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Revenge in shakespeare essay
Compare and contrast hamlet, laertes and fortinbras
Compare and contrast hamlet, laertes and fortinbras
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An Eye for an eye, measure for measure, ill will; these are all ways of saying revenge, and it is clear that Shakespeare knows a thing or two about the concept of revenge. This theme is clearly illustrated all throughout Shakespeare’s renowned play, Hamlet. The plotting of revenge can be seen most clearly through the eyes of Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras. All three of these men are seeking to avenge their fathers, but not all of them go about it in the same way. Shakespeare shows us how these men have different ideas on how revenge should be taken and when it should be taken.
The lesser known of these three is of course Fortinbras. He is a Norwegian prince on a mission to avenge his father, and bring death to those who oppose him. He is in fact a very similar character to Hamlet in several ways. Both of their fathers have died, and they both share their father’s names, but even thought they both seek revenge the way they go about it shares no similarities. Fortinbras can in fact be called a foil to Hamlet, for he has an extremely different approach on revenge. It is plain to see that Fortinbras is a terse, decisive, man of action. Hamlet realizes that he is nowhere near as brave and determined as Fortinbras when he remarks,
“Witness this army of such mass and charge,
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puff’d,
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death, and danger dare,
Even for an egg-shell” (4.4, 47-53).
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...
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...his father, ruined his mother, and even tried to kill Hamlet himself, he is still not confident enough to take action. However just like Laertes, Hamlet does get his revenge in the end, but was it worth all the unwanted death?
So Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet all get their revenge in one way or the other, but was it worth it? Hamlet’s mission was to kill Claudius, but still remain holy and pure, but he helped cause 6 other unwanted deaths. Laertes was able to kill Hamlet for the death of his father and sister, but in the end we see that he regrets doing so. Even Fortinbras’ revenge is an empty one, because in the end, no one wins when we get revenge. In truth revenge is just an endless cycle that continues to turn with every new death and avenging. Unfortunately for Shakespeare’s characters they do not realize this until they are all dead bleeding upon the floor.
In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the young Prince Hamlet must deal with murder, corruption and incest. The foils to Prince Hamlet, give the reader a basis to summarize his character within the play. Such foils include Laertes, son of Polonius, Claudius, current king of Denmark and stepfather of Hamlet, and Fortinbras, the prince of Norway.
In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, is infuriated with his mother, Gertrude, for marrying his uncle, Claudius, less than two months after his father’s death. Hamlet, the main protagonist, has two characters who act as foils to him, and they are Fortinbras and Laertes. Not only do they want revenge on their father’s murderers, but they are willing to do so at all costs, even if it means destroying their reputation and independence. They also find different ways to cope with their troubles. These foils enhance the importance of Hamlet’s character throughout the play.
His father was killed by Hamlet and his sister was driven insane due to the series of events that took place because of Hamlet. Like Hamlet, Laertes wants to avenge his father by killing the man who killed Polonius. As described earlier, Hamlet is slow to act. Laertes, on the other hand, acts quickly and with precision, wasting no time in acquiring his target and formulating a plan. Robert Palfrey Utter, Jr., puts it best, Hamlet and Laertes both come to the same conclusion that murder must be carried out, but Hamlet reaches that conclusion only “after he has had a few minutes to think it over.” (140) Once Laertes finds out that the man who killed his father was Hamlet he is ready to charge in and kill him as soon as possible. He is only stopped by Claudius, who advises him on a more subtle approach. Straight off the bat it is clear how efficient Laertes is compared to Hamlet. Hamlet wastes a large amount of time scheming up complex ideas on how to get a confession out of Claudius and how to kill him. Laertes on the other hand wastes no time in getting a straight and to the point plan that he can execute immediately. After spending more than half the play watching Hamlet squirm around on the stage getting almost nothing accomplished, the audience would be acutely aware of the stark difference between Hamlet and Laertes even though they share the same motivations. Laertes has his speed but he shares in Hamlets lack of critical thinking when he gets hot headed. He is in such a blind rage that he doesn’t think on what he is agreeing to do with Claudius. Just like Hamlet, his brash actions cost those around him his life. In carrying out the plan, the King, the Queen, Hamlet, and he all die to the poison that was used in the duel. Hamlet was slow and reckless while Laertes was quick and reckless. Wilds sums up the relationship between Hamlet and Laertes perfectly, “Laertes and Hamlet have been foils to each other
Vengeance. A vicious, violent way to make oneself feel better about an offense against them. Throughout the tragedy of Hamlet revenge is a recurring theme, amongst all of the characters. Whether this revenge is in physical form, or mental form, it is equally hurtful. Mahatma Ghandi said, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” Ghandi is literally saying that if one person commits a revengeful act, it will create a continuing reaction of bitterness and violence throughout everyone. This quote is highly significant throughout the duration of Hamlet, as it portrays almost precisely, both the plotline of the story, as well as the conclusion. From the murder of King Hamlet to the murder of Prince Hamlet the tragedy is filled with violent acts of revenge.
In the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the character of Fortinbras, has been used as a foil for the main character, Hamlet. Hamlet and Fortinbras have lost their fathers to untimely deaths. Claudius killed Hamlet's father, King Hamlet, and King Hamlet killed Fortinbras' father. Both Hamlet and Fortinbras have vowed to seek revenge for the deaths of their fathers. Since the revenge tactics of Hamlet and Fortinbras are completely different, Hamlet perceives the actions of Fortinbras as better than his own and the actions of Fortinbras, then, encourage Hamlet to act without hesitating.
Fortinbras marches his army to Poland, in order to fight for a worthless piece of land. By doing this, Fortinbras believes he is reclaiming his father’s name and restoring his family’s honor. Hamlet, on the other side, does the complete opposite. He does not take immediate action for any cause and he is portrayed as a great procrastinator in the play itself. Hamlet does think of plans and actions, but he does not put them into the works. Hamlet does get side tracked by his own thoughts, which eventually force him to talk himself out to taking action for revenge.
Revenge is a major theme throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. This theme provides motivation for characters to murder each other throughout the play, whether or not characters seek revenge for themselves. Because Laertes and Hamlet are so absorbed with wanting to exact revenge upon certain people, they ultimately cause the deaths of all of the main characters in the play. Revenge is the main root of evil in this play. Laertes is greatly influenced by revenge for his actions, especially when he is seeking revenge for his sister.
Although each character plots to avenge his father in the play, the motives of Laertes and Fortinbras differ greatly than that of Hamlet. Fortinbras, who schemes to rebuild his father's kingdom, leads thousands of men into battle, attempting to capture a small and worthless piece of Poland. After his uncle warned him against attacking Denmark. The added land will do little to benefit Norway's prosperity, but this campaign may cost "two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats" (4.4.26) . This shows that pride is a driving factor behind Fortinbras' plan because he is willing to put the lives of his countrymen at risk for a minimal gain. Laertes, on the other hand, is compelled to seek revenge because he loses his father and eventually his sister. The root of Laertes' revenge appears to be the love for his family because he proclaims that he will "be revenged / most throughly for [his] father" (4.5...
By proper revenge we refer to the Elizabethan view that revenge must be sought in certain cases, for the world to continue properly. This is the main plot of Hamlet. In Poetics, Aristotle defines for us, the element of plot and shows us how he believes it must be put together. He also believes in various unities which he states are necessary for a proper tragedy. Aristotle believes in what he calls "Unity of plot" (Aristotle 42 - 3). This "Unity" leaves no room for subplots, which are crucial to the theme of Hamlet. Without the subplot of Laertes' revenge and the subplot of Fortinbras' revenge, we are left with a lugubrious play where the ending, although necessary, is pointless. The three sub-plots together as a unit, allow us to understand what Shakespeare thought of revenge.
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the theme of revenge is very palpable as the reader examines the characters of Hamlet himself, as well as Laertes, son of Polonius, and Fortinbras, prince of Norway and son of the late King Fortinbras. Each of these young characters felt the need to avenge the deaths of their fathers who they felt were untimely killed at the bloody hands of their murderers. However, the way each chose to go about this varies greatly and gives insight into their characters and how they progress throughout the play.
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.
In Hamlet, Shakespeare introduces us to Fortinbras and Hamlet. Both characters are bent on avenging the death of their fathers who were murdered. In Act I, two different revenge plots by these two men are revealed, and while Fortinbras is very open and bold about killing Claudius, Hamlet is sly and quiet about his plan. Fortinbras is also dead set on attacking Denmark no matter what but Hamlet is indecisive about killing Claudius. Fortinbras plans to lead an army to attack Denmark while Hamlet’s plan of attack is to act crazy.
...er to regain land lost by his deceased father. All three of these men were affected by their father’s deaths and wanted to find a solution. Many people would say that these three men had daddy issues. Both Hamlet and Fortinbras were dealing with the issue of why are their uncles are Kings when they were the rightful heir. Hamlet compared himself to Fortinbras when he passed Fortinbras's armies in the fields and he saw Fortinbras as a model for how he should behave and Hamlet said, “To be great / is not to stir without great argument / but greatly to find quarrel in a straw / when honor's at the stake” (4.4.52-55).
“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.
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.