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The play Hamlet as a revenge tragedy
The play Hamlet as a revenge tragedy
The play Hamlet as a revenge tragedy
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Hamlet completely revolves around revenge. Revenge is getting payback for something that affected oneself. Hamlet wants revenge of Claudius for killing his father, and Laertes wants to seek revenge on hamlet for killing his. Revenge in the story pushes the plot forward as Hamlet tries to kill Claudius throughout the whole novel, which causes many tragedies. Vengeance causes the characters in Hamlet to act blindly through anger and emotion, rather than through reason leading to the massacre of the entire family.
“Revenge is foul in most natural murder” (Act1 Scene 5.) Hamlet’s father comes back to earth as a ghost to inform him the true reason of his death; he was murdered by Claudius, his brother. Claudius since the very beginning has already exacted revenge against his brother, King Hamlet, but not only that he also usurped King Hamlet’s throne and has won the love and affection of Gertrude. Gertrude is careless about her husband’s death for she is a cruel and heartless woman for marrying another too soon. This sets of an unstoppable chain reaction until the end of the play. Hamle...
Hamlet questions what may or may not happen however Laertes just wants the revenge fast and effective. Although these characters have different standards when it comes to revenge, they both immediately blamed and directed their anger towards Claudius when they found out their father’s were dead. Hamlet’s reason to blame Claudius is simply because he is his father’s murderer. In 1.5 while Hamlet is talking to the ghost of his father he says, “Haste me to know ’t, that I, with wings as swift/As meditation or the thoughts of love/May sweep to my revenge” (Shakespeare 1.5.31-33). At first is seems as if Hamlet would seek revenge right away because he seems eager to find out who the killer is and when he does find out he says he knew it was Claudius all along. He is furious and after this part in the play, Hamlet’s anger is mainly focused on Claudius. On the other hand when Laertes found out Polonius is dead he went straight to Claudius assuming it was him. By doing this he shows that he is controlled by his impulses unlike Hamlet who waited until he got proof to act on his fury. Laertes also blamed Claudius for not giving his father a proper burial, which can relate to Hamlet’s anger too because Hamlet felt as if there was not enough mourning for his father death. Not only did they both lose their fathers, but they both lost Ophelia, a female figure in their lives that they both loved.
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
William Shakespeare's Hamlet illustrates the inevitable cycle of revenge as the characters are drawn into a whirlpool that they cannot escape. In this play, the readers witness the power of death and the wavering resolution that acts as a domino effect. The first one to fall into this despair is the protagonist, Hamlet, which affect both directly and indirectly those around him. Horatio, Hamlet’s best friend from school, becomes his only ally who knows of Hamlet’ schemes and miseries. While Laertes becomes Hamlet’s enemy when the protagonist inadvertently kills Laertes’ father thinking he was King Claudius, Hamlet’s subject of revenge, when he was eavesdropping on Hamlet.
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Claudius murders his brother, the King of Denmark, and subsequently usurps the Danish throne. Shattering the purity of the royal family, he allures Queen Gertrude into an incestuous wedding so hastily that “The funeral baked meats / Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables” (I.ii.180-1). Lost in this sullied household is Prince Hamlet, shrouded in the black of mourning, who condemns his mother’s quick, lustful willingness to marry his uncle. Hamlet’s abject tears melt into vengeance, however, when the ghost of his father orders him to “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (I.v.25). He complicates his command to the Prince by admonishing him to “Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive / Against thy mother aught” (I.v.85-6). Although he must avenge his father’s assassination without harming Gertrude, Hamlet’s disappointment, disgust, and frustration with his mother obviate his duty to insulate her from his revenge; and his failure to do so ultimately leads to her death.
It is here that one begins to see the theme of revenge and the idea that power can cause corruption. A family is supposed to be loyal and trusting of each other without any doubts; or so it was thought. Shakespeare uses Claudius’ betrayal of late King Hamlet to disprove the notion that family is always loyal. Claudius’ jealousy of his own brother and his desire to be the most powerful in Denmark corrupted him. It led him to betray his own family, a bond that is supposed to be unbreakable, and all the while feeling no guilt while acting as if he had not committed the crime. In addition to this, Claudius also takes late King Hamlet’s wife. Hamlet is enraged by the crime and adultery committed by his supposed family and feels he must seek justice for his father by taking out revenge on Claudius and therefore betraying him. Subsequently, the play becomes a slippery slope of events stemming from betrayal and revenge. The betrayal of one character became the revenge and betrayal of many others as seen when Horatio says, “… violent and unnatural acts, terrible accidents, casual murders, deaths caused by trickery and by threat, and finally murderous plans that backfired on their perpetrators,” showing that each act committed by the characters were returned back to them. This can be supported through the deaths of Claudius, Laertes, and Hamlet as these were just a
Claudius is the antagonist in this play and starts all of the drama. Claudius is the reason why hamlet is trying to seek revenge. Other characters are trying to seek revenge throughout the entirety of the play also. Shakespeare in the play Hamlet, is trying to make this a play on revenge between many characters and also show the insecurities of Hamlet as he tries to seek 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.
Hamlet declares revenge against Uncle Claudius since he believes he is his father’s slayer and because of his mother’s incestuous marriage to Claudius. Early in the play, Hamlet is informed by a ghost, who claims to be his father, King Hamlet, that Claudius is responsible for poisoning him in his orchard. The ghost exclaims it was Claudius’s “foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.25). Also, Hamlet is engaged against his mother since she barely grieved over her husband’s death and married Claudius soon after. In Hamlet’s first soliloquy, he states that his mother married “[with such] wicked speed, to post, [w]ith such dexterity to incestuous sheets” (1.2.156-157).
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. Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras are similar in the fact that each had love, or at least respect, their fathers. Enough to make an attempt to wreak revenge upon their fathers murderers at the risk of their own reputation, freedom, and souls.
This attribute greatly adds to the comparison between these two characters, but another idea that affects their actions is the pursuit of revenge. Finally, Laertes and Hamlet want to seek revenge for the death of their fathers. Both of their fathers' deaths are caused by radical conflicts. Hamlet's madness is a result of Claudius's intentional killing of Old Hamlet. Old Hamlet tells the truth, and he...
In the play, Hamlet is a tragic hero since he does not try to stop the war but conduct a revenge that becomes a vicious circle. He is unable to make a decision whether he should revenge on the death of the elder King or not, losing the characteristics that heroes have. Surprisingly, Hamlet kills Polonius in a moment, meaning he kills other people’s father as well. He detests the behavior of Claudius, now he has become another Claudius. Thus, Polonius’s son, Laertes starts getting revenge for his father’s murder. Laertes states, “To hell, allegiance! Vow, to the blackest devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation. To this point I stand that both the worlds I give to negligence. Let come what comes, only I’ll be revenged most thoroughly for my father.” (4.5 129-134) Hamlet wants to get revenge for his father because he is experiencing the loss of a loved one; however, he causes other people suffering the same pain. Comparing the two people taking revenge, Laertes displays more characteristics of a hero and is more manly than
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. In the play, Hamlet seeks revenge on his uncle Claudius.
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
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.
In this scene, Hamlet is beckoned by a ghost, who later is revealed to be the ghost of Hamlet Senior. Hamlet listens as the ghost explains to him the details of his’ death. The ghost reveals to Hamlet that he was murdered by none other than Claudius! This sends Hamlet into a passionate rage and he again delivers a soliloquy, where his intentions are revealed. He states that “I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, [will ] sweep to my revenge” (1.5.33-35). This immense passion that Hamlet is feeling contradicts reason because reason would cause Hamlet to contact law enforcement and usurp his uncle from the throne, rather than taking justice into his own hands, and therefore becoming a murderer