Regicide in Hamlet
4.2

Madness in Hamlet

4.2.1Madness in Hamlet
4.3

Guilt & Punishment in Hamlet

4.3.1Guilt in Hamlet4.3.2Punishment in Hamlet
4.4

Settings in Hamlet

4.4.1Physical Settings & Historical Setting of Hamlet
5

Writing Techniques

5.1

Structure

5.1.1Structure of Hamlet5.1.2'Play Within a Play' Structure5.1.3Play-Acting Motif
5.2

Form

5.2.1Soliloquy5.2.2Comedy
5.3

Imagery

5.3.1Imagery of Corruption & Decay5.3.2Imagery: Healing, Performance & Costume
5.4

Language

5.4.1Word Usage & Hendiadys5.4.2Questions & Classical Allusions
6

Context

6.1

Social & Historical Context

6.1.1Elizabeth I & Succession6.1.2Cosmic & Social Hierarchy6.1.3Renaissance & Emergence of Humanism6.1.4Regicide6.1.5The Reformation
6.2

Literary Context

6.2.1Seneca Tragedy6.2.2The Revenge Tragedy
6.3

Performance & Textual History

6.3.1Performance History of Hamlet6.3.2Textual History of Hamlet
7

Critical Debates

7.1

18-19th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.1.1Introduction to Critical Debates7.1.218th Century Commentary on Hamlet7.1.3Romantic Commentary on Hamlet
7.2

20th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.2.1Freudian Response to Hamlet7.2.2Other Early 20th Century Responses to Hamlet
7.3

Feminist Readings of Hamlet

7.3.1Introduction to Feminist Criticism7.3.2Feminist Readings of Hamlet7.3.3Presentation of Ophelia
7.4

Marxist/Political Readings of Hamlet

7.4.1Introduction to Marxist Criticisms7.4.2Marxist Readings of Hamlet

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Guilt in Hamlet

Physical Settings & Historical Setting of Hamlet