Claudius & Hamlet, inhumane and sick characters

... that the people desired a change in the way that the country was governed, so they elected Claudius instead of Old Hamlet's son. Old Hamlet was also stuck in purgatory, and he was unable to go to heaven "till the foul crimes done in m days of nature/ are burnt and purg'd away" (I, iv, 12-13). This indicates that Old Hamlet may not have been as pure as the reader is led to believe, and perhaps Claudius truly was the better king.

Although I see the validity of Wilson Knight's interpretation of the play, I disagree with his views. Hamlet is not the "sick, cynical, and inhumane prince" which Knight describes. His sadness is great, but under the circumstances it is not excessive. His father, who he looked up to was recently killed, and his mother married his uncle within a month. To add to his troubles, he receives a visit from the ghost of his father which urges him to "revenge [Claudius'] foul and most unnatural murder" (I, V, 24) of old Hamlet. It is only logical that under these circumstances, Hamlet would be under great duress, and it would not be abnormal for him to express grief or appear to be "sick."

Wilson Knight also overlooks the positive sides of Hamlet. At the end of the nunnery scene, Ophelia laments the that "a noble mind is here overthrown:/ The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's eye, tongue, sword" ( III, i, 153-154). Hamlet is the renaissance man who is well rounded in all areas. He has a tremendous acting abilities, and he is a scholar who analyzes everything and is very philosophical, as was shown in his assessment of life in the "To be, or not to be" soliloquy. Hamlet's philosophical side is also brought to light in the prayer scene. At this point he has the opportunity to kill Claudius while he is attempting to repent. However, Hamlet does not take action because he desires kill Claudius "when he is drunk asleep, or in his rage/ Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed," so that "his soul will be as damn'd and black/ As hell, whereto it goes" (III, iii, 90-96). Here, Hamlet's honor code and C ...