Elizabethan Laws Regarding Murder

As Eleanor Prosser points out, the law with regard to revenge was unequivocal. Revenge was treated then as it is today. It is simply murder.

However, there was a question of degree that was considered in measuring out the punishment for murder. Under Elizabethan law, first-degree murder involved malice prepense (premeditation). Murder without the premeditation, that is to say murder committed in the heat of the moment, was considered manslaughter, and treated differently. There is no question that Hamlet dwells extensively on consideration of his revenge against Claudius, but these broodings do not invlove specific plans for the act itself. Thus, some (and Professor Prosser is among them) argue that Hamlet's revenge would have been treated more leniently than it would have if it had come as a direct result of his planning.

Let's take a look at some specific facits of the laws regarding murder and see how they relate to Hamlet.