Revenge without guilt – The complete and perfect scheme. (or Heaven Bound Hamlet) In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the intensely introspective character, Hamlet, purposely uses an internal dialogue and calculatingly waits and plots to cope with the moral issues, draw out his enemies and manipulate the situation to exact revenge without guilt, all while feigning madness. Shakespeare and his contemporaries were fascinated by madness. This fascination was perhaps connected to not being able to distinguish disease from demonic possession. At any rate, mad characters appear with frequency in Shakespeare’s plays and particularly in revenge plays.
Hamlet’s mad distraction is all the more interesting because it is created or manipulated by Hamlet, himself. Shakespeare explores the mad state of mind by having Hamlet choose to be mad and therefore he has a better vantage point for exploration of the complex human mind and of his enemies. Hamlet’s delays of action and intensity of thinking things over prove him to be of intense integrity and therefore must carefully consider all the aspects of the act that he is to commit that go against his principles. In this light, Hamlet uses an internal dialogue or meditation to contemplate his moral dilemma.
Hamlet investigates being truly mad. We often consider people mad who don’t have a handle on reality or one’s state of mind, but Hamlet is entirely self-aware and discusses with himself who he is and what he thinks. He shows himself to be an actor upon the stage. He talks constantly of pretending and also speaks of people not rising to their best performance, “.. there is kind of confession in your looks, which your modesties have not craft enough to colour.. ” (II. ii. 282-285). This indicates that Hamlet is introspective enough to consider life to be a play and he, a player in it.
This would mean that there is nothing to stop him from considering himself in any role in that play of life, even a madman. He brings this point up again, to the audience, admitting that his is not only an actor, but possible a bad one. Possibly if he were a good enough actor, there would be no questioning of his sanity. In the soliloquy, “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!? ” (II ii), Hamlet finds himself suffereing, having not played the part well. Perhaps this proves his sanity, but Hamlet also tells Horatio and company that, “perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on. (I v 171-172).
He is absolutely describing a plan of feigning madness. An idea put forth by Horatio himself; What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord, Or to the dreaded summit of the cliff That beetles o’er his base into the sea, And there assume some other horrible form, Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason, And draw you into madness? (I IV 68-72) It seems that Horatio ignites Hamlet’s idea of trumped up insanity. Hamlet sees the ghost privately adding even more ammunition to the madman persona. The audience and his informed other characters understand his game.
It is sometimes difficult to tell where the line is between insanity and intelligence and Hamlet waits and schemes and contemplates every bit of the tangle laid before him. He is not one to rush in, as the consequences are apparent to him. He clearly does not wish to rot in hell for exacting revenge for his father. This is most evident when he elects to wait and not kill Claudius while Claudius is praying, but it is also evident when he bothers to note that his mother has feelings for Claudius, and when he talks about God not being interested in suicide. This is proof of Hamlet’s conscience.
Although Hamlet is willing to follow through with revenge for his father’s death, he does not want to rashly rush in and somehow become morally responsible for any death. He has much to consider, as it is clearly complicated to exact revenge without tripping into a moral abyss. It is Claudius who makes this clear when he says, “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go. (III iii 96-97) If Hamlet’s mind were truly diseased, he would not be so studious. He carefully and rationally moves forward in his thinking process.
He is careful and clear and this makes some feel that this dialogue he constantly has with himself keeps him from action. But, contemplation and meditation are forms of action. He is cleverly manipulating the world around him by basing his actions on information he takes in. His inaction is planned and allows for events to take place. This is a form of action. It would be better if Hamlet could have his revenge without actually having to participate in any killing. If this were the case, Hamlet could go straight to heaven (without any guilt on his conscience.
But, Hamlet is fully aware that the ghost could be a sort of temptation or devil. Consequently, by carefully not acting, and observing, he is spurring action to happen. Over time, by thinking, waiting and not taking action, the madness Hamlet pretends leads to a reveal of sorts of characters and their duplicity. Ophelia, Rozencrantz and Guildenstern, and Gertrude all come to be seen as betrayers. Rosencrantz and Guldenstern are outed as spies for Claudius. Gertruede realizes her share of guilt and Ophelia is clearly untrue to Hamlet having set him up for her father and her brother.
She is actually the perfect mask for Hamlet’s insane disquise as she says, “I will be brief: Your noble son is mad: (II ii 91) This is key to his deception. Ophelia must believe his madness or no one else will. The fact that he manipulates people in order to destroy them gives him the satisfaction of revenge without the guilt. His thoughts, meditations and calculations can be seen as action. His manipulation of Ophelia is the result of a calculated, intellectual action. It is imperative that he fool Ophelia, and Hamlet fully understands this. This is most brave, That I, the son of a dear father murder’d,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words… (II ii 593-596) The idea that Hamlet procrastinates isn’t valid as he is clearly checking and rechecking his plans. He is often wordy and speaks more than any other character but, what he says and what he does are two different things. He is in constant deliberation with himself and even when alone (or seemingly alone), his soliloquies are used to remind himself of his plan, to check facts, evaluate himself in his role, or input newly found information. His plan actually counts on being watched almost all the time.
This is calculated as he will be seen as more mad if he is also mad when he is alone. The idea that he may be more honest when alone is a manipulation and therefore an action. He is baiting the other characters at almost all times even going so far as to openly accuse them of their crimes. He calls Polonius a “fishmonger” (II ii 174) and asks him if he has a daughter even though he knows that Ophelia is he daughter. Confused, Polonius is further convinced of Hamlet’s madness. Hamlet also makes Gertrude take responisibility for her role in the corruption of Denmakrk.
Having planted the seed that makes her take responsibility, he no longer has any responsibility for her actions. He has let revenge take its course, but he is not actually responsible for her death. He does not kill his own mother, but he must let revenge happen. His carefully planted manipulations work like a charm. Though she doesn’t actually take her own life, Hamlet has calculated her reactions perfectly and the murder/suicide of the Gertrude seems to be somewhat understood by both characters. It is actually Hamlet’s words that killed her, not his hands.
Additionally, Hamlet does away with Rozencrantz and Guidenstern by having orders for their deaths sent to England. He does not commit these deaths despite being responsible for them. His thoughtful set up and his careful observations of the other characters makes it so he is responsible and yet not guilty of their deaths. The one death for which Hamlet is responsible and guilty is that of Polonius. It is possible that this was a mistake on Hamlet’s part, but unlikely as Hamlet never believes he is truly alone, and Polonius represented a challenge that the other characters did not.
Polonius was a player in the game like Hamlet. Hamlet must have thought it was Polonius’s game mistake to reveal himself as a spy from his hiding place. It is interesting to compare this moment of opportunity to kill Polonius with the non-opportunity to kill Claudius while he was praying. Of course, even though he contemplates death and suicide from his perspective and from the perspective of the characters on whom he is exacting revenge, it is unlikely that Hamlet wants to die. This is clear when he says to Polonius, You cannot, sir, take from me any thing that I will more willingly part withal. — except my life, xcept my life, except my life. (II ii 217-19)
However, he has planned his revenge so carefully that he allows himself to be wounded on purpose. After Laertes confesses Claudius’s plan, and Queen Gertrude is dying, Hamlet knows that he is now free to kill Claudius with a clear conscience. Claudius will go to hell, but Hamlet will go to Heaven. He has avenged his father but he hasn’t technically used his own hand to do so. He is a murdered man, himself, and so he will go to Heaven. This has to have been planned by someone sane. He engineers his plan to be responsible for the revenge but not guilty.
He even thinks it through enough to not be guilty of his own death. He actually manipulates someone else into doing it. He waits for this opportunity, though, choosing not to let Rosencrantz and Guildernstern kill him earlier, because he knew it wasn’t yet time. Hamlet, as a calculated actor, manipulates the lives of the other characters until his destiny is complete. His ability to understand the complex human mind is how he thinks his way through His plan is complete. He will enter heaven a murdered man with a clear concsiounce. This is the only way to exact the revenge without going to hell.