in Hamlet
Christianity was discovered in the early first
century AD with teachings, miracles,
crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the son
of God. Christianity is the largest religion in
the world with over 2 billion followers and
believers; it has influenced western culture
for centuries and it is the dominant religion in
Europe and the Americas. Christian morality
is the belief that the best way to live is to
follow the virtuous ways and the religious
teachings of Jesus Christ.
Hamlet’s main theme of the play is tragedy,
however it does consist of religious ideologies
(Christian morals) and spiritual anxieties of the
sixteenth century. Hamlet intertwines Christian
behaviours towards murder, suicide, and
revenge. This play affects the characters and
causes them to realize that Christian ethics are
an incredibly significant part of how to live
righteously, although many of them only
recognize this after they have committed their
sins.
Hamlet is a firm believer in God
“There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come. If
it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come —the readiness is
all.” (Act 5, sc 2, lines 210-213)
God controls everything…Everything will work out as it’s destined…If something is
supposed to happen now, it will. If it’s supposed to happen later, it won’t happen now.
But he wishes God didn’t forbid suicide so that he could take his life away without
worrying that he would go to hell. By acknowledging this, he stayed true to his
Christian morals and did not go through with taking his life because he is aware of the
consequences that he would face.
QUOTES
In Hamlet it shows Christian Morality because of the way that the main characters show
their faith to God. They are aware of religion but it’s hard for them to follow because of
all the temptation and drama that surrounds them.
“… there’s a God in heaven who’s always guiding us in the right direction, however often
we screw up –“

Pride: excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of
the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as
Vanity.
Claudius depicts this sin throughout the play perfectly because he strongly believes that he has
become an iconic, Godlike figure when really, the only figure he reflects is the Devil. Ever since
he wiped his brother, King Hamlet off of his throne, he feels as though he has total control over
everything that exists and that he possesses never ending power.

Envy: the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.
Claudius shows his envious manners towards his brother because he is a King whom everyone
loves and he reigns over Denmark. With this characteristic, Claudius’ true id unleashes and
shows us that he a selfish person who only cares about himself; he does not care if he hurts
anyone as long as it is benefitting him.

Anger: manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known
as Wrath.
Both Hamlet and Claudius show anger throughout the play in different ways. Hamlet portrays
anger when the ghost of his father informs him that Claudius kills him. Hamlet is apprehensive
at first because he is unsure of what to do or if it’s the truth, so he waits it out. He then hosts a
play based on his uncle, Claudius, killing his father, Hamlet. Once he sees Claudius’ reaction
after viewing the play, he knows his answer. Claudius shows his anger after he witnesses
watching the play because it showed everyone in the room his genuine expression and the true
reason as to why King Hamlet died. With all this being exposed, this caused Claudius to
portray anger throughout the book. He seeks to kill Prince Hamlet next.

Greed: is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual.
Claudius is a very greedy person, for him to take his own blood and flesh brother’s life just to
hold power over a country. Greed took over the best of Claudius and ended up causing him to
murder his own brother in order to take position as the new King of Denmark.
The Seven Heavenly Virtues are a combination of the four Cardinal Virtues and the
theological virtues. The Cardinal Virtues were discovered by early Christian Church
theologians who adopted these virtues and considered them to be equally important to all
people, whether they were Christian or not. They were the moral qualities; meanwhile, the
theological virtues are essential nature of God, hope and faith. Certain virtues are presented
throughout the play. This ties back to the play because it shows how the characters followed
Christian morals.
Faith: Complete trust or confidence in someone or something; a strong belief in God or in
the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.
Hamlet shows his faith throughout the play by putting his complete trust within himself.
He disregarded the fact of anything getting in his way in attempting to avenge his father’s
death by murdering Claudius. Although it is an inhumanely act to murder another person,
Hamlet did it out of pure genuine emotion because Claudius took away something
extremely important to him. An act within the play that proves this would be when Hamlet
has the chance to kill Claudius but he realizes that he is repenting for forgiveness from God;
he cannot commit such a crime while Claudius is doing good, so he would wait until he was
sinning in order to go through with his plan.
Charity: concern for and active helping of others; benevolence.
A character in the play that shows this quality would be Horatio, Hamlet’s bestfriend.
Reason being is because he was the spiritual guidance and helping hand to Hamlet when he
was experiencing all of these mixed emotions. He is Hamlet’s only true confidant and he is a
very loyal friend to Hamlet. Horatio was always there to be at Hamlet’s assistance, even if it
was just so that he had someone to talk to.
Hamlet used to represent as a man of
God. He was noble, had “a
gentleman’s grace, a scholar’s wit and
a soldier’s strength.”
By the end, Hamlet was still a firm
believer of God and the Christian
faith, although the death of his father
is what caused Hamlet to go mad. He
was very insightful about the morals
of religion and how God determined
the faith of every individual. Hamlet
still does contain all these qualities
and characteristics, but they are all
covered up by feelings of wrath,
revenge, and despise towards his
uncle Claudius for murdering his
father.