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7 Deadly Sins In Hamlet

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In Hamlet, there are 7 deadly sins noted throughout the play. Pride, gluttony, lust, wrath, greed, sloth all play a particular part in the play but envy is the most prominent sin. Envy is the desire for others traits, status, abilities, or situation. Claudius really brought out the envy towards other characters like Hamlet and Laertes. Claudius definitely envies his deceased brother, King Hamlet. King Hamlet was the former king of Denmark before Claudius took over. Claudius envied his brothers power and his marriage so much that he decided to kill him by poisoning him and seizing the crown left by King Hamlet. On the same note, he married Gertrude, King Hamlet's wife, just in spite of him. While he envied his brother, he also envied Laertes’s sword skills. Laertes had excellent sword skills and when Claudius saw the envy Hamlet had for his skills, he swooped in and took up the opportunity to up one on Hamlet. In Act 4 scene 7, Claudius opens up about Laertes father, Polonius, being killed by Hamlet and how he should avenge his father by killing him. Claudius takes advantage of his sword …show more content…

Not so much as the same kind of envy. Both Hamlet and Claudius are envious of Laertes sword skills but portrayed in different ways. Hamlet shows clear envy for Laertes sword skills like any person would be. His skills were much better than Hamlets and he wanted them. Another reason why he was envious of Laertes was because he had such a close relationship with Ophelia, his sister. Laertes was always supportive of his sister and was very upset when he found out that she had gone “mentally insane”. Hamlet was so envious of him for this reason because he was in love with Ophelia. The fact that Hamlet couldn’t show his love for Ophelia like Laertes did, set a fire inside of him. After Ophelia had drowned, (committed suicide), they had a funeral for her and Hamlet confessed his love for Ophelia feeling relieved and equal to

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