Hamlet is a revenge tragedy, but it is also a cautionary tale in which Shakespeare rejects the revenge ethic and warns his audience about the dangers of seeking revenge. What is the revenge ethic?

Hamlet is a revenge tragedy, but it is also a cautionary tale in which Shakespeare rejects the revenge ethic and warns his audience about the dangers of seeking revenge. What is the revenge ethic? The Revenge Ethic treats revenge as a moral duty. Under the revenge ethic, if a family is hurt, shamed, or killed, then the members of that family ought to seek revenge.
How is hamlet a rejection of revenge and the revenge ethic? In hamlet, the various revenge plots all end in utter disaster. At the conclusion of the play, the stage is littered with the bodies of the people who have been violently killed. Shakespear’s point is obvious: those who live by the violence of revenge will die violently. The last scene’s condemnation of revenge is made all the more profound by the way vengeful characters fall into the very traps they set for others.
How does Horatio, who acts as the moral standard in Hamlet, summarize the plays warning to the audience that everyone who pursues revenge will eventually find himself being pursued? “So shall you hear of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, of accidental judgments, casual slaughters, of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause, and, in this upshot, purposes mistook falling on the inventors heads. (5.2.389-93)
What is the biblical teaching on vengeance? Vengeance, seeking just recompense for a wrong that has been done, is not inherently evil. God himself is an Avenger, and civil rulers are called to avenge evil. The Bible forbids, not vengeance, but individuals, acting outside of God’s lawful means, taking vengeance into their own hands.
In Shakespear’s plays, characters often go out to sea of into a forest and come back transformed. Although Hamlet’s episode with the pirated takes place off stage, and we hear about it only after the events have happened, this is a major turning point in the story. How is Hamlet different when he comes back from being out on the sea? How is this change reflected in his comment to his friend Horatio? Before going out to sea, Hamlet was twisted up in everybody else’s curtains, hardly in control of his own life, let alone his mission of revenge. Upon his return, he recognizes the hand of Providence is completely in control of his life and his mission. By Providence, his life is spared because he happens to have his father’s ring in his pocket. By providence, he happens to find a letter, not addressed to him, and he reads it. By providence, a pirate ship attacks, and he boards their vessel to fight them. By Providence, the pirates turn out to be good guys, and they rescue him from spying friends. Hamlets change is reflected in his comment to his friend Horatio that: “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will”
How does the Westminster Shorter Catechism define God’s works of providence? “God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions.
In addition to affirming divine providence how does Hamlet also affirm that divine justice will ultimately win out over the revenge ethic in the end? The sword and the cup at the end of the play are both symbols of God’s divine justice. Shakespeare has God step in to do what Hamlet cannot; enact justice on the rotten state of Denmark.
Ghost in Shakespeare’s plays serve as reminders that all human actions, whether for good or ill, have an irreversible effect on the world. What important role does the Ghost of King Hamlet play in Hamlet? The Ghost represents a warning to the audience that the effects of sin cannot be avoided forever, but will eventually come back to “haunt: the sinner. Past sins may be forgiven, but they still place irreversible burdens on the present. Neither fathers nor their deeds are ever entirely dead.
Hamlet is a deeply troubled man and his despair leads him to consider taking his own life. In his famous soliloquy he ask whether it is “nobler in mind to suffer the outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them”. Why does Hamlet reject the temptation to flee from his struggles on earth by ending his life and entering into an eternal sleep? Support your answer with a quote from Hamlet. Hamlet fears death, being an undiscovered country, contains unknown ills. “to sleep! Perchance to dream:- ay; there’s the rub; for in that sleep of death what dreams may come, the undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveler returns, -puzzles the will, and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we not know of?
Denmark represents a fallen world, needing to be set right. While Shakespeare does not show us the Redeemer he does show us the folly and danger of man’s efforts at self-redemption and especially redemption through violence. Those who seek vengeance do not prosper. The crown usurped by the serpent is finally worn by one who rejected revenge. And the meek inherit the land. What happens to the following characters at the conclusion of the play: Laertes (The Hot-Blooded Avenger), Claudius (The Serpent), Hamlet (The Reluctant Avenger), and Fortinbras (The one who Disavowed Vengeance). Leartes – Falls into the trap he made for HamletClaudius – Is killed by both the venomed blade and the poisoned challice.Hamlet – Falls victim to Leartes’s revenge.Fortinbras – the only son who disavows revenge, inherits the kingdom.
Milton’s Christian epic, Paradise Lost, is considered the greatest epic in the English language. What is an epic? Epics are long poems with an exalted tone that tell a story defining importance to the civilization they embody. They evoke and explore the cultures most treasured values and ideas. Epics usually involve wars and combat, and they often include supernatural characters, descents into hell and divine rescuers.
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey gives us the glory that was Greece. Virgil’s Aeneid gives us the grandeur that was Rome. In Dante’s Divine Comedy can be found virtually every element of the medieval heart and mind. And in Milton’s Paradise Lost we have the great biblical epic of the Reformation. What is the subject of Paradise Lost? Paradise lost’s subject is the Fall of Man, but in trying to imagine the creation of the universe and what happened to Adam and eve, Milton also must imagine the rebellion on Satan and other fallen angels. All of which, in turn, makes Milton look forward to the defeat of Satan and the restoration of the human race thanks to the life, death and resurrection of the Son of God.
John Milton was a Puritan who was also a champion of freedom, a revolutionary who helped overthrow the English monarchy, someone of extraordinarily heightened sensitivity, the author of some of the most beautiful verse ever written, and one of the most learned men in the history of the world. And yet, despite his accomplishments, Milton did not feel that he had found his true calling until he wrote Paradise Lost. What circumstances in Milton’s life lead to the writing of Paradise Lost? Milton wrote Paradise Lost at the lowest point in his life. He was destitute and bereft. His first and second wife both died at an early age, his political hopes and dreams had been shattered, his eyesight completely gone, and he was in prison. At the lowest point of his life Milton looked for answers in the Bible and finally attended to his true calling -to write an epic poem that “asserts Eternal Providence, and justifies the ways of God to men” (I.25-26)
Contrary to the pagan epics that praise Achilles who is proud and wrathful and Odysseus who is deceitful, how does Milton present true heroism? Milton argues that heroism does not involve killing people but rather patiently and courageously enduring suffering. Adam and Eve demonstrate this heroism of patience when they repent to God and to each other and take on the life of faith. The most impressive heroism for Milton is the self-sacrifice of “martyrdom.” in Paradise lost the Son of God is described as a heroic martyr who gives his life to redeem the fallen world.
How does Satan try to convince his minions that they are able to remain free, even if they are in Hell? Would CS Lewis agree with Satan’s argument? Satan argues that it is possible to remain free, even in Hell, because the mind “is its own place” and thus can, in that “place” make a Heaven of Hell. CS Lewis argues to the contrary that the human mind apart from God, and left to itself, is not free but a dungeon.
What phrase from the Odyssey does Milton invert and craft into the motto of those in Hell? In the Odyssey, Achilles tells Odysseus (When Odysseus is visiting him in the underworld): “I’d rather slave on earth for another man – some dirt-poor tenant farmer who scrapes to keep alive – than rule down here over all the breathless dead.” Milton has satan invert this famous line and craft it into his motto which is, “Better to reign in Hell, then to serve in Heav’n.”
What does Beelzebub propose as the best way to attack Heaven? Beelzebub refers to the ancient prophecy about a creature called Man who will dwell on another world. Although it may be foolish to attack Heaven directly, it may be possible to attack Heaven indirectly by attacking this new creation. They can get at God by seducing the ones He loves. Ultimately, the goal is to make God so angry with man that He will become their foe and destroy His own creation.
How does Milton present Satan and his rejection of repentance? Why does Satan reject repentance and how is this similar to Dante’s description of Hell in the Inferno? In Satan’s rejection of repentance, Milton presents Satan as a creature who is heroically asserting the authority of his will against one who would limit it. At first, like Claudius in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Satan is unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary to reverse his course. In the end, however, it is despair that keeps Satan from repenting. This is where Dante’s and Milton’s Satan are most alike. The inscription over the entrance to Hell in Dante’s Inferno tells all those who enter to abandon hope. Hell is a place of absolute, metaphysical despair.
Book IX, which describes Adam’s mental struggle as he seeks to decide if he is going to follow Eve into sin, is one of the most highly speculative in the poem. Though Genesis does not directly tell us why Adam made the choice that he did, why, according to Milton, did Adam choose to fall after his wife had disobeyed? In Milton’s account, Adam Chooses to fall with Eve out of an idolatrous love for her. Adam would rather rebel against God and die with Eve, then to live without her. She has become for him the forbidden fruit with which he cannot do without. Thus, according to Milton, the sin for which Adam fell was the sin of Idolatry.
Robinson Crusoe is first and foremost an adventure story. Daniel Defoe wanted to give his readers a chance to experience what it would be like to try to survive on an island, stranded from civilization. At the same time, it is hard to imagine a more Christian book. One of the main Christian themes presented in the book is that of death and resurrection. How is death and resurrection depicted in Robinson Crusoe? Through the storm and Shipwreck, Crusoe undergoes a symbolic death and resurrection, and as a result, his life on the island is his resurrected life. Crusoe’s true conversion comes a few months after he arrives on the island as he reads his Bible and the Holy Spirit works to bring new life into his dead heart. Towards the end of the book, Crusoe receives a final and ultimate resurrection when he is rescued from the island.
Crusoe’s rejects the wise counsel of his Father and departs on a journey that almost leads to his ruin. In the early days of his excursion Crusoe faces difficulties and begins to see the wisdom of his Father’s advise, and yet he refuses to repent and return home. What keeps Crusoe from returning home? Crusoe chose not to return home because he was ashamed of what his friends and family might think of him. He regrets that while he was not ashamed to sin, he was ashamed to repent, but he puts off doing the right thing. His heard grows harder with the passing of time, and in the end he lays aside any thought of returning home and sets off on another voyage.
For naturalistic Romantics the world, in its natural, untamed state, is a source of inspiration, beauty, and goodness. According to Romantics, man, in a “state of nature,” unspoiled by civilization, is basically good and lives without sin. Does Robinson Crusoe support the naturalistic Romantic view that mankind ought to live alone in union with nature? Contrary to naturalistic Romanticism, Robinson Crusoe presents a Christian view of the natural world as a sinful and untamed place that needs to be wisely governed and subdued by righteous men. Crusoe depends on the tools brought from civilization for his survival on the island, mourns the lack of community on the island, and longs to return to the civilized world, and preaches the gospel to Friday, which results in Friday’s conversion and rejection of the cannibalistic practices of his fellow natives.
What is Emma’s basic problem? Emma believes herself to be a good judge of people and attempts to use her skill by matching people together. Though she means well, Emma assumed too much of herself. She fails to recognize that her opinions of people are often based on neither reason of actual experience. Because her judgements are unfounded, Emma’s attempts at match making cause great harm to those that she loves most.
Some get distracted by the scenery, by the balls, by the dresses, by the coaches, and by the flirtations and courtships, when Emma is actually about something called . . . repentance. How does the Westminster Shorter Catechism define repentance unto life? “Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of sin, and apprehension of mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.”
When Mr. Knightly rebukes Emma for her sin, and she is awakened to the reality and seriousness of her actions, she repents. Is Emma’s repentance a true repentance unto God or is she simply turning over a new leaf? Emma’s repentance is a true repentance unto God. She recognized the foolishness and sinfulness of her behavior and this results in a proper humiliation followed by real grace. Because of this, Emma’s Godly sorrow bears fruit. She takes action and seeks to put things right.
Emma gets herself into trouble by judging others wrongly, and while the Bible calls us to be very careful in the way that we judge others, it does not condemn judging altogether. What are some biblical guidelines for making right judgments? Right Judgement is charitably quick to believe innocence, charitably slow to pronounce guilt, charitably redemptive when it must be, and charitably silent if at all possible.
September 10, 2019