Revenge as a theme is cleverly built upon throughout Hamlet; with it being the driving force behind three of the key characters in the play. Revenge is a frighteningly vicious emotion, which causes people to act blindly and without reason. In Poe’s, “The Cask of Amontillado”, Montresor enacts revenge for reasons unknown. Hamlet in contrast, has all the motive in the world to complete his task; yet he constantly hesitates. The text reveals that the need for revenge creates a stranglehold on the genuine emotions, thoughts, and actions of three characters: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Laertes; son of Polonius, and Fortinbras; Prince of Norway. This hold makes the characters act beyond their standard ethical positions and makes them helpless to their plots of revenge. The sadness of losing a loved one makes the characters participate in acts they wouldn't normally carry out. The language Shakespeare presents suggests that the characters will do whatever it takes to avenge, immorally, without a sense of rationale; thus effecting their true morality. The real question is, why?
As we see in both stories, revenge is not an easy task to complete. Hamlet encountered many obstacles on the way to enacting his revenge. Hamlet reveals that promising the act of vengeance to oneself, or to the actual victim itself, creates an amplified need to carry out their plans. Hamlet, who swore to his father's ghost that he will kill Claudius for revenge, states:
“Prompted by my revenge by heaven and hell, must like a whore unpack my heart with words, And fall a-cursing like a very drab, A scullion. Fie upon't, foh! About, my brains!” (2, ii, 525-9).
This proclamation by the crazed Prince Hamlet suggests that the promise he’s made to his father is eating...
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...of revenge is that revenge is immoral, no matter the case; and that just because one thing is immoral, does not mean we need to recover with the same, immoral act.
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Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Cask of Amontillado.” Portable Literature. 7th ed.
Boston: Wadsworth Cenage Learning. 2011. 219-224. Print.
Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet.” Portable Literature. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth
Cenage Learning. 2011. 947-1056. Print.
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The Cask of Amontillado is an 1846 short story by Edgar Allan Poe, which gives an account of Montresor, a man who executes a plan of vengeance against his friend, whom he claims insulted him. As the narrator in the story, Montresor provides a vivid image of his plan to lure Fortunato to his death, which ends in the eventual live burial of Fortunato. The theme of revenge is the most prominent element of this story, which enables the reader follow the narrator’s character, thus gaining a comprehensive understanding of the story. Similarly, the development of William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, is founded on the theme of revenge. From the onset of the play, the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears to him and asks that he carries out revenge on Claudius, who killed him and took the throne from him. However, unlike The Cask of Amontillado, the theme of revenge in Hamlet is mainly manifested through the protagonist’s inability to execute vengeance till the very end of the play. The theme of revenge is an integral aspect of the two literary works, to enhance the development of characters and their role in bringing the specific stories to life.
Revenge is a fairly strong emotion; it’s wanting to retaliate towards those who wronged you. Revenge is such an uncontrollable way of retaliation that it can result in a destructive outcome or carried out successfully. Although the results may vary, revenge sums up to one thing which is pain of some sort, affecting both parties or just one. Throughout history we see many tales of revenge and redemption. Often revenge does leave the one carrying it out feeling victorious but this can suddenly change as the process of karma generally begins in some tales.
Redfield, J. S. "The Genius of Poe." Foreword. The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Ed. A.C. Armstrong & Son. New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son., 1884. xv-xxvi. EPUB file.
Poe, Edgar Allan, Andrew Barger, Harry Clarke and Gustave Dore´. Edgar Allan Poe. [Memphis, Tenn.]: BottleTree Books, 2008. Print.
Thomson, Gary Richard, and Poe Edgar. The selected writings of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Norton & Company, 2004
One rainy, spring afternoon I noticed a flashing light and a loud, booming sound outside my bedroom window. I quickly grabbed my raincoat and rushed outside to see what was going on and before I knew it, blinding lights beamed me up inside a strange object. I had never seen anything like it and then it dawned on me that I must be inside a spaceship! Strange-looking, blue creatures appeared before me and began asking questions about human feeling and emotion. They seemed to be harmless, yet curious as to what I could tell them about revenge. So I began by saying, revenge is the act of inflicting hurt or harm on someone in hopes of getting even with them for wronging somebody else. Revenge is spiteful and often people retaliate because of anger or hatred. Humans have a tendency to want to be hateful to those who have wronged us. Revenge is done for a number of reasons: someone hurt you or someone you love, sometimes it is done to be malicious, and other times because somebody took advantage of you. There are three different ways to explain the idea of revenge. Through a short story, poem, and a play, I will attempt to explain revenge. The short story is “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe, the poem is “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning, and the play is “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare. All of these writings encompass this broad idea of revenge, yet at the same time they show different sides of revenge and the circumstances behind their actions.
Edgar Allan Poe’s stories are credited for having horror-filled endings. Usually darkness is considered to be a good representative of evil, so the setting in “The Cask of Amontillado” is at night-time. This story deals with the jealousy, revenge and, more importantly, wounded family honor. A man named Montresor, whose name is not discovered till the end of story, is seeking vengeance on Fortunato, who has irreparably insulted him. The very first sentence: “THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge”, supports the theme of revenge (Poe 161). This theme also suggests that Fortunato had aggrieved Montresor thousands of times, but whenever he insults Montresor and his family, he decides that there needs to be avenge and, which is the murder of a Fortunato. Montresor believes “he is out to get justice by baiting Fortunato” (Whatley 56). Hence, Whatley states “there is no remorse in Montresor’s heart when he finally confesses after fifty years”. So, for the sake of his family honor and self-respect, he vowed to take revenge by killing Fortunato.
Bar-elli, G. and Heyd, D. (1986), Can revenge be just or otherwise justified?. Theoria, 52: 68–86. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-2567.1986.tb00100.x
Revenge is such an enormous part of a being human. It is something that no matter how much you try to avoid part of you will persistently lust for it. When you are hurt in any way your natural instinct will always tell you to make the one who hurt you feel just as bad if not worse as how you felt. It is such a natural and powerful feeling, that when revenge is incorporated into a story it makes it so much stronger. Revenge will make you see so many more sides of characters and make them seem much more complex. Revenge can give fictional characters a more human quality. That is why so many writers use it as their theme.
In retrospect, the concept of revenge in “Hamlet” is quite the eye-opener for those in the dark of what revenge can and will do to one's self and those around him. It is plain to see the agonizing and degenerate condition that it brings upon the body and soul. Moreover, can the disease revenge inflicts rest easily upon the mind? I think not. By no effort can a man avoid the pain and suffering associated with engaging in a personal vendetta. For a man is a flawed being, without any form of perfection within him, save the perfect condition of imperfection present in all mankind. May all the world forget its vengeful spirit as to avoid the cataclysm of such distasteful undoing.
Throughout Hamlet, each character’s course of revenge surrounds them with corruption, obsession, and fatality. Shakespeare shows that revenge proves to be extremely problematic. Revenge causes corruption by changing an individual’s persona and nature. Obsession to revenge brings forth difficulties such as destroyed relationships. Finally, revenge can be the foundation to the ultimate sacrifice of fatality. Hamlet goes to show that revenge is never the correct route to follow, and it is always the route with a dead
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).
Revenge is a motif we see repeatedly throughout the play. Different characters use revenge differently according to their situation. Revenge leads Hamlet and Laertes to their deaths while it makes Fortinbras gain back the land of Denmark. As you can see, the quote by Phaedrus encompasses the entire concept of revenge in Hamlet. The swordfight at the end of the play allowed the characters to complete their revenge, and probably without this, the different reprisals probably wouldn’t have been carried out. All in all, throughout the play, Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras all had a tragic death of a family member which caused their decision for revenge.
Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century, 2003. 105. The Print. The. Poe, Edgar Allan (1809 - 1849) - Credo Reference Topic.