Shakespearean Justice: Punishing Characters' Sins

Shakespeare's characters are often depicted as committing the worst sins, such as ambition-spoiled Lord and Lady Macbeth, or revenge-consumed Hamlet. However, it is argued that Shakespeare's genius was in developing more complete characters with a complex mixture of sin and character, rather than having them pay for their sins. This is in contrast to the morality plays of the mid-1500s, which were much more explicit about different sins and their consequences. Shakespeare's characters often have complex motivations, such as Hamlet's desire to make Claudius pay for his sins against his father, which he achieves by delaying his revenge so that Claudius will suffer in the afterlife.

The punishment of Claudius in *Hamlet*

Shakespeare's characters are often morally ambiguous, with a complex mixture of sin. In *Hamlet*, Claudius's punishment is death. Hamlet kills him in the final act to avenge his father's murder. Claudius's schemes and guilt ultimately lead to his downfall, culminating in poetic justice as he is forced to drink the poisoned wine he intended for Hamlet.

Hamlet devises a plan to expose the truth with the Mousetrap, a play that a travelling troupe performs. As Claudius watches this play, which closely parallels his own deed, he becomes conscience-stricken, and he goes into a chapel to pray. At this time, Hamlet sees him, but does not kill him because Claudius would then become a martyr and go to heaven, and he would be guilty of regicide, as well.

Claudius does not die until Act V when the tragic end comes to all the family. In his deviousness, Claudius places poison on the tips of the swords and in the goblets to ensure that Hamlet will be killed by Laertes, whom he has convinced to duel the prince. However, Hamlet forces the remaining drink upon Claudius and he dies.

The seven deadly sins

Shakespeare's characters are often depicted as committing the worst sins, such as ambition-spoiled Lord and Lady Macbeth, or revenge-consumed Hamlet. However, these characters compel us to reflect on our own ethical vision of what goodness is.

Shakespeare was influenced by the morality plays of the mid-1500s, which often featured personifications of specific sins. However, Shakespeare's creative breakthrough was to develop more complex characters with a mixture of sins and virtues. For example, Hamlet's main goal is to make Claudius pay for what he did to his father, but he must wait for the right moment to ensure that Claudius does not go to heaven unpunished.

Overall, Shakespeare's exploration of the seven deadly sins in his plays continues to inform our ethical vision and reflect the complexities of human nature.

Morality plays

Shakespeare's characters often commit the worst sins, but they are not always made to pay for them. For example, Hamlet's main goal is to make Claudius pay for what he did to his father, but he doesn't kill him during prayers because he would go to heaven and not be punished. Similarly, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are ambition-spoiled, but they are not shown to suffer any consequences for their actions.

Shakespeare's genius was to develop more complete characters with a complex mixture of sin and character, rather than the personified sins of the morality plays of the mid-1500s that influenced him. By creating characters who offend our ethical vision of what goodness is, Shakespeare continues to inform our ethical vision.

Tragic flaws

Shakespeare's characters are often flawed, and their tragic flaws lead to their downfall. The playwright's genius was in creating complex characters with a mixture of sin and virtue, whose ethical vision offends our own.

Take, for example, Hamlet. Hamlet's tragic flaw is his indecision, which leads to his inability to act and ultimately causes his downfall. Hamlet's goal is to make Claudius pay for murdering his father, but he is unable to bring himself to do it. He is aware that if he kills Claudius while he is praying, Claudius will go to heaven and not be punished. This scene serves to confirm Claudius's guilt to the audience.

Similarly, Macbeth's tragic flaw is his ambition, which leads him to commit regicide and seize the throne. However, his ambition also leads to his downfall as he becomes consumed by paranoia and guilt, ultimately leading to his death.

Shakespeare's characters often pay for their sins, but it is their tragic flaws that lead them down this path. These flaws are what make the characters so compelling and relatable, even to modern audiences. By creating characters with complex mixtures of sin and virtue, Shakespeare was able to reflect the human condition and explore the ethical dilemmas that we all face.

Cruel but just laws of life

Life can be cruel, but it is also just. This is a theme that is explored in the works of William Shakespeare, who often made his characters pay for their sins.

Shakespeare's characters are often complex and morally ambiguous, with a mixture of sins and virtues. This is in contrast to the morality plays of the mid-1500s, which influenced Shakespeare and were much more explicit about different sins, with specific sins being personified. Shakespeare's genius was in creating more complete characters with complex moral ambiguity.

One example of a Shakespearean character who pays for their sins is Hamlet, who seeks to make Claudius pay for what he did to Hamlet's father so that his father's spirit and Hamlet's conscience can rest in peace. Hamlet recognises that if he kills Claudius during prayers, Claudius will go to heaven and not be punished, so he refrains from doing so.

Shakespeare is thought to have written a tragedy for each of the seven deadly sins, with the protagonist's tragic flaw being that particular sin. This theory suggests that Shakespeare saw the tragic consequences of sin and wanted to explore this through his characters.

The idea that we must change or pay an increasing cost for remaining the same is a cruel but just law of life, and it is one that Shakespeare often explored through his complex and morally ambiguous characters.

Frequently asked questions