Analysis Of Vengeance In Shakespeare's Hamlet

With the reveal of the sighting of Hamlet’s late father, this scene begins the journey of vengeance, the central plot of the play. Apathetic and lacking meaning in life, Hamlet decides to find and interact with the ghostly apparition resembling his father, risk potential danger and even death. In a private conversation, the ghost reveals to him that Claudius was the cause of his father’s death, not a poisonous slug, and commands him to seek revenge. Without Horatio telling him that he saw the ghost, Hamlet would have continued in his grieving process until time numbed his feelings, after which he would have likely developed a good relationship with Claudius, unknowing that it was him who had killed his father. Horatio, knowing Hamlet well,

probably knew that he would pursue the apparition, but he still told him, even though he knows that “foul deeds will (potentially) rise” with Hamlet’s involvement (Shakespeare 39). Additionally, this interaction takes the beginning steps of giving Hamlet’s life purpose again. Grief stricken by the loss of his father, the prince acted with a “nighted color,” disheartened and lethargic, but after learning of the appearance of his father’s ghost, he began to be involved in life, even if it was by pretending to be insane (Shakespeare 25).