Brennen Fenton

Mr. Palcsey

Honors English 10

10/19/17

Tragedy of Hamlet Essay

In the play Hamlet, Claudius violates multiple sins that are against his religion.

Throughout the play Claudius thinks he is doing the right thing for himself and for Hamlet and

Gertrude by killing King Hamlet. Claudius violates his religion by committing murder, acts of

incest’s, and gluttony.

One example of how Claudius is antithesis of his Christian faith is because he committed

a sin by murder. In the begging of the play Claudius murders Hamlet’s father King Hamlet.

This led many questions for a lot of different people. Hamlet was bound to find out who killed

his father and seek revenge. This is a huge sin for Claudius especially because he is a under

influence of the Catholic Christian faith. By committing this sin, Claudius kept it a secret

because he thought it was the best for himself and his family. In the play, some scenes show

how Claudius prays but yet commits terrible sins against his faith.

The second example of how Claudius is antithesis of his Christian faith is because he

committed acts of incest. When Claudius murdered his brother it instantly made him King

because it was a rule. If the King were to die then the next person in line would be his brother
which in this case is Claudius. Since Claudius killed his brother it would make him the King of

Denmark. Since Claudius is the King of Denmark he is forced to marry Gertrude which is his

sister in law. This is an act of incest because he is related to Gertrude and was his brother’s wife.

This is a sin against of the Catholic Christian faith because it is said that incest is a sin.

The last example of how Claudius is antithesis of his Christian faith is because he

committed signs of gluttony. Since Claudius killed his brother King Hamlet he is now the king

and is in charge of everything. He can do anything he wants and has all the power. In the play,

Claudius throws parties where people eat and drink and have fun. Gluttony is a sin because it is

in the Catholic Christian faith where no one should be spoiled with food. In the play Claudius

would have parties at twelve o clock at night and celebrate him being king. Little does anyone

know that Claudius is the one who killed his very own brother. In the play Hamlet knew it was

wrong to have parties celebrating the new king. As Hamlet found out that Claudius killed his

dad Hamlet wanted revenge and to do justice.

Committing murder, acts of incest’s, and gluttony are all sins Claudius had made which

makes him and antithesis to his Catholic Christian faith. Throughout the book Claudius tried to

act like he was praying and asking for his should to be cleansed to God, but yet he still would

still sin that was against his religion. These acts came into Claudius mind and he would fill

guilty because he felt like someone was going to catch on what he did. Claudius also was part of

helping Laertes kill Hamlet when he wanted Hamlet to die. Not only did Claudius commit many

sins but will also face consequences in the long run.