Examples Of Cultural Values In Hamlet

During the era of Queen Elizabeth, people put God above all else due to his power to send people to heaven or hell in the afterlife. In Hamlet the characters’ actions are based on Christian beliefs, cultural values, God’s authority throughout the play. God influence helped establish a value between the characters if it’s through their behaviors or their actions to harm others, but in a way to respect God’s authority within Denmark.
In the era of Queen Elizabeth many people praised God because he gave them hope that the afterlife would be better than reality, so many people tried to get forgiveness so they could go to heaven. For example, In act 5, scene 2 Hamlet asks Laertes for forgiveness before fighting to the death because he wants to go to heaven after killing Polonius, “Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil free me so far in your most generous thoughts…” (Shakespeare, P. 320). This is an example of cultural values within Hamlet because many characters want to go to heaven, by getting God’s forgiveness before death.
For example, Hamlet was about to kill Claudius and chose not to because Claudius was praying and had he been asking for forgiveness, then he would be going to Heaven. As said by Hamlet in Act 3 Scene 3 , “Now he is praying. And now I’ll do’t. And so he goes to Heaven. And so am I revenged.” (Shakespeare P. 190). As shown here, God has the power because if Claudius was to ask for forgiveness, Claudius would go to Heaven. Hamlet wants Claudius to go to Hell, so he waits to kill Claudius even though he has the opportunity to kill him. He wants Claudius to get what, at least Hamlet believes, he deserves for killing his brother, Hamlet’s