This above all, to thine own self be true: Truth versus Self in Hamle

Truth versus Self in Hamlet by William ShakespeareThis above all, to thine own self be true (Act I scene 3 margin 78) as expressed in Shakespeares Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a philosophical idea that strips a instruction moral standards, accountability, and that selflessness is evidence of true love, as taught by Jesus Christ. professor Sir Walter Murdoch writes in The Policy of Polonius, As a matter of fact, of course, the lines are nonsense, and Shakespeare was well aware that they are nonsense he puts them in the mouth of a gossipy old gentleman who spends most of his time talking nonsense *http//home.pacific.net.au/morrisqc/Murdoch/Polonius.htm*. The characters of Hamlet and Laertes live by this faulty philosophy and form defective character traits that in the long run lead them to death. The same can be said for Alfred in ONeills Before Breakfast, he follows a different path using the same philosophical ideals and in the long run ends up serving the same self centered desire. The assertion that somehow this philosophy can become stable with a sound individual locomote short because it is without objective measurable standard. Left to our own self to decide what is good will always lead to a pantheistic view adept without hope, self-serving and motivated to satisfy any desire that we pretend is correct. Successful living depends on an established guide of moral standards, accountability, and selflessness. Hamlet, Laertes, and Alfred have set their police van and minds to do just as they please without regard how their actions affect others and without regard to moral standards. Hamlet and Laertes have settled in their own mind that the way to find peace is through the death of the person that murdered their fathers.... ... revenge. The meek inherit the land (Leithart). To thine own self be true? I think not. Be true to God and His commandments, His judgment, and the philosophy that I must lay down my life if I want to find it. Jesus s aid, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life (John 1224-25 NKJ).BibliographyEliot, T.S., The Sacred Wood Essays on Poetry and Criticism. Hamlet and His Problems Home scallywag 19 Nov. 2000.Leithart, Peter J. The Serpent Now Wears the Crown A Typological Reading of Hamlet. Contra Mundum No. 11 Home rapscallion 19 Nov. 2000.Murdoch, Walter. The Policy of Polonius. The Shakespeare Essays. Home Page 19 Nov. 2000.