Gabby DiNucci

Mr. Palcsey

Honors English 10

10/19/17

Hamlets Inner Battle

In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, the main

character Hamlet undergoes an inner conflict with his conscience. It is a continuous battle

between his mind and the voice in his head telling him what is right and what is wrong. The

conscience plays a major role in the play because it determines many of Hamlets actions.

Hamlet’s conscience affects his decision making due to his faith, family, and heart.

The conscience is an inner voice which helps oneself make hard decisions when they

occur, however, many factors are taken into consideration before making a final decision.

Hamlets faith and his concern for his soul and eternal salvation play a large role in the decision

making of his conscience. In act 3 scene 3, Claudius is kneeling in a state of prayer and

submission. When Hamlet arrived, after finding out that Claudius confessed that he killed the

dead king Hamlet, his intention was to kill Claudius right then and there. When Hamlet sees that

Claudius is repenting, he refuses to kill him because he wants Claudius to go to Hell. He knows

that if he were to kill him in a state of absolution and repentance, Claudius would have a chance

of going to Heaven which Hamlet wants to avoid by all means. In this scene Hamlets conscience

blurred by his faith face to face with an internal conscience conflict because he wants to avenge

his father’s death and kill Claudius, but he is also hesitant because of the welfare of his own soul.

Hamlet does not yet know if the Ghost truly was father because if it was not, he could possibly

go to hell for killing Claudius.

 Hamlets actions are also reflected because of his family background and relationships

with other characters in the play. In act 3 scene 4, Hamlet is trying to tell his mother, Gertrude, to

not go to bed with Claudius because he believes that it is a sinful and incestuous. This matter was

hard for Hamlet to tell his mother due to the fact that Gertrude loves Claudius and is married to

him. Hamlet wanted what was best for his mother and he ultimately wanted to do her soul well.

This inner conflict is difficult for Hamlet to process because it is his mother and he loves her, but

his conscience is telling him to tell her the truth. He has a deep love for Gertrude and in the end

wants to be honest toward her by telling her his concerns. Hamlet spoke to Gertrude I her room

and said “A bloody deed- as to kill a king and marry his mother” (Act 3 scene 4). When Hamlet

said this, Gertrude was extremely confused because she had no idea what that meant. When

Hamlet explained to Gertrude that Claudius has killed her dead husband, she felt completely

blindsided and had no idea. Hamlets conscience could not hold in this information any longer

and needed to tell his mother, who he loved, about this heavy weight on his shoulders. She was

shocked because she had loved Claudius and did not know that her dead husband was

assassinated by new and current husband. Hamlet was very mad at Gertrude for loving and

marrying Claudius because of his actions and decisions. Hamlet even accused Gertrude of having

no care for the family because she was more interested in Claudius than in him. This matter of

telling Gertrude about Claudius killing the dead king Hamlet had been a battle between his inner

self due to his love for Gertrude.

Hamlet is a very emotional young man whose heart drives many decisions made in the

play. With the constant hardship, due to the sadness and mourning of his father’s death, he finds

it hard to relax and take care of himself because he is ready to seek revenge on behalf of his

father. Many actions have happened in the matter of only a few months; the death of his father,
and the remarriage of his mother and Claudius. In act 3 scene 1, Hamlet says “to be or not to

be” which is an internal strife of his conscience trying to determine if he should be alive. He is

emotionally unstable throughout the play and the idea of him being crazy is brought up often. He

often ponders moments of his mother, dead father, and Claudius which makes him encounter a

numerous amount of emotions all at once. Hamlets emotional status of his heart sometimes

makes him act crazy. Whether he truly is crazy, or just simply acting like he is, it still influences

his decision making. He still doubts whether life is worth living if it is going to be miserable.

Throughout the play, Hamlet experiences many situations in the play where he needs to come to

good terms with his conscience and his actions are heavily persuaded by his faith, family, and

heart.

In conclusion, Hamlet is a dynamic character; a character who undergoes and inner

change from the beginning to the end of the plot. His conscience is a major role in the play and a

major factor in why he is a dynamic character. The conscience, a very important unseen

character in the play, effected Hamlets mental, physical, and emotional state throughout the play

by having to make difficult decisions based on his faith, family, and his heart.