Shakespeare wrote “Hamlet” in 1599, during the Elizabethan era. The play is made up of five scenes, each filled with all of the elements of the great tragedies from this era. “Hamlet” is known for many famous quotes and intense confrontations throughout it 's five scenes. In the Elizabethan era, revengeful plays were very popular; this popularity stemmed, primarily, from the many plot twists aimed at keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. Even though Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” ends with a surprising plot twist, it is still a play full of revenge and tragedy. All revenge tragedies share some common characteristics such as, “A play within another play, scenes wracked with anger, a very revengeful ghost, gory scenes, and a main character …show more content…
Hamlet comes upon Claudius praying and realizes that he cannot kill the King, while he is praying because he would go to heaven (Javed 330). Hamlet says to himself, “Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; and now I’ll do’t, and so he goes to heaven” (Shakespeare 3. 3. 73-75). Hamlet soon rethinks his plan of revenge on Claudius. Throughout the entire play, the audience keeps wondering, “Why doesn 't he just kill him already?” Hamlet wants Claudius to suffer and realize the hate Hamlet has for him (Javed …show more content…
The ghost is upset that Claudius to still alive. Claudius has finally caught on to the fact that Hamlet wants to kill him, so he devises his own plan for revenge against Hamlet. “Claudius banishes Hamlet to England for the murder of Polonius” (Mabillard 3). As soon as Hamlet arrives on English soil, Claudius plans to have him murdered. Claudius sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on the ship with Hamlet with a letter to the King of England; the letter asks him to kill Hamlet (Weller 2). Hamlet intercepts the letter and realizes what is happening: he rewrites the letter saying that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern need to be killed (Weller 2). The audience knows that the killing of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is of no consequence to Hamlet because they are not his true friend. Now that Hamlet sees what Claudius had planned, he cannot wait to finally seek revenge on the
not able to be caught in by law or justice for some reason. So the
By most accounts, this passage would be taken to mean that he does not kill Claudius because at this time the King is praying, and when praying one's soul will ascend to heaven if one should die. Hamlet wants Claudius to burn in hell; for him to go to heaven would make his revenge void. He will avenge his father's death when Claudius is engaged in some other less holy act, in order to insure the King's place in hell.
In the players’ scene, Hamlet revises the play of The Murder of Gonzago, adding in a scene that hints at the murder of King Hamlet. When Claudius reacts to Hamlet’s trap and makes a sudden exit, Hamlet now knows that the ghost’s story is true and will “take the ghost’s word for a thousand pound.” He now has no reason not to act. Prior to witnessing Claudius’ reaction, Hamlet has been debating with himself over the legitimacy of the ghost and its story. He has been questioning himself and whether he is a coward, because all he has done is talk, not having taken any action. Now that Hamlet knows the murderous sin Claudius has committed, Hamlet feels no guilt in avenging his father’s death. The plot takes a turn, as Hamlet becomes more of a man of action than a philosopher.
Hamlet attributes his failure to kill Claudius at that moment to the fact that if Claudius was murdered while praying he would surely go to heaven, which Hamlet does not want him to do so. What is peculiar about this explanation, though, is that Claudius is having a hard time praying. Claudius says “My words fly, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never go to heaven” (Shakespeare 33). Hamlet must have overheard Claudius struggling to pray.
Revenge in Hamlet In Elizabethan times, a type of play known as a "revenge tragedy" became popular. These plays revolved around, ". the revenge of a father for a son or vice versa, the revenge being directed by the ghost of the murdered man." (Harmon and Holman #6).
Furthermore, it is possible to propose that Shakespeare merely uses this scene to provoke irritation and consequently suspense from the audience. If Hamlet wasn’t given this opportunity to kill Claudius we would have not this insight into Hamlet’s indecisiveness, possible cowardice and inability to kill Claudius in cold blood. It is probable to suggest that through this soliloquy we are shown that Hamlet’s initial passion for revenge after the Ghost’s visitation has faded as the play progresses to merely thinking about killing Claudius.
After the pray The Mouse Trap, It is proven that Claudius killed Hamlet’s father. Claudius is then vulnerable while praying giving Hamlet the perfect opportunity to stab him. Hamlet decides not to kill him right there because he was praying. He says “Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; And now I 'll do 't. And so he goes to heaven, And so am I revenged. That would be scann 'd. A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven”(Act 3, Scene 3, 80). Hamlet is a religious person and believes that if he kills Claudius while he is supposedly confessing his sins, he would be sent to heaven straight away so he decides to wait until he can catch Claudius in a sinful act. If hamlet did kill Claudius, he would have gone to hell because he admitted he was not confessing once Hamlet left. When Hamlet is given the second opportunity to kill “Claudius”, he acts without thought by stabbing a figure through the curtain turning out to be Polonius. This is how the chaos in the play reaches its peak. Hamlet ruins his relationship even more with other characters while creating more distrust. This results in Claudius sending Hamlet to England to be executed. Hamlet’s hesitancy to kill Claudius when he had the chance gives Claudius the upper hand allowing him
Vengeance. A vicious, violent way to make oneself feel better about an offense against them. Throughout the tragedy of Hamlet revenge is a recurring theme, amongst all of the characters. Whether this revenge is in physical form, or mental form, it is equally hurtful. Mahatma Ghandi said, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” Ghandi is literally saying that if one person commits a revengeful act, it will create a continuing reaction of bitterness and violence throughout everyone. This quote is highly significant throughout the duration of Hamlet, as it portrays almost precisely, both the plotline of the story, as well as the conclusion. From the murder of King Hamlet to the murder of Prince Hamlet the tragedy is filled with violent acts of revenge.
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.
Hamlet was written in the early seventeenth century, it has been said that Shakespeare derived the play from a story about a man murdering his brother, the king, and taking the queen and the throne for himself. Shakespeare shifted the focus of the story to the king’s son, Hamlet, and his thoughts throughout his search for revenge. The time period in which Hamlet was written is known as the Renaissance; human nature was analyzed in art, writing, plays, and other avenues to help aid man in this “rebirth” of ideals. Hamlet’s storyline focuses on the idea that people will never see past the facade others put forth; this is displayed through Hamlet’s lack of knowledge over the details of his father’s death, as well as his apparent insanity (SparkNotes
One of the most revealing scenes about Hamlet’s anger can be found where Claudius is praying to absolve his sins. Hamlet, with his sword drawn, declares that Claudius should die in a state of sing, not under prayer. His father was killed before being able to ask for forgiveness and now Hamlet shall do the same to Claudius.
Revenge in Hamlet Revenge causes the characters in Hamlet to act blindly through anger and emotion, rather than through reason. It is based on the principle of an eye for an eye; this action is not always the best means to an end. Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet were all looking to avenge the deaths of their fathers. They all acted on emotion driven by the want for revenge for their father's deaths, and this led to the downfall of two, and the rise to power of one. Since the heads of the three major families were each murdered, the eldest sons of these families felt that they needed to take some kind of action to avenge their father's deaths; this need to bring honour to their respective families was ultimately the demise of Laertes and Hamlet.
Revenge’s consuming nature causes one to act recklessly through anger rather than reason. Revenge is a very dangerous emotion to acquire, and typically leads to ones downfall. Throughout Hamlet, revenge is a dominant theme. Not only does revenge underlie almost every scene, but it also has a major effect on the play as a whole. Two of the main revenge plots within the play are Hamlet 's aim to avenge his father’s death by killing his uncle, Claudius, and Laertes ' aim to avenge the murder of his father by killing Hamlet. These two revenge plots play a major role in presenting to the audience the theme of revenge. But, the audience may not realize that within the play, Hamlet’s quest for justice gets lost in his quest for revenge. The justice
...ten and it was influenced by Seneca. Hamlet tackled and conquered all areas that were required for the consummation of a great revenge tragedy. Although revenge was considered unlawful and a sin by the Catholic Church, the Elizabethan people all adored the idea of revenge. The audience would always insist on seeing justice eventually carried out, and that the person who had stained hands would see justice. They also wanted the revenger to never completely escape the penalties for spilling blood, no matter how just his reasons were. This very important point was dealt with brilliantly by Shakespeare; he found a way to kill Hamlet that seemed just even while killing Claudius. “Hamlet was written with the mighty pen of Shakespeare who once again shows people that he can conjure up any play and make it one of the greatest of all time” (“Elizabethan Revenge in Hamlet”).
When wronged, it is in human nature to punish those who wronged us, thus revenge is born. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, revenge is not only the catalyst of the play but a major theme as well. Upon hearing the truth regarding his father’s death, Hamlet Jr. instantly begins investigating and plotting his revenge against Claudius, which leads to all the events which unfold in the play. Upon hearing about his father’s death, Hamlet Jr. declares that he will “sweep to [his] revenge” (Shakespeare I.v.37). Hamlet Jr.s’ eagerness to take revenge and revenge’s prevalence in the play illustrate it as a major theme in the play. This mirrors the beliefs of the Psychoanalytical school of literary criticism, specifically the fifth tenant which states that “conflicts between our conscious and unconscious minds can create mental disturbances” and the sixth tenant which states that “in order to free ourselves of unconscious material we need to use skilled guidance to bring it to our conscious selves” (Rulli).