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Revenge as a theme in Literature
Hamlet's character analysis
Revenge as a theme in Literature
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Revenge is defined as the action of causing hurt or harm on someone for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands. Shakespeare’s Hamlet contains the central idea of revenge. In this story, the father is murdered, the mother marries the murderer, and the son is left to the duty of revenge (Barzilai 87). It is Hamlet’s duty to follow his father’s commands and get his revenge on his uncle, but multiple problems occur and lead to his death along with many others.
In the beginning of the play, Hamlet has returned from Wittenberg to honor the death of his father, King Hamlet, and the ghost of his dead father suddenly confronts him. The ghost of King Hamlet has returned to inform his son about the murder that his brother has committed. While King Hamlet was asleep, his brother, Claudius, placed poison in his ear and left him suffering to die. The ghost of King Hamlet sets the main conflict of the play into motion and puts the idea of revenge into Hamlet’s mind. He says to Hamlet:
If though hast nature in thee, bear it not,
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned incest. (I.v.81-83)
This quote causes Hamlet to question his own nature, and he begins to wonder if and how he will try to get his revenge (Goldstein 73). King Hamlet’s ghost wants Hamlet to get rid of Claudius but asks differently for the revenge of Hamlet’s mother:
Taint not thy mind, nor thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge
To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once. (I.v.85-88)
Shortly after King Hamlet was murdered, Hamlet’s mother remarried to Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, and soon Claudius became the new king. Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude’s, actions did not make K...
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...ent, Gertrude, Laertes, and Hamlet are all dying. Suddenly, Laertes announces that Claudius was behind the plan, and Hamlet grabs the poisoned sword to stab Claudius and forces Claudius to drink the wine to kill him.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is full of revenge between multiple characters in the play. After seeing the ghost of his father, Hamlet was determined to get his revenge on his uncle, Claudius, for murdering his father and marrying his mother. Hamlet had multiple chances for revenge but was not willing to let his uncle go to Heaven after the crimes he committed. He used schemes and was able to avoid being killed by Claudius. Hamlet’s revenge did not go as planned, seeing that he killed more people than intended and was also killed himself. After the duel between Hamlet and Laertes, Hamlet was finally able to kill his uncle for the wrong actions that he committed.
Hamlet contains three plots of revenge throughout the five acts of the play. Young Hamlet, after getting a shocking realization from his father’s ghost, wants to enact a plot of revenge against his uncle. Laertes, who was struck twice in quick succession by the death of his father and sister, wants to kill Hamlet. Away in Norway, Fortinbras wants to take revenge on the entire nation of Denmark for taking his father’s land and life. These three sons all want the same thing, vengeance, but they go about it in wildly different ways, but as Lillian wilds points out, “he also sees himself in the mirrors of Fortinbras [and] Laertes.”(153) It becomes clear that the parallels presented throughout the play are there to further illuminate the flaws of
The first and most important story of revenge is Hamlet wanting to kill his Uncle Claudius, after Claudius kills Hamlets father. Shakespeare begins the whole idea of revenge very early in the story when the ghost comes and tells Hamlet of what his uncle has done. The ghost first tells Hamlet how his uncle killed the king and then he tells Hamlet to take revenge he says in the play, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” Hamlet responds with much eager to get revenge saying back to the ghost, “Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge.” It is funny how Hamlet says this because he first of says he wants to get swift revenge then the rest of the play after that Hamlet hesitates to kill Claudius. Shakespeare continues to push the theme of revenge as hamlet conti...
King Claudius sends Hamlet away to England, but while on the ship, Hamlet experiences an abrupt change of mind. He discovers papers sentencing him to death upon arrival, which ignites a flame within Hamlet. Focusing on self-preservation, he must make an impulsive decision about whether it be his life or the lives of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on the line (Shakespeare 282). These two are the first to die as Hamlet finally begins to act on his anger. Death continues to take more victims in Act 5 with the poisoning of Laertes, Claudius and Gertrude. Hamlet finally gets the revenge he desires against his uncle, but at what cost? Two of the killed have wronged him, but poor Laertes gets caught in the crossfire of this feud. Not even Hamlet can survive the wrath of revenge. He dies from the poisoned foil as well (Shakespeare 304). Revenge is a dark, foreboding cloud that engulfs anyone surrounding it, which Shakespeare illustrates through the resulting bloodshed when Hamlet finally decides to physically act on his anger. All these tragic scenes depict the horrendous aftermath of revenge and its true
Revenge is used throughout the play in a few different ways. The first time we see the idea of revenge in Hamlet is when prince Hamlet sees his father's ghost. He is instructed to kill Claudius to seek revenge for the murder of King Hamlet while he was sleeping in the garden. The ghost is
Hamlet becomes worried that the ghost who appeared to be his father may actually be the devil. When Hamlet realizes a group of actors are on their way to perform for the kingdom, he concocts a plan that will determine Claudius’s fate. Hamlet decides to ask the actors to reenact the murder of his father so that he can carefully observe Claudius’s reaction; consequently, he would “catch the conscience of the king” (2, 2, 584) if he is truly guilty of murder. The play begins and everything is fine, until the actor who portrayed the king is “poisoned.” After the death scene, Claudius immediately stands up and the play comes to a halt. It is obvious that the play has upset him. After Claudius’s apprehensive reaction, Hamlet knows that the ghost is indeed his father and he must finally avenge his
Both Claudius and Laertes want to kill Hamlet for their own separate reasons (Claudius so he can rule without guilt and Laertes to avenge the deaths of his father and sister), so they devise a plan in which they will poison Hamlet during a fencing duel. As they develop the plan, the reader is able to see how Clausius has gone mad about keeping his power and how Laertes is willing to do anything for his father and sister. However, this is when Hamlet finally snaps and goes completely insane as he says "Heaven make thee free of it. I follow thee. I am dead, Horatio. Wretched Queen, adieu! You that look pale and tremble at this chance, That are but mutes or audience to this act, Had I but time- as this fell sergeant, Death, is strict in his arrest."(Hamlet pg 330). Soon enough, Claudius' and Laertes' insanity driven plan backfires as the Queen, Claudius, Laertes, and Hamlet all end up being poisoned and dying not long after. Ironically enough the only main character still living is Horatio, the only one who didn't go
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare the theme of revenge is heavily embedded into its frame work, seeing it follows Prince Hamlet in his task of avenging the mysterious death of his father. After encountering the ghost of his father Hamlet was lead to suspect that his uncle Claudius, who took over as king of Denmark after marrying Hamlet’s widowed mother, was the father’s murder. So although by simple glance it may seem that Hamlet was in search for revenge throughout the play, Hamlet took many precautions to insure that the action of removing his uncle from power was truthfully deserved. So, Hamlet ultimately sought justice for the murder of his father, but through strong emotions hamlet did commit several uncivil acts that played an
A revenge tragedy has a basic plot, and a thirst or quest for vengeance and will typically feature numerous scenes or acts of murder and mutilation. As the drama unfolds, Shakespeare presents the ghost of King Hamlet, instructing his son, Prince Hamlet to avenge his death: “If thou didst ever thy dear father love ... Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (Act 1 Scene 5). As the only son of the King, this should be an
Hamlet needs verification of his uncle’s murder of the former king before he can take revenge upon him, as he has a fear of the metaphysical consequences of murdering a man who has done nothing wrong. He seems to be wary of his father’s ghost and the allegations it makes about Claudius’ regicide. The ghost first appears in the play before Horatio, who is Hamlet’s friend, and two guards of Elsinore castle. Hamlet is then told by his father’s ghost to avenge his death after he follows the spirit into the forest. In Elizabethan times, when Hamlet was writte...
“Those who plot the destruction of others often fall themselves” (Phaedrus). This quote was said by a Roman fabulist and it depicts the entire concept of revenge in Hamlet. The nature of revenge causes someone to act upon anger rather than reason. Hamlet takes place in Denmark and is about Hamlet’s uncle who kills his dad to gain power of Denmark. After the killing, Hamlet seeks revenge on his uncle. In the play, there are several characters wanting vengeance like that of Hamlet. Throughout the play, Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras all had a tragic death of a family member which caused their decision for revenge. Consequentially, these revenges caused the demise of two characters and the rise of power of another. The retaliation shown by the Prince of Denmark, as well as Laertes led to the downfall of their government.
Firstly, Hamlet struggles to avenge his murdered father. One of the major themes in Hamlet is revenge. The reader sees that Hamlet is eager for revenge during Hamlet’s conversation with the Ghost when Hamlet states, “Haste me to know
Revenge almost always has the makings of an intriguing and tragic story. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a perfect example of how revenge unfolds and what it unveils. The play tells the story of Hamlet, the prince of Denmark. Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, marries his mother soon after his father’s death. Hamlet greatly disapproves of the hasty marriage and suspects foul play. His suspicions are confirmed when the ghost of his father appears and tells him that Claudius murdered him. Hamlet’s father asks him to take revenge upon Claudius, and soon everything takes a drastic change. The courses of revenge throughout Hamlet surround each character with corruption, obsession, and fatality.
While Hamlet may not be the first story to have the character motive of revenge for the death of one or more loved ones, it is certainly one of the most efficient ones at displaying how self-destructive it is when used as one’s sole motivation. The story is notable in that there are two major characters that have revenge as a major motive: Hamlet Junior, who seeks revenge on his uncle Claudius for murdering his father, Hamlet Senior, and Laertes, who blames Hamlet Junior for driving Ophelia to madness and suicide. Hamlets’ desire for revenge made him extremely unstable, to
In Hamlet Prince of Denmark young Hamlet is left facing the outcomes of the conflict his father had with his brother. Old Hamlet is dead, killed by his own brother for the thrown of Denmark. Young Hamlet is in deep morning over the loss of his father and now he has to handle the remarriage of his mother to his own uncle, the man who in cold blood killed his father. Hamlet, with the death of his father, is acting strangely but his whole outlook changes for the worst when his father's ghost visits him. He finds out the true causes of his death and he is influenced by his father to seek revenge. Hamlet's father tells his son to kill his uncle, Claudius because he is the cause of his death. Hamlet loved his father deeply and would do anything for him. He becomes enraged with anger and hate for Claudius and begins to plot his revenge, Claudius' own death. Throughout the play his father's ghost visits Hamlet. Even after his death he has a great control over his son and his actions. These visits are a constant reminder to Hamlet of the truth. Knowing the truth of his father's death has driven Hamlet to the brink of insanity. The only thing he can think of is revenge. His father's death and prior conflict with his brother has left Hamlet in a position of honoring his father and doing right by him, and the only thing he sees fit to do is rid himself of the man that brought about the anger Hamlet is feeling. In the end Hamlet finally gets the revenge he sought with the death of Claudius.
An eye for an eye will more likely make the world blind, rather than healing all the wounds from the past. Revenge is a destructive weapon used to return evil for evil, which can satisfy one’s desire while causing more harm and suffering. Revenge is one of the dominant themes in tragedy, and there is no exception in Hamlet. Shakespeare develops the theme of revenge by portraying Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras as the victims who are plagued with the desire for revenge, allowing the audience to explore their emotion and reaction. Revenge rises up when Hamlet is driven by the ghost to avenge the death of his father, later consumes almost the entire cast of characters when Laertes has to avenge the senseless slaughter of his father and the mysterious