“Revenge is a dish best served cold.” The Sicilian proverb used as Kill Bill Vol. 2's tagline perfectly points out a tragic flaw shared by Shakespeare's Hamlet and Quentin Tarentino's modern hero: Bill (from Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2). In Kill Bill Beatrice is a killer belonging to a team of assassins lead by a man by the name of Bill. Beatrice and her master fall in love and one night while she is on a job, she discovers she is pregnant. She realizes the world of assassins is no place for a mother and makes the decision to leave the team and leave Bill. When Beatrice does not return to him, Bill searches everywhere for her, not willing to accept she may have been killed on the job. He finally finds her only to learn that she is pregnant and about to be married! From this, Bill derives his motivation for revenge. Hamlet obviously has more of a just cause to act on, where Bill, and really all the corrupt characters in his world, act based on selfishness. Though However much they may differ, their likeness is shown through choices made when taking their time in exacting revenge, when they let their situations drive them to madness, when they refuse to act without confirmation, and when they let their arrogance and need for revenge blind them. While similarities between Hamlet and Bill's moral standings are little to none, it is the element of revenge that reveals the shared traits that bring these men to their demise.
The realization that his lover had not only left him without a single word, but had only months later been knocked up and engaged to wed, sent Bill into a maddened outrage. He confronted Beatrice outside of the church where she, her soon to be husband, and all of his family were having a wedding rehersal...
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...etween dieing and watching the one he loves die. It seemed like more of a success to him that his love got to live, and he got to spend his last moments with her. However, that is not to be taken as acceptance of death (because right up until he was critically wounded, he wanted Beatrice dead) or admittance of wrongdoing. These characters definitely have only themselves to blame for their demise. The traits of these men that led them to make bad decisions are known as their tragic flaws. Nonetheless, these so-called flaws aren't necessarily horrible attributes and definitely don't make a person bad or flawed. In fact most human beings display all these qualities in some degree. This is why, no matter what generation, nationality, race, sex, or culture; past, present, or future, we will always be able to relate to, and learn a great deal about ourselves from tragedy.
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).
Firstly, Shakespeare demonstrates the theme of revenge in the play’s soliloquies. The first soliloquy where Hamlet seeks for revenge occurs when he discovers from his father’s ghost that Claudius murdered his father. This information triggers Hamlet to determine a plan to get vengeance. In one part of this soliloquy Hamlet declares, “With this slave’s offal. Bloody, bawdy villain! / Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain! / O vengeance! --” (II.ii.576-579). He wants Claudius
Storming into the palace and throwing accusations at Claudius, Laertes reveals he is impulsive. Laertes anger is due to the dishonor that has been inflicted on his family by Polonius’s murder. Claudius takes advantage of the sudden appearance of Laertes, by provoking Laertes into assisting him in plotting Hamlet’s murder. Shakespeare uses Laertes not only as a catalyst in the story, but as a contrast to the pensive Hamlet.
Humanity’s most motivational instinct is revenge. It is this inclination that is the catalyst which has brought about pivotal historical events forever shaping society today. Revenge is a defining characteristic of humans, intent on inflicting harm upon another who has wronged them in some way. It is this internal lust for reprisal which William Shakespeare explores in the play Hamlet to create the ultimate ambition of the protagonist. Each of Hamlet’s actions brings him closer to enacting his retaliation against his father’s killer. The repercussions of his actions, however, dramatically alter the storyline as other characters suffer and change, such as Ophelia, due to his actions. Hamlet’s carelessness in turn, creates
In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the actions done by Hamlet are driven on revenge. After his father’s murder the ghost of his father comes to Hamlet with a request. The ghost wants Hamlet to murder Claudius because he is responsible for his father’s death. Hamlet is clueless to the affects of revenge. He never stops to think about how revenge will not only himself but also those around him. Even without any knowledge of what revenge can do to a person Hamlet obliges to the ghost’s request. The outcome of Hamlet’s journey left me wondering does revenge do any good for either sides?
Revenge has caused the downfall of many a person. Its consuming nature causes one to act recklessly through anger rather than reason. Revenge is an emotion easily rationalized; one turn deserves another. However, this is a very dangerous theory to live by. Throughout Hamlet, revenge is a dominant theme. Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet all seek to avenge the deaths of their fathers. But in so doing, all three rely more on emotion than thought, and take a very big gamble, a gamble which eventually leads to the downfall and death of all but one of them. King Fortinbras was slain by King Hamlet in a sword battle. This entitled King Hamlet to the land that was possessed by Fortinbras because it was written in a seal'd compact. "…our valiant Hamlet-for so this side of our known world esteem'd him-did slay this Fortinbras." Young Fortinbras was enraged by his father’s murder and sought revenge against Denmark. He wanted to reclaim the land that had been lost to Denmark when his father was killed. "…Now sir, young Fortinbras…as it doth well appear unto our state-but to recover of us, by strong hand and terms compulsative, those foresaid lands so by his father lost…" Claudius becomes aware of Fortinbras’ plans, and in an evasive move, sends a message to the new King of Norway, Fortinbras’ uncle.
Claudius. In Act I, scene 5, Hamlet is visited by the ghost who was his
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.
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.
Imagine a play in which a prince is seeking revenge of his father’s murder and ultimately succeeds. Now, imagine a play with the same plot, but with young love, dramatic scenes denying this love, and true madness that leads to suicide. Which sounds better? Which would hold your attention longer? Odds are that the second play described is the choice you have chosen or unknowingly chosen in your thoughts. If it is not, then you would be missing out on one of the most famous plays written by William Shakespeare. Both plays described have the fundamental plot of this Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but only the second is the true play that Shakespeare intended to be performed. Only the second play includes the young, lovesick and distraught Ophelia who separates the first described play from the second. Ophelia may not be the star of the play like Hamlet, but through her transformation into a state of madness along with her role in the only true romance in the play, we learn more about several characters and remain intrigued in the play.
Shakespeare’s plays, among other classic works of literature, tend to be forged with the tension of human emotion. The archetypical parallel of love and hatred polarizes characters and emphasizes the stark details of the plot. More specifically, the compelling force of revenge is behind most of the motives of Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. The play opens with the return of Hamlet’s father, a surprising encounter, which ended in his son learning that his father’s death was the result of foul play. By emphasizing this scene as the beginning of the story to be told, Shakespeare clearly implies that the plot itself will be based around the theme of revenge. Through three different instances of behavior fueled entirely by vengeance, Shakespeare creates an image in the reader’s mind, which foreshadows the future of the story and provides insight into the plot line. Even so, despite the theme of revenge being the overarching concern of the plot, the parallels drawn between characters truly strengthen the thematic depth of the piece overall, making the play easily one of Shakespeare’s most infamous and historically valuable works.
‘’The memory be green’’ (1.2.0-5). It has not been much time since Hamlet Sr. died, his memory stays fresh, but his brother, Claudius, has already married his wife and taken his kingdom. Claudius says he does it for the good of the Denmark, in The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare. In addition; Hamlet cannot stop his hatred and anger toward his mother and uncle. He gets devastated and goes in grief by the loss of his father. The appearance of ghost and the truth about his father’s death drags him to revenge. He moves from grief and depression to revenge and into insanity. The insanity that starts with as an act becomes real and destroys Hamlet and his loved ones.
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.
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet’s actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his ‘outsider’ outlook on society, coupled with his innate tendency to over-think his actions, leads to an unfocused mission of vengeance that brings about not only his own death, but also the unnecessary deaths of nearly all of the other main characters in the revenge tragedy.
In this essay I will be writing about whether Hamlet is a revenge tragedy or not, I will have an introduction which will introduce the meaning of a revenge tragedy, then I will have a main body of text in which I will explain why Hamlet is a true revenge tragedy and finally I will have a conclusion.