Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The theme of revenge in William Shakespeare's
Vengeance in Shakespeare
Hamlet as a Renaissance play
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The theme of revenge in William Shakespeare's
Vengeance, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is “[t]he act of avenging oneself or another” (Def. 1.A.) and appears as a common motive to many characters throughout plays during Renaissance times. This idea of vengeance and revenge is present in many of Shakespeare’s plays, notably his most famous play Hamlet and also The Tempest. Both plays really have a strong focus on vengeance and getting revenge on someone, but these ideas are quite different today than they were in Shakespeare’s time. Within this essay, it will be discussed how vengeance and revenge are apparent in both Hamlet and The Tempest. Also, the differing ideas on vengeance and revenge in today’s society versus Renaissance times will be discussed.
Within the play Hamlet, the ideas of vengeance and revenge are very apparent. In fact, Hamlet “is in a grip of an inner compulsion” (Greenblatt 106) where he is obsessed with this idea of getting revenge for the death of his father, which he learns about the murder in Act I by his ghost. This is also when the audience learns how the current king, Claudius, killed his own brother with ear poison. During the last few scenes of Act I, the ghost has Hamlet follow him through the forest so that they can speak in private. Before King Hamlet’s ghost tells Hamlet the truth about what happened, he says, “So art thou to revenge when thou shalt hear” (1.5.8). He is telling Hamlet that he will want or need to get revenge after the story he is about to hear. A few lines later the ghost tells Hamlet, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.25). This is a critical point in the play because the ghost is telling Hamlet that he must get revenge for the horrible murder that had occurred.
As for Shakespeare’s supposed fi...
... middle of paper ...
...and Revenge Tragedy in the London Theater, 1576-1980. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1986. 58+. Google Scholar. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
Permenter, Rachela. “Shakespeare and the Dramatic Modes of the Renaissance.” English 217 Course Material D2L. Slippery Rock University. Fall 2013.
"Retribution." Def. 1b. Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2008. 1330-1381. Print. Later Plays.
---. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2008. 116-204. Print. Later Plays.
"Vengeance." Def. 1a. Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2013. Web. 6 Dec. 2013.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print
Lamb, Charles. On the Tragedies of Shakespeare. N.p.: n.p.. 1811. Rpt in Shakespearean Tragedy. Bratchell, D. F. New York, NY: Routledge, 1990.
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespear. Othello. Dir. Grenblatt, Cohen, Howard, and Eisaman Maus. (second ed.) New York. 2008.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Greenblatt, Stephen. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1997.
Shakespeare, William. The New Cambridge Shakespeare: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Philip Edwards. Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1985.
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
In Hamlet Shakespeare is able to use revenge in an extremely skillful way that gives us such deep insight into the characters. It is an excellent play that truly shows the complexity of humans. You can see in Hamlet how the characters are willing to sacrifice t...
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2012. Print.
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.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Washington Square Press new Folger ed. New York: Washington Square, 2002. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Second Revised Ed. United States of America: First Signet Classics Print, 1998. 1-87. Print.