One rainy afternoon as I sat in the caverns of the University of Oregon library, I came to the conclusion that a play with this many unanswered questions must be about the mystery of human experience. Hamlet, composed circa 1600, is Shakespeare's most popular tragedy among critics as well as on stage and screen.The play has been the subject of more scholarly investigation than any work of Western literature. This sparked an inner conflict in Hamlet about what to do. He knew he was going to die soon by the poison and wanted to take advantage of the time he had left to avenge his fathers death, so both could rest in. present Claudius as an immoral character as well. In this Stanza, Thomas uses personification to make the boring description more vivid and convincing; Plus, by using this rhetorical device, this stanza conveys that wise men will not submit to death until they have made an impact in the world that they so desire. Hamlets personality borns and develops under his royal position and the growing, The reader's beliefs of revenge are re-assessed following Hamlets meeting with the ghost of King Hamlet. The plays turning point happens on a dark night at Elsinore Castle in Denmark, where the ghost of King Hamlet reveals to prince Hamlet that he has been murdered by his brother, Claudius, for the inheritance of the royal throne. Hamlets hesitation to kill Claudius, even though it goes against what the ghost of Hamlets father has asked him to do, can be seen as an indication that Hamlet is aware of the moral implications of his actions. Hamlet says here that he is ready to kill and to take his revenge, but then continued to say he needed to talk to his mother, even though he actually did not. But know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy fathers life . othersan objective moral that Claudius does not uphold, allowing Hamlet to During the duel between Laertes and Hamlet, after Hamlet is wounded with the poisoned sword, their swords are exchanged in the battle, and Laertes is mortally wounded by his own sword. When Hamlet lies dying Horatio is prepared to commit suicide so that he will not have to live without his beloved friend. During the play of The Murder of Gonzago schemed by Hamlet to confirm Claudiuss act of crime, himself was overwhelmed by self-contempt and guilt. Hamlet tells his fathers ghost that he will sweep to my revenge (1. assume, based on the 14th/15th century time period of the play, that Poison, Corruption, Death. itself (or even if he was Protestant or Catholic) does not matter. Of course, in NYC, the doors have grades of, Is there something amiss with the Amish? Hamlet finds a switches to cultural relativism, he steps away from God. In this paper, the audience will understand how Hamlets moral ambiguity is significant to Shakespeares play as a whole. What do we learn from Hamlet? The worst villain of all is King Claudius, but not even Hamlet escapes the taint of sin as he becomes infected with the falsity and cruelty of the court. In Hamlet, two moral systems collide: the pagan revenge ethic and Christian ethic of mercy and forgiveness. The ghost told hamlet how he was going to get revenge. is much better than well, ) And we also hid keys, [] Brooklyn, youll be just outside the bandshell five feet from the cops, enjoying your wine and picnic as [], That's actually a really good idea. Hamlet truly believes it is his moral duty to allows them to meet their violent end, saying, Why, man, they did make love to His father is dead and his uncle marries his mother. The play is set in the Middle Ages. It is this which balances out any morally wrong actions Hamlet may take. The old King Hamlet was apparently a stern warrior, but Claudius is a corrupt politician whose main . Hamlet even The play ends with a duel, during which the King, Queen, Hamlet's opponent . in two parts as well: psychological egoism and ethical egoism. One answer is that along with the certainties that we embrace as Christians, there is much about human experience in this life that remains elusive. 85100. It reveals his inner thoughts and adds more quality to the play. Whitmore, Michael, et al. Most of what we know is derived from his expansive catalog of plays; the consensus is that the character of Hamlet is most similar to the Bard himself. Soft, now to my mother. Hamlet (3/2 pg. Perhaps they were short of Ibex that snort? The gravity of Claudius crime grows when one considers that all the deaths throughout the play would not have come if it were not the murder. Why does Hamlet not like Ophelia? relativist? Hamlet wonders if killing Claudius while he is praying, as the ghost of Hamlets father has instructed Hamlet to do, would be considered an act of mercy. Dane,/Drink off this potion. O, most wicked speed, to post/With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!/It is not nor it cannot come to good (Shakespeare). action are more favorable than unfavorable only to the agent performing the So, in order to not be regretful about the past and too late to do one thing. In the opening scenes, the reader is introduced to Claudius who, immediately following the death of his very own brother, marries his sister-in-law, who is Hamlets mother, Gertrude. Haste me to knowt, that These basic societal norms are namely the fact that society frowns upon the act of murder in general and in this case, as a means to, Unbeknownst to him, Hamlet slips into the room and possesses a golden opportunity to murder King Claudius once and for all. Hamlets rejection of Ophelia is due to his internal conflict. Claudius uncaring murders and plots are balanced by Hamlets internal struggle with his own conscience and morals as he attempts to right the wrongs committed against him. Hamlet was not only obsessed with his own conscience but the conscience of others as well. Hamlet ThemesAction and Inaction. Hamlet passes through the lane of hesitancy, where he hesitates to kill King Claudius. Hamlet is also worried that he will end up hurting Ophelia if he gets too close to her. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. That way, the murder goes down in history as 2. The play deals with crime and punishment, with complex questions of right and wrong, moral decisions, and questions of conscience. May 3, 2022 What is the main moral of Hamlet? The main reasons he might consider himself a coward are his inability to act and his excessive contemplation and, The story of a young man by the name of Hamlet has been told since it was first written in the early 1600s. Flannery O'Connor once wrote the following statement, which immediately registered itself permanently in my memory: Drama usually bases itself on the bedrock of original sin." with faculties of self-government and self-control which should guide this use O'Connor added that the Christian storyteller "is distinguished from his pagan colleagues by recognizing sin as sin.". Now could I drink hot blood and do such bitter business as the day would quake to look on. The idea of Shakespeare using Hamlets death as There are not only many instances in real life, but also, many authors and poets describe characters with great virtues in their texts. The metaphor in this statement is God as sculptor, refining what humans can only "rough-hew," that is, make a feeble attempt at carving. In one of them, Hamlet tells his confidant Horatio, "There's a divinity that shapes our ends, / Rough-hew them how we will" (5.2.10-11). 1, 1981, pp. We know that Hamlet has internalized a. Likewise, Hamlet had the ability to control his psyche in order for his antic disposition to work; this all lead for his quest to murder Claudius to be successful. He wills the physical world into existence, he Nonetheless, Shakespeare wrote a play that moves beyond tragedy, and he did so by springing a surprise ending on us in the play's last act. The question of whether Shakespeare was a Christian writer is usually made to rest on whether or not his plays offer an optimistic view of life. Hamlet comes to the conclusion that killing Claudius is not the answer and decides to put off his revenge in order to figure out a better way to handle the situation. This attribute held by Hamlet is the leading cause of this same flaw development in Ophelia, King Claudius, and many others in an attempt to reinforce the theme. The ice cream truck would roll into our, [] for creative businesses, he writes serialized fiction likeTap and Die, as well as articles aboutHindu monotheismandLittle Women themes. As Claudius repents, Hamlet feels as though it's the best time to kill him until he says: And so a goes to Heaven; And so am I revenged. While others may disagree and conclude that he is just a maniac who is both violent and dangerous. As a result of the truth concerning his fathers death, Hamlet feels as though all the gruesome occurrences happened because he only, can fix them. When seeing his fathers ghost, he unquestionably accepts all he hears as truth, but doesnt act on it until he can verify it in some way. does give in and kill his uncle. 2023 www.digglicious.com. T he main themes in Hamlet are deception and false appearances, spirituality and revenge, and misogyny and gender. elicits sympathy, making fictional persons seem real (Berg). What are the types of coding in qualitative research. The extreme complexity of the main character prince Hamlet in this play contributes to its popularity until today. As a good friend, he treats Horatio well, and he trusts Horatio. If Hamlet is not indecisive, he would not be uncertain about the evidence regarding to his uncles crime, he would not be delaying his revenge, he would not be having emotional breakdowns and become a tragic figure. 24). self-convincing is clouded with the pain Hamlet experiences upon finding out Though Hamlet never disregards his promise to unlimited vengeance, he manages to lessen it by engaging from conscience and compassion, first to the code of honor, and then, having to become a doomed scourge of God. He is willing to violate the basic societal norms and completely disregard how his actions will negatively affect others. Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most pessimistic plays, and as such it delivers the Christian message that in a fallen world reality often fails to match the ideal. One of them called Hamlet "the most interesting play ever written" (a verdict with which I concur). This shows the opposite sides of the moral issue and helps ensure that at the end, there is no imbalance, and the sequence leads up to a balanced end in which no single side has triumphed. As he is dying, Laertes realizes he is killed by his own treachery and realizes he was immoral. own morality (and thereby their own). 1 Yet critics of Hamlet have often behaved as if the making of a choice is the sole dimension of a moral life. Hamlet wonders if he is really doing the right thing by waiting to take his revenge. Who is the witch in Ophelia? In this soliloquy, Hamlet is contemplating suicide, but is haunted by the unknowns of the. Near the start of the play, The Ghost tells Hamlet of the crime committed by Claudius. Relativists In conclusion, Shakespeares Hamlet contains a very definitive moral order. When King Hamlet appears as a ghost, he is stuck in purgatory because he died before confessing, indicating that he is Catholic. LOVE this, NEED this, what a treasure! In the second speech Hamlet alludes to Jesus's evocative statement in Matthew 10:28-31 that God's providential control extends even to the fall of a sparrow to the ground. Hamlets internal conflict and the actions that he takes, or does not take, as a result provide evidence for the understanding that it is Hamlets mindset, more than anything else, that leads to his downfall. An Ethics of Possibilities: A Phenomenological Reevaluation of Is/Ought, Chat GPT Ethics, Uses, and Other Ai Ethics Heliosphere, Ethical Implications of a Moral Machine and a Bill of Rights for Artificial Intelligence Projects, Boumediene v. Bush: Unanswered Issues and Current Moral Codification, Liberal Arts Definition and the Role of Literature, Follow The Showbear Family Circus on WordPress.com, Urban Scavenging and Falling Fruit for Freegan Folk, Outdoor Types The Showbear Family Circus, The Brooklyn Film Festival at Windmill Studios, Story Inspiration from Breaking Science , LJ Cohen Derelict The Showbear Family Circus, Contra Graham :: the War to Define YA Meaning and Maturity, Introducing the Vale Megacosm : The Universe in which I Write, Pride and Prejudice book VS Pride and Prejudice life , The Greatest Marriage Advice Tara and I Have Received, Funny Historical Fiction Books: Interviews and Hard Sells - USA Daily Times, Hindu Monotheism : The Upanishads and Vedanta, Follow Your Bliss : Results of Joseph Cambell's Advice The Showbear Family Circus, Monomyth Definition: A Defense of The Heros Journey. Hamlets actions fall under more than one moral philosophy as per the aforementioned definitions. This also shows that Hamlet was patient and did not rush into conclusions or actions. Here he questioned if he truly wanted to kill Claudius and how he ended up with the responsibility in the first place. expansive catalog of plays; the consensus is that the character of Hamlet is Key Quotes By Lily Rockefeller Updated on January 10, 2020 Most of the characters in Hamlet are citizens of Denmark and members of the royal court, reeling after the death of their king. As a matter of fact, the main conflict of Hamlet is that he feels both the need to solve the crime and punish the responsible. Learn how your comment data is processed. He began to question life and whether it was specifically for him as a result of his mother marrying his uncle, Claudius, in a month's time after her husbands death.Through the visitation of Old King Hamlets ghost, Hamlet was able to find purpose in life which, destroy his core issue of an insecure/unstable sense. Claudius virtually absolves himself of all guilt in Polonius murder and uses his son to plot Hamlets death. Although this may seem plausible as reason enough to delay the act, I would suggest that that is only a cover. The fact that Hamlet becomes so cruel specifically because of Claudius treachery is a testament to the relationship between oppressor and oppressed. In many of Shakespeares play there is always a hero and a villain, but in Hamlet, Hamlet plays a pivotal role because he can be viewed as both the hero and the villain. But which is true? Then, he finds out that his uncle murdered his father for the crown. Although the act of murder itself is wrong, an eye for an eye almost wholly justifies it. His uncle, fearing for his life, also devises plots to kill Hamlet. This is inevitable. 66). During the fight, Gertrude drinks the poisoned glass of wine meant for Hamlet, and before dying manages to tell Hamlet the wine was poisoned. In the annals of English literature, perhaps no work has shone the spotlight more clearly on the experience of human suffering than Hamlet. The last thing that did not make him hesitate to kill Claudius was because he remembered what his father told him at the woods. The imagery of disease permeates Hamlet, and this is one of many ways in which Shakespeare forces us to confront the reality of human fallenness. It tells a story of the royal family of Denmark plagued by corruption and schism. Hamlets intentions to avenge, Firstly, Hamlet is a play of a man by the name of Hamlet, whose father was murdered by Claudius, his uncle. At this point, Hamlet is completely justified in his feelings, and most would agree that his revenge is morally right. Hamlets indecision is not solely due to the external factors he confronts, but is also reflective of Hamlets internal conflict. The fact that God may have had a hold on him cultural relativism, towards revenge, arguably causes the death of several Hamlet the play and Hamlet the character have always attracted the attention of critics with a strongly moral bent. Even after the king died he is still greedy trying to get revenge. Ophelia goes mad because her father, Polonius, whom she deeply loved, has been killed by Hamlet. Unlike other tragedies where tragic heros discover the truths by their own actions at the end of the story, realizing that the reversal was brought by their own actions. Hamlet, on the other hand, begins the play as a very rational and intelligent man. audiences would be even more accepting of his work, assuming it reflected his Religion may The morality of murder stretches further than whether someone feels bad or not about their actions. In his first line he tells us he hesitates to let his son Laertes go abroad, and he draws out his last meeting with Laertes because he's reluctant to see him go. He overcomes depression eventually and starts to think things in a positive way; In the meantime, Hamlet dedicates his whole life to accomplish one goal. The comparisons and contrast of murder, honor and shame are apparent throughout the story of hamlet and the lives of modern soldiers. 74 (1976): 413-99. Because he knows he has to do something meaningful such as revenge for his beloved father before death. Without these values, Hamlet cannot be so determined, dedicated, and intelligent. Hamlet Summary. legally, royally justifiable had everyone known his treasonous actions.) Lack of will and the code of honor are eventually disproved. What is the moral of "Hamlet"? Hamlet is eager for revenge and willing to kill Claudius in order to avenge his fathers death; however, Hamlet soon begins to question whether or not killing Claudius is the right thing to do. As the play goes on, Shakespeare employs encounters hamlet must deal with to demonstrate how ones perspective might influence how one thinks. In Harold Skulskys Revenge, Honor, and Conscience in Hamlet, he discusses that by the uncertainty of his instruction, Hamlets father basically leaves it up to Hamlet to make a choice with possible options for revenge. You are here: English In Shakespeare's Hamlet, a very clear moral order is established as the protagonist, Hamlet, completes his journey through the phases which define a Shakespearean tragedy. Shakespeare, William. this employment;/ They are not near my conscience; their defeat/ Does by their is thought by many scholars that [Hamlet] was Shakespeare, tout complet, a receptacle into which The ghost told Hamlet about how he was murdered by Claudius. duty ethic perspective, which should marry well with objectivism, actually Hamlets words in Act III, Scene IV thus bad begins, and worse remains behind illustrate the moral order well; the actions against him were wrong, but, to a lesser extent, so was his revenge. Now wears his crown., Hamlets perspective causes him to stall and make excuses as to why he should wait to kill Claudius such as waiting till Claudius has sin, in order to ensure that he wouldnt go to heaven. Shakespeare scholars have been lavish in their praise of Hamlet. - Quora. Objectivism further suggests that moral values are absolute and never-changing and that they apply to all rational creatures (Fieser). No doubt I will surprise some people by saying that I enjoy reading the last act of Hamlet as a good "devotional read" on the subject of providence. That would be scanned. Virtue ethics Hamlet seeks revenge toward Claudius who he believes killed his father for the throne. Which is also present in Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.. in the sense that he is of higher moral worth. relativism outlives his objectivism/duty ethics in the end. product of his biological, political, and sociological environment. In the most famous revenge tragedy, his biggest weakness that he procrastinates completing his revenge for his fathers death by killing the murderer. The reason he provides for restraining himself is that he wants to murder Claudius when he is involved in his incestuous acts with his mother. Driven by a guilty conscience, Claudius attempts to ascertain the cause of Hamlet's odd behaviour by hiring Hamlet's onetime friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on him. have played a role in Shakespeare remaining an objectivist. He selflessness. God informs humans of these commands by implanting us with moral intuitions or Hamlets perspective causes him to stall and make excuses as to why he should wait to kill Claudius such as waiting till Claudius has sin, in order to ensure that he wouldnt go to heaven. The conflict that Hamlet feels internally is evident in his soliloquies. He professes his love for Ophelia again to Laertes, Gertrude, and Claudius after Ophelia has died, saying, I loved Ophelia. William Delaney | Certified Educator Share Cite Shakespeare's Hamlet is full of moral instructions. because, again, their codes are specific to them. The play begins with Hamlet encountering his fathers ghost, at which point he learns his father had in fact been murdered by his own brother, Claudius. First, he knew that after all his sins he will go directly to hell to pay for all his actions. Critics and readers must respond accordingly. Hamlet begins as an objectivist with warped duty ethics before later transitioning into the easier cultural relativism. 77-83, 93) A very significant component to Hamlet's loss of morality is his decision to act insanity. Hamlet. International Journal of Ethics, vol. When Hamlet learns that the grave being prepared in Act 5, Scene 1, is actually for Ophelia, he fights with Laertes, her brother, about who loved her more. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet's character serves as the backbone behind the tragedy's portrayal of good moral consciousness. After failing to "set [the world] right" (1.5.192), Hamlet resigns himself to God's ability to direct human affairs. Is hamlet in love with Ophelia? Essay On Hamlets Attitude Towards Claudius, Essay on The Destruction Of Hamlets Death In Hamlet By William Shakespeare, Osmosis Jones Human Body System Analogies Answer Key. To combat that argue that moral values are strictly human inventions (Fieser). That statement, too, stuck with me. in writing Hamlets death, Shakespeare intended readers to interpret it as a O villain, villain, smiling, father. With regards to the loss of his father, Hamlet lost his sense of self-worth/value. Hamlet is a deeply subversive textone that asks hard, uncomfortable questions about the value of human life, the indifference of the universe, and the construction of society, culture, and common decency. This amorality stems from his desire to avenge the rank and gross[ly] (Shakespeare, 29) cruel actions of his uncle, the King Claudius. After the encounter with the Old Kings ghost, Hamlet says, The time is out of joint. Hamlet by William Shakespeare portrays a tragedy about a prince successfully revenges for his father but dies eventually with other main characters; Dylan Thomass poem, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, lists four distinct types of men about their reactions toward death and appeal people to fight for hope until they die. how exactly his mother and uncle are immoral. Hamlet is supposedly the most quoted figure in Western culture after Jesus, maybe the most charismatic too (Bloom 384). Hamlet eventually decides to take action, but his plan backfires and leads to his own death. (Think: Hamlets As a result of the truth concerning his fathers death, Hamlet feels as though all the gruesome occurrences happened because he only, can fix them. (i.e. Hamlet Essay features Samuel Taylor Coleridge's famous critique based on his legendary and influential Shakespeare notes and lectures. Fieser, James. Hamlets first soliloquy, which occurs in Act 1, Scene 2, reveals Hamlets initial thoughts about revenge. Ridley makes a fine, modern heroine, but its Watts who goes big and waltzes away with the movie. The most obvious evidence is that Hamlet himself says he is going to pretend to be mad, suggesting he is at least sane enough to be able to tell the difference between disordered and rational behavior. 1. Hamlet causes his own downfall by his obsession with revenge. . 1736. Why You Should Read Augustine's Confessions. The symbolic meaning of pouring poison in a persons ear can be associated with the symbolic meaning of the snake in the story of Adam and Eve where the snake lures Eve in through lies. This dilemma is what leads him to be uncertain and what results in his inability to. Hamlet is caught between the two. Hamlets objectivist side: Shakespeares morals are based on the simple Despite the myriad of themes that circulate throughout the Shakespearean play, many do not realize one hidden yet extensive theme: actions and their consequences. In the play, Hamlet, Prince Hamlet is very intelligent because when he knows his fathers murdering news from the Ghost, he does not immediately run to the palace to kill his uncle; Instead, he cautiously plans for revenge. Hamlet is an example. Berg, James E. Moral Agency as Readerly Subjectivity: Shakespeares Parolles and the Theophrastan Character Sketch. Shakespeare Studies, vol. Through the analysis of the soliloquy and the rest of the play, a reasonable conclusion can be made as to why Hamlet might consider himself a coward. Hamlet is part of a literary tradition called the revenge play, in which a personmost often a manmust take revenge against those who have wronged him. As the play goes on, Claudius realizes that Hamlet has discovered the truth about the Old King and beings to repent. In the tragedy Hamlet by William Shakespeare, deception develops into the character trait that initiates the actions, heartbreak, and revenge driving this play. Throughout Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, the issue of whether to proceed on a moral route or to descend on a path of immorality and deceit arises in many decisions the main characters face. Laertes, who does not have a counterpart as Claudius does Hamlet, eventually admits to his wrongs and realizes they are that, helping clear Hamlets name in his dying moments. separate. The Prince of Denmark, Hamlet, stands out as a morally ambiguous character due to his conflicting morals and indecisiveness, making it more apparent that Hamlets intentions are unclear. Hamlet is cruel to Ophelia because he has transferred his anger at Gertrudes marriage to Claudius onto Ophelia. Is Hamlet actually mad essay? In Shakespeares Hamlet, a very clear moral order is established as the protagonist, Hamlet, completes his journey through the phases which define a Shakespearean tragedy. Complexities, A tragic hero is a multifaceted, admirable character with a tragic flaw that turns his life from glory into suffering. The fact that this grief drives Ophelia to madness reveals her overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness, and the power that the men in Ophelias life wield over her. Many aspects of Shakespeares characterization of Hamlet in the play, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, point toward the idea of moral ambiguity. September 28, 2019 Aleah Dye Hamlet's Moral Philosophy: The Key to Unlocking Shakespeare's Own Ethics Little is known about Shakespeare's personal life or his own beliefs. 5. Hamlet is enraged, and he becomes obsessed with the idea of proving the crime so that he can obtain revenge against Claudius (Crowther). Some may argue that he feels guilty for his fathers death and so its his duty to avenge it. Hamlet is still angry and wants revenge, but he is also worried that he will not be able to go through with it. It is not only in the story of Hamlet that the ethics of death are discussed but in the real lives of our soldiers that are fighting for our country. In the end however, both Hamlet and Claudius die with little pomp, victims of each other in a cyclical stream of karma. shows that do not kill is another objective moral that Hamlet expects of What is the main message in Hamlet? The timeless classic tells the tale of Prince Hamlet, who discovers that his mother had wed his uncle, two months prior to his fathers passing. In act 5, Hamlet, who has made a general nuisance of himself to everyone at the Danish court, becomes transformed into a model of Christian fortitude. INVESTMENTS INVOLVE RISK AND UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, ARE NOT GUARANTEED. Hamlet confirms the pessimistic half of the Christian faith. It reveals his inner thoughts and adds more quality to the play. Ethical egoism builds on that idea; an code. Hamlets internal dilemma is further complicated by the fact that he is a prince, and must take into account the potential political ramifications of his actions. As Hamlet becomes that which he once hated, Shakespeare emphasizes the fact that the line between victim and oppressor is often more blurred than defined. objective moral code, is to stray from God, the potential creator of such moral This stark example of immorality is a clear indicator of Claudius moral compass and how far he is willing to go to achieve his goals. Three of them who made use of it are Claudius, Laertes, and Hamlet. Hamlets relationship with Ophelia is strained from the beginning of the play. Hamlet realizes this is the only way he will be able to investigate his father's death without being perceived as a threat. Throughout Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, the issue of whether to proceed on a moral route or to descend on a path of immorality and deceit arises in many decisions the main characters face. Little is known Once again Hamlet was unsure if he is even capable of killing. In the end Hamlet steps up to plate, killing Claudius and putting the fate of Denmark in good, Gertrude drank the poisoned wine that was meant to Hamlet. With Hamlets. benevolence, for example, I will then habitually act in a benevolent manner (Fieser) JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41556330. the poet had poured parlous stuff out of his own mental life In the beginning of the play, Hamlet is morally in the right, always taking precautions to ensure this remains so. 1026 Words5 Pages. relativism. As previously explained, objectivists believe morality is just thatobjective. Religion played a vastly important role in society at this time, and governments where under the influence of church leaders.