The Hamlet Project

Is there another play that deals with offense as much as this one? Or at least uses the concept? I cannot think of one. People don’t seem to talk much of being offended in Shakespeare, except here. And then later, Claudius names his deed as an offense, a rank one, too.
When we talk about offending these days, it’s usually about language. It’s swearing when the climate abhors rude language. It’s jokes in poor taste or ones that cross the line on stereotypes. Offense has become smaller. A murder is still a criminal offense but the victim’s family wouldn’t call it so – – offense is the least of their worries. It’s the loss, the hole in their lives, the disruption of the ordered universe, the violation of trust that we have in one another that we’ll generally behave, that we will do unto others, that we will hold life sacred.