The Theme of Revenge in Hamlet

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Hamlet is a play based on revenge. Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, marries Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle after killing his brother. Hamlet discovers that his uncle had killed his father when his father visits as a ghost and secretly tells Hamlet what had happened. Hamlet’s pretend craziness and rejection of love towards Ophelia drives her mad and results in the death of the both of them. In the end, the outcome is that everyone but two dies, Horatio and Fortinbras. The statement an eye for an eye is often used in everyday life but is overly expressed in Hamlet. Having lost their fathers, Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras take vengeance on the people who killed them by using extreme forms of violence.

Hamlets father was killed by his uncle in an orchard by poison getting poured into his ear. Hamlet pro...

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