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Revenge as a theme in the book hamlet
Revenge as a theme in the book hamlet
Hamlet character analysis hamlet
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In Shakespeare’s plays revenge is a common theme; In Hamlet it is a theme around which the main plot is situated. In this case, those who take it upon themselves to exact a revenge using violence, force, and haste; inevitably meet their demise. However those who seek it rationally, survive. Such is the case with three major characters: Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras. Their revenges are patient and planned, yet they are obstructed by moral values and religious views and a higher power, but fueled by their emotions.
In Hamlet, Hamlet is seen wallowing in sorrow at the beginning due to his father’s (the late King) death, but he is unaware of how it happened. The plot begins to unfold at the inciting incident, which is when the Ghost speaks to Hamlet and tells him of
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It gives us insight to the looming threat of Norway. Young Fortinbras’ reaction was neither delayed, nor was it reckless. Compared to Hamlet’s stalling and Laertes’ haste, Fortinbras acted rationally. Instead of over-contemplating his life and its meaning, he calmly creates a bold plan to avenge the death of Old Norway and reclaim the lands lost to Denmark. He assembles an army to march on Poland, which is of little importance to him. Upon returning from Poland, he heads to his primary goal; the royal palace of Elsinore in Denmark, where he plans to exact his vengeance. Fortinbras arrives shortly after the deaths occur in the palace. It is not by chance that Fortinbras remains alive by the end of the play; it was his rationality that caused it to be so. Hamlet had recognized Fortinbras as a strong ruler when he saw the Norwegian army march, and so before his death. He told unto Horatio: “I do prophesy the election lights on Fortinbras: he has my dying voice” (V.II.348-349). This shows Hamlet’s trust and consent in given Fortinbras the throne of Denmark, which in turn restores the order to the Shakespearian chaos that
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
Hamlet is a tragedy that takes place in Denmark. The play is based on the myth of Amlet and retold by the great William Shakespeare. Hamlet is a world renown and thought provoking play that captivates its audience as it follows the struggle of a doubtful and temperamental prince to avenge the death of his father who has been murdered and replaced by his uncle Claudius. The captivation of the play can be attributed to the protagonist of the Hamlet and his two foils Laertes and Fortinbras. It is not common for the prestige of “Hamlet” to be partly attributed to characters with such small roles. The prevalent presence of Fortinbras and Laertes is no accident, it is something executed byWilliam Shakespeare so that we may learn more about Hamlet. Without Laertes and Fortinbras we wouldn't have any reasonable characters to compare Hamlet to. In Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras act as Hamlet’s foils. In a story the foil is a character who is superficially similar to the main character but differs by significant character traits. These similarities and differences are what accentuate main character. Hamlet, Fortinbras, and Laertes have a lot in common when it comes to the situations that they find themselves and how they initially intend to respond to those situations. Be that as it may, each of these “avenging” sons sees their situation in a different light and attempt to avenge their fathers in different fashions. The foils similarities and differences are used by William Shakespeare to highlight the potential paths Hamlet could have taken on his crusade for revenge.
In addition to being a foil to Hamlet, Fortinbras becomes the guidelines for Hamlet;s internal conflict. Although Fortinbras sets out to avenge his father’s honour, he did not takes his time to take action nor did he rush his plan for revenge. Looking at Fortinbras, Hamlet acknowledges “Rightly to be great/ Is not to stir without great argument,/But greatly to find quarrel in a straw/ When honor’s at the stake” (IV.iv.55-53). Although they are similar, Fortinbras act upon his word and does not think as much as Hamlet does. In addition, Fortinbras plan for revenge does not includes killing his opponent, but taking back “a little patch of ground/That hath in it no profit but the name” (IV.iv.19-20) that his father lost when he died by the hand of King Hamlet.
Hamlet sees that Fortinbras is willing to risk his own life just to avenge his father and his name. After becoming crowned prince after his father’s death, Fortinbras rallies his forces in Norway and marches off to war and rev...
The theme of vengeance is apparent within the tragedy before the tragedy even begins. King Fortinbras is defeated by King Hamlet, leaving Prince Fortinbras orphaned. This naturally brings about bitterness between Prince Fortinbras and King Hamlet. Prince Fortinbras is angry, within reason. His father was just killed, his lands stolen, and now he is the person to whom all of the duty is left. These feelings lead Fortinbras to a state of angered reactions. He prepares an army to march into Poland and Denmark to recover the lands that his father had lost. He takes action, leaving the rest of his life behind, and marching over to get retaliation against the man who killed his father. He sets his mind on what he has to do, and sets off, away from his home, in a strong, purposeful manner. When Fortinbras prepares to march through Denmark, his address to King Claudius is direct, purposeful, and unemotional.
Hamlet, after learning that his father's death was a murder and vowing to take revenge, wants to be certain that what he has been told is the absolute truth before he attempts to take revenge on Claudius. Even after Hamlet is sure beyond any shadow of a doubt that Claudius is the murderer, he hesitates to kill him. Fortinbras, on the other hand, has been taking action even before the play begins. As the play opens, the audience learns that Denmark is in a state of alert; the country has been preparing for a war. From Horatio, the audience also learns that the young Fortinbras is getting ready his "lawless resolutes"(I.i.111) for action against Denmark for the killing of his father and for the return of lands previously owned by Norway (I. i. 79-107). These differences between Hamlet and Fortinbras' actions are further mentioned in Hamlet's last soliloquy (IV. iv. 32-66).
Moving forward, rather than lagging behind, a truly noteworthy concept of revenge can be seen in the Shakespearean tragedy: “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.” It is within this particular tragedy that prince Hamlet is enlightened, by the ghost of his father, to the murder of his father by his uncle, Claudius, an incestuous, adulterous beast who greedily claimed the throne and Hamlet's mother as his wife. (Hamlet 1.5.45-46, 49-53) Nevertheless, it is through this enlightenment that Hamlet sets off toward avenging his father's death, but along the way he is pitted against misfortune as the downward-...
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
As is hinted throughout the play, the state of Denmark has become corrupt. Marcellus' famous quote "There is something rotten in the state of Denmark"(Act 1, 5:90) is complemented by various other observations. "...tis an unweeded garden,"(Act 1, 2:134) and "our state to be disjoint and out of frame,"(Act 1, 2:20). In Elizabethan times it was generally thought that a monarch had to have rightful claim to the throne, lest the state descend into chaos. Fortinbras is essential to this overlying story line, as he is fundamental to the resolution of the corruption. The overlying story line is to make what was bad become good, and thus a complete resolution is needed. Fortinbras is instrumental in this resolution: as the only nobleman left to claim the throne rightfully, Hamlet bequeaths not only the land that Old Fortinbras lost, but also the state of Denmark. Hence Fortinbras attains what he had vowed to avenge, and the play comes full circle. All that made the state of Denmark rotten, all those involved with the corruption, are now dead hence the overlying story plot is fully resolved.
Fortinbras realizes that war with Denmark would be foolish, although he wishes he could avenge his father Old Fortinbras and take back the land. Instead he attempts to take from the Pollack lands as compensation. A second time as Hamlet is headed to the ship to take him to England, he stumbles upon Fortinbras’ army, and Hamlet, bewildered that so many men would die for undesirable land, says wonderingly, “this army. Led by a delicate and tender prince, whose spirit with divine ambition puffed. find quarrel in a straw.
Revenge has caused the downfall of many a person. Its consuming nature causes one to act recklessly through anger rather than reason. Revenge is an emotion easily rationalized; one turn deserves another. However, this is a very dangerous theory to live by. Throughout Hamlet, revenge is a dominant theme. Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet all seek to avenge the deaths of their fathers. But in so doing, all three rely more on emotion than thought, and take a very big gamble, a gamble which eventually leads to the downfall and death of all but one of them. King Fortinbras was slain by King Hamlet in a sword battle. This entitled King Hamlet to the land that was possessed by Fortinbras because it was written in a seal'd compact. "…our valiant Hamlet-for so this side of our known world esteem'd him-did slay this Fortinbras." Young Fortinbras was enraged by his father’s murder and sought revenge against Denmark. He wanted to reclaim the land that had been lost to Denmark when his father was killed. "…Now sir, young Fortinbras…as it doth well appear unto our state-but to recover of us, by strong hand and terms compulsative, those foresaid lands so by his father lost…" Claudius becomes aware of Fortinbras’ plans, and in an evasive move, sends a message to the new King of Norway, Fortinbras’ uncle.
Revenge is a recurring theme in Hamlet. Although Hamlet wants to avenge his father’s death, he is afraid of what would result from this. In the play Hamlet, Hamlet’s unwillingness to revenge appears throughout the text; Shakespeare exhibits this through Hamlet’s realization that revenge is not the right option, Hamlet‘s realization that revenge is the same as the crime which was already committed, and his understanding that to revenge is to become a “beast” and to not revenge is as well (Kastan 1).
... he believes is rightfully his. Fortinbras also serves as the equal to Hamlet and whose actions are compared to those of Hamlet’s as how Hamlet should behave. The young Prince of Norway is known for is conquest in countries and also for what he hopes to accomplish in the end. At the end of the play, when the royal family collapses and Hamlet is dead, Fortinbras is the character who receives the crown. Without this element in the movie, who could take over the helpless land and been able to keep it together and successfully rule the kingdom? Only Fortinbras is the prime choice to rule this kingdom because of his clear motive, direction, and his will to succeed.
Hamlet has an enormous amount of stress placed on him by the events of his father’s death and his mother’s hasty marriage. Hamlet’s mentality is further stressed by his father’s appearance in the form of a ghost telling Hamlet the true cause of his death, “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown” (Shakespeare 1.5.38-39), and more importantly telling Hamlet to avenge his death and to never forget him (1.5). This must weigh heavily on Hamlet’s mind as he tries to bring himself to carry out such a corrupt act. As Javed describes Hamlet’s ordeal as, “having taken on unwillingly the task of the revenge whose narrower function may have been to avenge a wronged kinsman, but whose wider one was to purge from society the evil which it could not otherwise escape” (332.) The corruption of Hamlet’s character is tragic because as Polonius says: “the safety and health of [the] whole state” depends on him (Shakespeare 1.3.20). The first drastic demonstration of Hamlet’s corruption is shown when he finds Polonius hiding behind a curtain . Hamlet, who believes his uncle Claudius is spying on him, stabs at the curtain, inadvertently killing Polonius. As Dr. Topchyan describes this act, Hamlet does it in “unrestrained passion,” unexpectedly even for himself. His deed, dictated by the situation, is impulsive, not deliberate – an instinctive action, a desperate
Being the primary character, there is a greater focus on Hamlet’s pursuit of revenge, since throughout the play his mind and actions plagued by both uncertainty and angry notions towards his mother’s infidelity rather than the “murder most foul”. Unlike both Laertes and Fortinbras, Hamlet's desire for revenge is not implanted by his own will but rather by his father’s ghost; through his encounter the ghost pleads his son’s loyalty by promising the murder Claudius. Initially Hamlet's interaction with the Ghost was one of curiosity and glee which opposes his prior melanch...