How Revenge Is A Turning Point In Hamlet

776 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Revenge in shakespeare essay

Shakespeare shows many examples of the theme revenge throughout his play, Hamlet. When someone feels that they have been wronged, the desire to get revenge is a normal reaction. Some examples of revenge in Hamlet are when, Hamlet wants revenge on his uncle for killing his father, he also wants revenge for the King’s poisoning his mother and himself. Laertes seeks revenge on Hamlet for taking Polonius’ life.

In the beginning of the play hamlet contemplates revenge on his uncle Claudius for killing his father. Hamlet’s father is stuck in purgatory until Hamlet kills his uncle. A spirit that says he is Hamlet’s father tells Hamlet, “I am thy father's spirit, Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night and for the day confined to fast in fires till the foul crimes done in my days of nature re burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid to tell the secrets of my prison-house... (1.5.14-28).” In this quote Hamlet's father’s spirit is explaining his supernatural being to …show more content…

Hamlet’s watches Fortinbras’ army cross into Denmark, and he starts to understand that many men are going to lose their lives. Hamlet starts to feel shameful over the fact that he hasn't done anything about his father being killed or his mother “stained”. Hamlet says “How stand I, then, that have a father killed, a mother stained, excitements of my reason and my blood, and let all sleep, while, to my shame, I see the imminent death of twenty thousand men that, for a fantasy and trick of fame go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot whereon the numbers cannot try the cause, which is not tomb enough and continent to hide the slain? O, from this time forth my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!” (4.4.46-69) This quote shows that Hamlet is starting to lose sanity and a sense of power about not getting revenge on Claudius. In the moment of the army marching, Hamlet’s thoughts go bad. He wants revenge for his

Show More
Related

  • Father and Son Relationship in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the play Hamlet is in constant conflict with himself. An appearance of a ghost claiming to be his father, “I am thy father’s spirit”(I.v.14) aggravates his grief, nearly causing him to commit suicide and leaving him deeply disgusted and angered. Upon speaking with his ghost-father, Hamlet learns that his uncle-stepfather killed Hamlet the King. “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown”(I.v.45-46) Hamlet is beside himself and becomes obsessed with plotting and planning revenge for the death of his father.

    Read More

  • Unreasonable Behavior In Hamlet

    1169 Words  | 3 Pages

    In William shakespeare’s book Hamlet, Hamlet himself was acting strange because of his obsession for revenge for his father’s death. At the beginning of Hamlet, Hamlet’s father made an appearance after his unfortunate death. Horatio and the two watchmen, Francisco and Bernardo, they were frightened of what they have witnessed that night. Next day, they went to the chamber of Prince Hamlet to tell him that they have witnessed of appearance of a ghost whom they identified as the prince’s father. Then Hamlet went watch with them on that night. The ghost appeared quickly, Hamlet was surprised and confused on why his father was there. Hamlet followed his father’s ghost until there’s nowhere to go for him.The ghost talked to him And told him that his death wasn’t an accident but it was a murder. Just when he learned who murdered his father, it was the someone he suspected and it was Claudius, his Uncle. Despite all of the hatred toward his uncle, this made him even want more revenge for his father than before. That night, Hamlet made Horatio and the two watchmen pledge under his sword

    Read More

  • A Lack Of Faith In Shakespeare's Hamlet

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    This visitation is to whet thy almost blunted purpose," (83-84) says the ghost in a motivational manner which almost suggests a lack of faith on Hamlet's behalf. Nevertheless, Hamlet is overflowing with faith. Faith in god, faith in himself, even faith in his dead father's ghost a faith that will cost him his life. The untimely "Death" of King Hamlet, Hamlet's father, has sparked a disturbance in the regularity of Denmark.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's View on Death in Hamlet by William Shakespeare

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Act 1 Scene 5, the ghost of Hamlet’s father says. GHOST “I am thy father's spirit. Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night. And for the day confined to fast in fires. Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away.”

    Read More

  • The Revenge of Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras

    699 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Pursuit of Revenge

    1189 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through previous years, philosopher’s have tested numerous theories that help us in defining the nature of our being, often these are stalled by the nuanced thought behind our heart and mind. Philosophers often believed that we were slaves to our passions despite our reasoning, even now this could be proven by acts of love, but more than often proven it can be seen through our desire for revenge. Unlike it’s counterpart [avenge], revenge is both a verb and a noun that can be not only acted upon but attained. Revenge is what one seeks after being wronged and often an action never thought through by reason, but a fight of a person’s passions towards a self declared justice. Portrayed in a copious amount of movies, songs, and art, the theme of revenge has been held iconically within Shakespeare's most famous play, Hamlet. Centered around corruption of the mind, body and soul, Hamlet is seen by many as the embodiment of revenge through it’s characters (Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras); it is within their actions and development that each character portrays the dichotomy of their passion and reason to prove that we are slaves to our passions until reason catches up.

    Read More

  • Revenge in Hamlet

    1105 Words  | 3 Pages

    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-...

    Read More

  • Theme of Revenge in "Hamlet"

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    “If you seek revenge, dig two graves.” This ancient Chinese proverb explains the mood in Hamlet, a play, written by Shakespeare. The theme of revenge is seen throughout the play as each character extracts one form or another of revenge from a person who has wronged them. In the play the characters Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras all desire revenge for a lost father; however, their motivations for murder differ.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Madness Analysis

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    At first, Hamlet feigns his madness; however, after his first kill, he pushes aside any rationale he has left and becomes bloodthirsty for revenge. Shakespeare subtly hints at some instability in Hamlet’s mind, even before he becomes aware of his father’s murder. Before Hamlet sees his father’s ghost, his father’s spirit begins to haunt his mind. Hamlet admits to Horatio, “My father-methinks I see my father” (1.2.184). This quote alone is evidence supporting the fact that Hamlet sometimes imagines the presence of his father, suggesting that his mind is becoming unstable.

    Read More

  • The Theme of Revenge in "Hamlet"

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • The Delay of Hamlet

    1600 Words  | 4 Pages

    Taking revenge against his enemy can be a difficult task for young Hamlet, especially when the circumstances and conditions he is under require him to reevaluate his morals of life and soul. The delay in Hamlet’s revenge of his father’s death is caused by three main reasons: he is under strict and almost impossible guidelines laid out by the ghost of his father, King Hamlet, he is afraid of death either suffering it or inflicting it on someone else, and his lack of reasoning in committing a murder that he did not witness himself.

    Read More

  • Hamlet Revenge Essay

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Hamlet is full of revenge between multiple characters in the play. After seeing the ghost of his father, Hamlet was determined to get his revenge on his uncle, Claudius, for murdering his father and marrying his mother. Hamlet had multiple chances for revenge but was not willing to let his uncle go to Heaven after the crimes he committed. He used schemes and was able to avoid being killed by Claudius. Hamlet’s revenge did not go as planned, seeing that he killed more people than intended and was also killed himself. After the duel between Hamlet and Laertes, Hamlet was finally able to kill his uncle for the wrong actions that he committed.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Oedipus Complex

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Hamlet is another of the great creations of tragic poetry…What is it that inhibits him in fulfilling the task set him by his father’s ghost?...Hamlet is able to do anything—except take vengeance on the man who did away with his father and took that father’s place with his mother, the man who shows him the repressed wishes of childhood realized. Thus the loathing which should drive him on to revenge is replaced in him by self-reproaches, by scruples of conscience, which remind him that he himself is literally no better than the sinner whom he is to punish.”- Sigmund Freud

    Read More

  • Nature of Revenge

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Hamlet As A Revenge Tragedy

    2630 Words  | 6 Pages

    William Shakespeare's Hamlet presents the generic elements found in Renaissance revenge tragedies ("Revenge Tragedy"). However, although Hamlet is a revenge tragedy by definition, Shakespeare complicates the basic revenge plot by creating three revenge plots out of one. By adding significant innovations, Shakespeare creates "three concentric rings of revenge" (Frye 90), depicting an indecisive protagonist who is an intellectual rather than a physical hero, an ambiguous ghost, and several problematic aspects of the play, such as the reason for Hamlet's delay, the confusion of time, and the truth behind Hamlet's apparent madness.

    Read More

More about How Revenge Is A Turning Point In Hamlet

Open Document