Corruption found in hamlet

” My words fly up, my thoughts remain below”: Corruption and Confusion found in Hamlet. ” Take heed to yourselves: if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him” (Luke 17: 3). This quote from the Bible relates to the themes found in Hamlet. After the murder of King Hamlet, Claudius neither repents that he murdered his own brother nor does he show any sign of remorse. In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare suggests that no sin is too great for God to forgive, but first we must ask for forgiveness; not to seek forgiveness is the greatest sin of all, worse even than murder. Prince Hamlet is justly angered by his uncle’s actions and vows to ” sweep to [his] revenge.”(1. 5. 37). Although Claudius never asks God’s forgiveness, there are many other characters in the play who commit sins but later express remorse. Laertes plays a main part of the king’s plan for Hamlet’s death. The king plans a fencing match in which Laertes’ sword will be poisoned. Upset by his father’s murder and the death of his sister, Ophelia, he agrees to the king’s proposal: “[Claudius] is justly served. It is a poison tempered by himself. Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet. Mine and my father’s death come not upon thee, nor thine on me.”(5. 2. 359). Laertes has wounded Hamlet with the poisonous blade and once Hamlet realizes the trap, he picks up the sword and Laertes is also slain. Although it seemed like a good idea to begin with for Laertes, it came back to kill him in the end. He says the king is justly served because his actions, as well as the king’s, were not honest. Once Laertes has informed Hamlet of his ” foul practice,” he asks to exchange forgiveness. Hamlet replies, ” Heaven make thee free of it. I follow thee.” (5. 2. 364). Near the beginning of the play, soon after the death of King Hamlet, Gertrude quickly marries King Hamlet’s far inferior brother, Claudius. Greatly upset by this, Prince Hamlet recalls how much Queen Gertrude and his father loved each other before his murder. ” Confess yourself to heaven, repent what’s past, avoid what is to come, and do not spread the compost on the weeds to make them ranker… Good night. But go not to my uncle’s bed. Assume a virtue if you have it not. [That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat, of habits devil…]” (3. 4. 170). Hamlet and Gertrude are talking in her bedroom after Polonius has mistakenly been killed. He tells her to ask for forgiveness of her sins and to commit no more such sins with his own father’s brother. Hamlet says his uncle is a monster for being responsible for such devilish actions and that she should repent while she can. Hamlet, through all of his seemingly crazy actions used to gain revenge for his father’s murder, feels that he is to blame for his beloved Ophelia’s death: ” I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum” (5. 1. 285). Hamlet is saying that Laertes’ love for Ophelia is nothing compared to how much he really loves her. Some may interpret that he feels terrible that he led her to think he was going mad in the process of getting revenge; now he will never be able to tell her how he really feels for her. Claudius is a villain not primarily because he is a murderer but because he does not seek forgiveness. Although Claudius kills his brother so that he his able to marry the queen, according to Shakespeare if he had sought redemption, he would have been set free. Some characters in the play seem to be sinners who will never be forgiven; however, in the end they seek the forgiveness that will allow them eternal life in heaven. Laertes is a good example, he is unjustly the cause of Hamlet’s death but he asks to exchange forgiveness, which frees him from his sin. Shakespeare is saying that no matter how grave the sin, it can be forgiven as long as the sinner truly seeks forgiveness.