The seven deadly sins are very present in today's society. Of these seven, the two most common are pride and anger. In William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, pride and anger lead to the downfall of some of the main characters. Pride is defined as a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether cherished in the mind or manifested in one's attitude, conduct, etc. (Fowler, FG, HW Fowler and RE Allen 1984). . It is said to be the sin from which all others come. In Hamlet, Hamlet's excessive pride leads him to make crucial mistakes that contribute to his downfall. From the beginning of the play, Hamlet believes that he is superior to those around him and that those around him are easily deceived by his words. For example, when his mother asks him why he always seems bothered by his father's death, he tells her that he doesn't just appear to be grieving, he is, and that his displays of grief cannot truly designate,” because “these are actions that a man might act out,” while his grief is real (Shakespeare I.ii.76-86). This statement reveals Hamlet's belief that his outer nature cannot reveal his inner nature and, as Skulsky remarks, "gives no reason to exempt the mysteries of others from the same iron law" (Skulsky 477). . Despite Hamlet's initial implication that it is humanly impossible to decipher the inner nature of others based on their outward actions, it quickly becomes apparent that Hamlet feels that this is not beyond his abilities. When his father's ghost reveals that Claudius has murdered old Hamlet, Hamlet declares: “O my prophetic soul! as if he knew, from Claudius' exterior, that Claudius had killed Old Hamlet (Shakespeare Iv40). Middle of paper prophetic......bearing since you do not have a strong connection with this person. Hamlet uses the advantages he has to create a crazy personality of himself, which is believable, to get revenge. Although written decades ago, William Shakespeare's Hamlet is still read, studied and enjoyed by readers around the world simply because it is still relevant today. The seven deadly sins played a role throughout this play, including excessive pride and lust for anger. But these sins exist in the very world the reader lives in, as the examples throughout this article prove. Hamlet, whose character in particular is extremely intelligent and also extremely proud, was designed to be dynamic, with conflicting feelings of cowardice and revenge, love and distrust, and pride and pity. This dynamic character was driven to his own downfall by his own excessive pride and need for revenge..