Evil in Hamlet Throughout the play Hamlet, evil thoughts and actions can be seen. The characters Hamlet, King Claudius and Queen Gertrude are constantly influenced by evil forces. Evil becomes the dominant factor of the work and causes the thoughts and actions of the characters to be clouded. Hamlet's thoughts are constantly overshadowed by suicide and death. Hamlet can be seen as suicidal in one of his first soliloquies. “Oh, that this too-solid flesh would melt / Melt and resolve itself into dew, / Or if the Eternal had not set / His canon 'against self-killing.' Oh God. God" (Cam. 1,2,129-132). This shows that Hamlet wants his "flesh to melt" because his mother's actions have made the world completely corrupt. Hamlet also states that suicide or "self-murder" is evil and a sin. Another example of Hamlet's thoughts being consumed by evil and death can be seen in what may be his most famous soliloquy. Hamlet's thoughts are so darkened by evil and death that he wonders why everyone doesn't commit suicide. “To be, or not to be: this is the question: / Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer / The slingshots and darts of an outrageous fate, / Or to take up arms against a sea of ​​troubles, / And by countering them put an end to them? To die: to sleep” (Am. 3,1,56-60). This shows Hamlet clearly reflecting on why he should live in a world of trouble when he could just kill himself. Hamlet's reflection on death reaches its peak in the infamous graveyard scene, when Hamlet holds up the skull of Yorick, a court jester whom Hamlet knew when he was little. “That skull had a tongue and could sing once. How the scoundrel throws it to the ground, as if it were the jawbone of Cain, the one who committed the first murder! It could be the pâté of a politician... means of paper... the evil of Claudio and of herself. “Gertrude, don't drink. / I will, my lord; Please forgive me” (Cam. 5,2,257-258). Gertrude consumes the cup even though Claudio directly tells her not to. It remains ambiguous whether or not Gertrude knew the cup was poisoned or not. Gertrude may have been so possessed by guilt over her evil that she knowingly drank the poisoned cup in an attempt to save Hamlet. It is clear that evil is a driving force throughout the play. The thoughts and actions of Hamlet's characters, King Claudius, and Queen Gertrude are poisoned and corrupted by evil. Evil characters ultimately lead to death. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. Literature "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark": an introduction to reading and writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th edition. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print