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People say revenge is best served cold. In Hamlet, that is especially true. In Hamlet, there were two main revenge plots. The first one was about Hamlet getting revenge on the new king, which was his uncle, for killing Hamlet’s father. The second revenge plot was about Laertes getting revenge on Hamlet for killing his father, Polonius, and leading his sister, Ophelia, into depression which leads to suicide. But before I go into that in detail, we must learn what revenge is.
According to Dictionary.com, revenge is “to exact punishment or expiation for a wrong on behalf of, especially in a resentful or vindictive spirit”. What this definition is just saying “ Doing something of harm to a person who did harm to you”. So let's take how the US got involved in WW2 as an example. First, a bad deed is done. In this case, the bad deed was Japan bombing Pearl Harbor. Then, the victim of the bad deed gets mad. In this case, the US gets mad at Japan for bombing Pearl Harbor. Finally, the victim takes action and attempts to get revenge. For example, US bombs Japan and also starts sending troops to Europe to assist in the fight. It turns out that one of the biggest people Hitler and
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It starts off with Hamlet and Ophelia falling in love, even though Laertes and Polonius suggest not to. Eventually Hamlet tells Ophelia that he doesn’t love her which makes Ophelia very sad. Seeing Ophelia sad makes Laertes angry, but he doesn’t do much about it. Then, Hamlet seeking revenge on the new king, Kills Polonius (One of the king's counselors and Laertes’ father) which leads to Ophelia and Laertes very sad. Then a depressed Ophelia commits suicide which leaves Laertes on his last straw. The king realizes this and has Laertes and Hamlet fight to the death for revenge.This ended up having both Hamlet and Laertes killed which means that Laertes got his revenge, even if he ends up
Throughout the play, Laertes is as an extremely caring member of his family. His strong emotions for family have an opposing side to it, a shadow that has repressed feelings of anger which cause him to add to the disaster in Denmark. An example that depicts this is when Laertes attempts to request more rites for Ophelia’s funeral. After he is denied, he starts a commotion by calling the priest “churlish”, explaining that Ophelia will be “A ministering angel” while the priest will “liest howling”(5.1.217-218). His compliments to Ophelia shows how much he loved her, while his nasty insults to the priest show his repressed rage. While this is occuring, Hamlet hears Laertes’s mention of Ophelia during the commotion and throws himself into a brawl with Laertes. It is the conflict built up from there that causes Claudius to target Laertes as his next weapon to kill Hamlet with. Laertes’s deep anger for Hamlet makes himself the best candidate for Claudius’s manipulation. Once Laertes’s sides with Claudius, he shows his dark intent by requesting Claudius to not “o'errule me to a peace”(4.7.58). On the day of the duel, Laertes undergoes a confrontation of his shadow while he clashes with Hamlet. His realization of his shadow comes too late into the duel when both Hamlet and Laertes are struck by poison, as this happens he declares that he is “ justly killed with mine own treachery (5.2.337).” In the moments that he is still alive, he dismisses his shadow and ends the circle of murder by announcing the true nature of Claudius. Laertes’s repressed anger guides the play into the duel where many deaths occur including Hamlet’s.
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.
Hamlet questions what may or may not happen however Laertes just wants the revenge fast and effective. Although these characters have different standards when it comes to revenge, they both immediately blamed and directed their anger towards Claudius when they found out their father’s were dead. Hamlet’s reason to blame Claudius is simply because he is his father’s murderer. In 1.5 while Hamlet is talking to the ghost of his father he says, “Haste me to know ’t, that I, with wings as swift/As meditation or the thoughts of love/May sweep to my revenge” (Shakespeare 1.5.31-33). At first is seems as if Hamlet would seek revenge right away because he seems eager to find out who the killer is and when he does find out he says he knew it was Claudius all along. He is furious and after this part in the play, Hamlet’s anger is mainly focused on Claudius. On the other hand when Laertes found out Polonius is dead he went straight to Claudius assuming it was him. By doing this he shows that he is controlled by his impulses unlike Hamlet who waited until he got proof to act on his fury. Laertes also blamed Claudius for not giving his father a proper burial, which can relate to Hamlet’s anger too because Hamlet felt as if there was not enough mourning for his father death. Not only did they both lose their fathers, but they both lost Ophelia, a female figure in their lives that they both loved.
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the theme of revenge is very palpable as the reader examines the characters of Hamlet himself, as well as Laertes, son of Polonius, and Fortinbras, prince of Norway and son of the late King Fortinbras. Each of these young characters felt the need to avenge the deaths of their fathers who they felt were untimely killed at the bloody hands of their murderers. However, the way each chose to go about this varies greatly and gives insight into their characters and how they progress throughout the play.
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.
Japan triggered the war that led to the bombing of its two cities with its sneak attack on America’s Pearl Harbor in 1941. Subsequent systematic and flagrant violation of several international agreements and norms through employment of chemical and biological warfare and mistreatment of prisoners of war and civilians aggravated the situation[ Gar Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth. (NY: Knopf, 1995), 89]. A response was needed to deal with increased aggression from Japan. Allied military planners had to choose between invading Japan and using the US atomic bombs in 1945[ Ronald Tabaki, Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb.
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.
“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.
Several characters attempted to lure their foes to their death for any wrong doing they have caused. Revenge is a constant theme throughout the plot. It occurs in almost every scene and also has a major effect on the adaptation. The three main revenge plots were Hamlet’s aim to avenge his father, Laertes target to avenge the murder of his father, and King Fortinbras wish to reclaim his father’s land. Some parts of the play are a bit extreme.
The King, the King’s to blame.” (Shakespeare 125). Although he was part of the plan to kill Hamlet, Laertes makes amends with Hamlet, revealing the evil plan against him, thus making his death noble to
He is in such a blind rage that he doesn’t think about what he is agreeing to do with Claudius. Just like Hamlet, his brash actions cost those around him his life. In carrying out the plan, the King, the Queen, Hamlet, and he all die of the poison that was used in the duel. Hamlet was slow and reckless, while Laertes was quick and reckless.
Taking revenge is a bitter sweet thing. I have always thought that people should always get what they desire, whether it be a grade, a smile and hug or in some cases, revenge. When I was in high school there seemed to be someone always trying to get me in trouble, they would say things that wouldn’t be true or do things to make me look bad. The fact that I never seemed to do anything to them would make me mad and wonder what I could do to get them back. Revenge would usually come in some sort of verbal put down or I would try to physically hurt them. It always seemed when I would get the revenge right away I would feel really good but as I thought about what I did, and what they did to me I would always feel guilty or wish I would have never done anything to them in return.
Hamlet hunting down and plotting the revenge of Claudius is one of the biggest parts of the entire book. Hamlet killing Claudius is is something that was fueled entirely by hate and revenge, which further proves the revenge is the main theme of this book. At the beginning of act 3, the audience is met with Ophelia, along side, the King, the Queen, Polonius, and Rosencrantz. The act begins with those characters having a conversation. Once they leave, Ophelia is all on her own.
My personal experience with revenge isn’t much, and it concerns little things. Revenge can simply be when a person draws on your book, and in spite you would draw on their book as well. It might as well occur in a game, for example my friend plays a lot of game online and this game is to simply ‘kill’ other opponents. Once, her character got attacked by another opponent but she was not prepared for the attack and she lost. Because of this, she was angry and wanted to seek revenge. She then got all her other friends to ‘gang’ up and attack the opponent. Since it wasn’t a very fair battle, the opponent lost. This act might seem childish and trivial, but this is the act of revenge.
During the course of the play Hamlet gets people caught up in his plot to get revenge on his uncle. The first person to be caught in it is Polonius. Hamlet kills him thinking that he is his uncle. With Polonius death he ends up drags Ophelia and Lacrtes into it. Ophelia goes crazy and dies and then Lacrtes want revenge himself.