Hamlet

__**Hamlet**__ I don't think there is anything that Shakespeare says is absolute: Except revenge... And forgiveness? Liminal states...of conflict
 * death- ghost
 * love- Gertrude's marriage to Claudius, her indecision between Hamlet and Claudius, Hamlet and Ophelia's ambiguous relationship, Laertes does not grieve Ophelia
 * life
 * sanity
 * happiness
 * friendship
 * guilt/blame- do Hamlet and Shakespeare blame Gertrude? Laertes forgives Hamlet
 * remorse- he implies that it can be but not often is...Claudius does not give up his power, but it could be said that Gertrude dies for Hamlet to make amends, also the final interactions of Hamlet and Laertes demonstrate honest remorse and forgiveness.
 * Hamlet kills Claudius
 * Laertes kills Hamlet, he forgives him, but they both still die
 * Fortinbras gets Denmark
 * Fate even gets Gertrude (possibly?)
 * Hamlet and Laertes
 * Ghost and Gertrude
 * he implies that it is rare but true
 * sanity and madness
 * conviction and indecision
 * life and death
 * remorse and coldheartedness
 * love and hate
 * caring and obligation/burdensome
 * truth and deception

I do not agree with the majority of Shakespeare's assertions. I think that revenge is very much ambiguous, because you can never overcome revenge, because you will always be hurting. You cannot be sure if the other person will feel the same as you do after your revenge, which is ultimately your goal. On the other hand, I think that forgiveness can be absolute, but that we have twisted our idea of forgiveness to mean much less than what it truly should be. I also think that love is absolute in the moment, and past. It may no longer exist between two people, but that does not diminish what it was.