Punishment in Hamlet

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Punishment takes on different forms in Hamlet.

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

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 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 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 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 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.

1Introduction

1.1Introduction & Background to Hamlet

1.1.1Introduction to Hamlet

1.1.2The Literary Tradition of the Hamlet Story

1.1.3Introduction to the Settings in Hamlet

1.1.4Introduction to Social Issues Raised

2Plot Summary

2.1Act 1: Key Events & Ideas

2.1.1Act 1, Scene 1

2.1.2Act 1, Scene 2

2.1.3Act 1, Scene 3

2.1.4Act 1, Scenes 4-5

2.2Act 2: Key Events & Ideas

2.2.1Act 2, Scene 1

2.2.2Act 2, Scene 2

2.3Act 3: Key Events & Ideas

2.3.1Act 3, Scene 1: Key Events

2.3.2Act 3, Scene 1: Key Ideas

2.3.3Act 3, Scene 2

2.3.4Act 3, Scene 3

2.3.5Act 3, Scene 4

2.4Act 4: Key Events & Ideas

2.4.1Act 4, Scene 1

2.4.2Act 4, Scenes 2-3

2.4.3Act 4, Scene 4

2.4.4Act 4, Scene 5: Key Events

2.4.5Act 4, Scene 5: Key Ideas

2.4.6Act 4, Scene 6

2.4.7Act 4, Scene 7

2.5Act 5: Key Events & Ideas

2.5.1Act 5, Scene 1: Key Events

2.5.2Act 5, Scene 2: Key Events

2.5.3Act 5, Scene 2: Key Ideas

3Character Profiles

3.1Hamlet

3.1.1Hamlet's Speech & Mind

3.1.2Hamlet's Heroic Status

3.1.3Hamlet's State of Mind

3.1.4Hamlet's Indecision/Action Taking

3.2Claudius

3.2.1Claudius' Crime

3.2.2Changing Impressions of Claudius

3.3Gertrude

3.3.1Mystery & Hamlet's View of Gertrude

3.3.2Gertrude's Character

3.3.3Gertrude's Relationship with Hamlet

3.4Ophelia

3.4.1Ophelia

3.5Polonius

3.5.1Portrayal of Polonius & Treatment of Ophelia

3.5.2Polonius' Spying & Death

3.6Laertes

3.6.1Laertes' Popularity & Relationship with Ophelia

3.6.2Laertes' Character Traits

4Key Themes

4.1Regicide in Hamlet

4.1.1Regicide in Hamlet

4.2Madness in Hamlet

4.2.1Madness in Hamlet

4.3Guilt & Punishment in Hamlet

4.3.1Guilt in Hamlet

4.3.2Punishment in Hamlet

4.4Settings in Hamlet

4.4.1Physical Settings & Historical Setting of Hamlet

5Writing Techniques

5.1Structure

5.1.1Structure of Hamlet

5.1.2'Play Within a Play' Structure

5.1.3Play-Acting Motif

5.2Form

5.2.1Soliloquy

5.2.2Comedy

5.3Imagery

5.3.1Imagery of Corruption & Decay

5.3.2Imagery: Healing, Performance & Costume

5.4Language

5.4.1Word Usage & Hendiadys

5.4.2Questions & Classical Allusions

6Context

6.1Social & Historical Context

6.1.1Elizabeth I & Succession

6.1.2Cosmic & Social Hierarchy

6.1.3Renaissance & Emergence of Humanism

6.1.4Regicide

6.1.5The Reformation

6.2Literary Context

6.2.1Seneca Tragedy

6.2.2The Revenge Tragedy

6.3Performance & Textual History

6.3.1Performance History of Hamlet

6.3.2Textual History of Hamlet

7Critical Debates

7.118-19th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.1.1Introduction to Critical Debates

7.1.218th Century Commentary on Hamlet

7.1.3Romantic Commentary on Hamlet

7.220th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.2.1Freudian Response to Hamlet

7.2.2Other Early 20th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.3Feminist Readings of Hamlet

7.3.1Introduction to Feminist Criticism

7.3.2Feminist Readings of Hamlet

7.3.3Presentation of Ophelia

7.4Marxist/Political Readings of Hamlet

7.4.1Introduction to Marxist Criticisms

7.4.2Marxist Readings of Hamlet

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