The Problem of Moral Agency in Shakespeares Hamlet Essay -- GCSE Cour

The Problem of Moral Agency in village In install to be a moral agent, a person has to have a good sense of self, they have to know ex incitely who they are and how they must recreate according to the decisions they make. In Hamlet, the moral task at hand is revenge for the murder of Hamlet the elder. The murdered Kings son, also of the same name, must be the ace to avenge the murder. Before Prince Hamlet finds out the true story behind his fathers death, he has his gos incestuous remarriage to his uncle Claudius (who is now the King of Denmark) on his mind. Long after Hamlet learns the truth, he still does nonhing. Hamlet is unable to practice even though he has decided to seek revenge. One reason he does not act is because he cannot get past the fact that his mother is not, in his mind, adequately mourning old Hamlets death. The second reason the Prince has problems with moral agency is because he does not really decide why he is planning to seek revenge on Claudius. His t ask is twofold, he wants to avenge the murder of his father and he wants his mother to reveal her guilt about her hasty and incestuous marriage. Finally, Hamlet does not truly know who he is, and what he is to do until the very last act of Hamlet. This essay aims to explore why Prince Hamlet has trouble becoming a moral agent. When we first encounter Hamlet, his concerns are about his mothers remarriage to his uncle Claudius so soon after his father has died. The Prince is angry because Gertrude is not adequately mourning old Hamlets death, and due to the insistence of Claudius that Hamlet consider him his father and king O God, a living organism that wants discourse of reason Would have mournd longer-- married with my uncle, My fathe... .... When Hamlet is doomed to die, he goes through with his revenge, but not for his father, nor for his mother-- The Prince finally kills the King when he finds out that it he, Claudius, who is liable for the poisonous foil. This final reason to kill Claudius is most important of all. Works Cited Calderwood, James L.. To Be and Not To Be Negation and Metadrama in Hamlet. --New York Columbia University Press, 1983. Shakespeare, William. Alls Well That Ends Well. --In The riverbank Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. --Boston Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974 pp.504-541. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. --In The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. --Boston Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974 pp. 1141-1186. Tirrell, Lynne. Storytelling and Moral Agency. --In The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. --V.48, Spring 1990 pp.115-126.