Loyalty to King and country, that is to say royalty, has historically been of paramount importance to every citizen regardless of rank or station and is exemplified in Shakespeare's Hamlet. The philosophy of the divine right of kings and the natural balance of power move Hamlet into action to avenge his father's murder and set his nation, as well has his life, back to order. He accomplishes this task though various means, though all in proportion with his end in settling with Claudius, solving differences with his mother and in sizing up his friendship with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Hamlet is at first understandably dismayed and mournful to hear of his father's death but when he first learns of his father's murder, Hamlet swears to avenge his murder in the lines:
Yea, from the table of my memory
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past
That youth and observation copied there,
And by thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain
Unmix'd with baser matter
(I, V, 98-104)
It was not however until Hamlet was very near his own poisoned death that he finally fulfilled his promise to his father's ghost as well as stay loyal to the true king. Hamlet's inactivity in avenging his father's death is in stark contrast with that Laertes. Noble Laertes immediately leaves France to come avenge his father's death and does not dally in this task, rather he goes about it quite quickly. The climatic duel between Hamlet and Laertes in Act 5 sets Hamlet's revenge in motion. Queen Gertrude, having drunk of the poisoned wine meant for him declares she has been poisoned and as Laertes lies dying...
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... misplaced loyalty.
From a modern perspective this arcane sense of loyalty to a single man, even though he may have been selected by a God, can only be misplaced for he is still a man and therefore subject to all the flaws and imperfections man is heir to. This philosophy of the divine right of kings move Hamlet into action to avenge his father's murder and set his nation, as well has his life, back to order. He accomplishes this task though various means, though all in proportion with his end in settling with Claudius, solving differences with his mother and in sizing up his friendship with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Tragically we see in Hamlet that this misplaced and unquestioning sense of loyalty considerably contributed to each character's demise and ultimately, death.
Works Cited:
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992
It seems that it is human nature to want to please others, but compromising ones values in order to do so can result in people getting hurt emotionally or physically. In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the desire to please those in authority overweighs the judgment of many characters. These characters are more interested in pleasing those in power than doing what is in their best interest. This is seen in Polonious' eager attempt to use Ophelia, in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's being coerced into spying on a good friend, and finally in Laertes' all too easy manipulation by Claudius to take revenge on his fathers' death. In all these instances, the characters put their better judgment aside in order to do something to please a monarch.
It is too late though, the poisonous sword had cut Hamlet. In anger, Hamlet steals the poisoned sword and runs it into Laertes. He then charges Claudius and runs into him. He also takes the wine and forces Claudius to drink from it. Both Claudius and Laertes died before Hamlet.
Shakespeare portrays the protagonist, Hamlet, as someone with a great emotional and physical capacity for self-sacrifice. Burdened with a heroic task of avenging his father’s murder, Hamlet chooses to put on an “antic disposition”. This leads him to willingly transform his identity by altering his values, beliefs and his self-image. Hamlet also chooses to sacrifices true love for Ophelia, his right to freely express himself, and ultimately his life as well. Shakespeare shows how an individual, when burdened by a difficult task, will sacrifice anything including his own life for the purpose of fulfilling that goal.
It is hard to be in association in a Kingdom of people when you do not trust or like the head of the Kingdom. Hamlet becomes isolated because of his responsibilities, to himself, to his father and to the kingdom. These responsibilities lead to Hamlet to be distant from everyone, where he does not trust anyone in the Kingdom.
During the final scene and act of Hamlet, both foils are engaged in an alleged friendly battle, where the king has placed a bet on Hamlet that he will win over Laertes. After their battle Laertes manages to hit Hamlet with the poisoned tip of his foil and in turn Hamlet gets him back. After the queen falls and dies, Laertes states to Hamlet “Hamlet, thou art slain: ...here I lie, never to rise again: thy mother’s poison’d: I can no more: the king, the king’s to blame” (5.2.306-313). Laertes tells Hamlet that he is going to die due to the poisoned blade, also that he himself is also going to die for the same reason and that Gertrude is also going to die for drinking the poisoned cup that was intend for Hamlet. He also states that Claudius is the one who devised everything. This line symbolizes how Hamlets prolonged revenge caused the deaths of so many innocent lives that had nothing to do with his father’s death. If he killed Claudius in the church or before that, then Hamlet wouldn’t have had so many lives lost during the cross-fire. After Laertes got wounded by his own sword he stated that “Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric: I am justly kill’d with mine own treachery’ (5.7.299-300). Laertes admits that his plan backfired by killing him. He caused his own death, but unlike Hamlet, Laertes didn’t kill any innocents along the way with his plan except himself. Finally after all his time spent acting mad, choosing to live or not, hesitating to act upon chance Hamlet finally kills Claudius “Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, Drink off this potion. Is thy union here?’’ (5.2.318-319). Hamlet killed Claudius with the same weapon he had killed his father being the poison. Even though after such a prolonged mission, Hamlet kept his word that he promised to himself during Claudius’s confession “or about some
Throughout his whole internal and external struggles, Hamlet continued to follow the set values and rules practiced and made by the savior. He did the ultimate deed in saving his people of Denmark, by giving up his own life. He found it important that the kingdom was not left with an immoral ruler, and this is a big reason why he is the savior and protector for his people. For the good of others, he sacrificed his own life and power that he could have had within the kingdom. To also give up his life and not take it himself, even when suffering through so much pain, for the good of others, that shows the values and ethics of a hero. In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the main character Hamlet is represented as a savior where he continues to protect his values while staying strong and providing a secure kingdom.
He is the type of person that will do anything to get what he wants and everything in his power to stay king. He will do what it takes to get his way, even if that means betraying the person he is supposed to be committed to and love, his wife Gertrude. Gertrude is the mother of Hamlet, who she deeply cares for and loves. She is convinced that Claudius does as well. In order for Claudius to stay as king, he must keep Gertrude happy and pleased.
His first words in the play is an aside saying "A little more than kin and less than kind" (Shakespeare. 1.2.64-65). Hamlet is already distrustful of those around him, shown in the way Shakespeare uses an aside. This displays a lack of trust and ability to speak his mind out loud. Due to the death of his father and the quick and untimely coronation of Claudius as the new king, Hamlet becomes hostile and distrustful of the people around him as people tell him to move forward and accept his father 's death, just as they have. While he believes his sorrow and mourning is genuine, Hamlet discloses to his mother that the other 's mourning is fake and only "seems"(1.2.83) real. Hamlet believes that their loyalty is fickle and unreliable, there by isolating himself and relying on his inner circle of friends and family to deal with his loss and to loss that support, would leave Hamlet
Hamlet lives in a country of different worlds. At the time, Denmark was in a state of transition between three metaphysical worlds; the heroic world, where a man's honour was foremost, killing was not accepted but expected, might was power, the Machiavellian world, an amoral world where politics and mind games were employed ruthlessly, the ends justified the means, and the Christian world of love and forgiveness. Hamlet was a Christian living in a dying Heroic world which was succumbing to the Machiavellian world. Hamlet's father, King Hamlet, belonged to the heroic world, and so for him revenge was of the utmost importance, shown by the fact that "but two months" (1:2, 136) after his death he returned to instruct Hamlet to avenge his murder. Hamlet's disgust at his mother's marriage to his uncle before "the salt of most unrighteous tea...
It is here that one begins to see the theme of revenge and the idea that power can cause corruption. A family is supposed to be loyal and trusting of each other without any doubts; or so it was thought. Shakespeare uses Claudius’ betrayal of late King Hamlet to disprove the notion that family is always loyal. Claudius’ jealousy of his own brother and his desire to be the most powerful in Denmark corrupted him. It led him to betray his own family, a bond that is supposed to be unbreakable, and all the while feeling no guilt while acting as if he had not committed the crime. In addition to this, Claudius also takes late King Hamlet’s wife. Hamlet is enraged by the crime and adultery committed by his supposed family and feels he must seek justice for his father by taking out revenge on Claudius and therefore betraying him. Subsequently, the play becomes a slippery slope of events stemming from betrayal and revenge. The betrayal of one character became the revenge and betrayal of many others as seen when Horatio says, “… violent and unnatural acts, terrible accidents, casual murders, deaths caused by trickery and by threat, and finally murderous plans that backfired on their perpetrators,” showing that each act committed by the characters were returned back to them. This can be supported through the deaths of Claudius, Laertes, and Hamlet as these were just a
Choices made by Hamlet, which ultimately lead to his death, are all guided by his own free will. In mourning his father's death, Hamlet chooses to do so for what others consider to be an excessive amount of time. “But to persever/ In obstinate condolement is a course/ Of impious stubbornness”(I.ii.99-100), according to Claudius. During this period of mourning, Hamlet meets his father’s spirit and promises to avenge his father’s death. However, upon reflection, he questions the validity of the ghost’s message. At this point he carefully goes about choosing a plan of action that will inevitably show that “the king is to blame” (V.ii.340) In following his plan, Hamlet freely chooses to kill Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Ophelia, Laertes, Claudius and himself.
Hamlet is ordered to avenge the death of his father after Claudius poisoned him while he slept (3.4.28). The young prince delays with his plan in order to make sure Claudius is truly guilty of the crime. Hamlet finds himself in a dilemma, which causes him to go mad. “He promises to avenge his father
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
David Scott Kastan points out that “for Hamlet, however, to accept the filial obligation sounded in his name is to disregard and dismiss all other relations he has established” (1). He is trying to convey here that if Hamlet does step up and take revenge on his father’s murderer, he would be destroying his previous relationships with anyone he knew if they found out he fought murder with murder. This worsens Hamlet’s situation, because his relations to his father are so strong he feels he must avenge him, but as Kastan suggests, Hamlet is “only the son, sworn to remember and revenge his father” (1). Hamlet, however, commits himself to his father, to symbolize him; as his son and as his agent (Kastan 1). According to the ghost King Hamlet, “to be Hamlet, to deserve the name” “is to be a revenger” (Kastan 2).
His father was killed by Hamlet and his sister was driven insane due to the series of events that took place because of Hamlet. Like Hamlet, Laertes wants to avenge his father by killing the man who killed Polonius. As described earlier, Hamlet is slow to act. Laertes, on the other hand, acts quickly and with precision, wasting no time in acquiring his target and formulating a plan. Robert Palfrey Utter, Jr., puts it best, Hamlet and Laertes both come to the same conclusion that murder must be carried out, but Hamlet reaches that conclusion only “after he has had a few minutes to think it over.” (140) Once Laertes finds out that the man who killed his father was Hamlet he is ready to charge in and kill him as soon as possible. He is only stopped by Claudius, who advises him on a more subtle approach. Straight off the bat it is clear how efficient Laertes is compared to Hamlet. Hamlet wastes a large amount of time scheming up complex ideas on how to get a confession out of Claudius and how to kill him. Laertes on the other hand wastes no time in getting a straight and to the point plan that he can execute immediately. After spending more than half the play watching Hamlet squirm around on the stage getting almost nothing accomplished, the audience would be acutely aware of the stark difference between Hamlet and Laertes even though they share the same motivations. Laertes has his speed but he shares in Hamlets lack of critical thinking when he gets hot headed. He is in such a blind rage that he doesn’t think on 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 to the poison that was used in the duel. Hamlet was slow and reckless while Laertes was quick and reckless. Wilds sums up the relationship between Hamlet and Laertes perfectly, “Laertes and Hamlet have been foils to each other