Hamlet: Between pagan and ChristianHamlet explores the boundaries between madness and reason. He also stands, like King Lear, in a border zone between an ethic of pagan vengeance and Christian compassion, and between a ruthless, power-hungry adult world and a younger generation with gentler, more conciliatory aspirations. Hamlet's father, who now torments him, was himself a sinner, otherwise he would not have to return to earth in the form of a ghost to exact his revenge. Hamlet is well aware of his father's crimes (III.3.81). Calling on one's son to avenge his death amounts to going backwards, thus perpetuating a pagan code of honor that seems outdated in Hamlet's time. Because - unlike Lear - Hamlet is in some way a Christian, which hinders him rather than helping him in his mission. His Christianity is one of the many reasons why he is reluctant to carry out the ghost's instructions - and why, in the most famous of his seven soliloquies, he refrains from turning his weapon on himself. He fears that the spirit he saw is a devil. It is obvious that the Christian origin is...