Revenge in Hamlet

Although this is deeply rooted in his character, his obsessive thoughts are a product of continuous grieving. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet learns from a ghost of his father’s brutal murder. Hamlet weeps and plans to take action but doesn’t deliver. Instead he plots his revenge and waits for the perfect moment to avenge King Hamlet. The ghost of Hamlet’s father influences Hamlet to seek revenge who would otherwise contemplate the subject to death, GHOST: Revenge his foul murder and most unnatural murder.

“Hamlet,” Critical Essay Alexander Pope believed that, “to be angry is to revenge the faults of others on ourselves.” I think this is pertinent to “Hamlet,” by William Shakespeare because the main character is portrayed to bring great mental suffering upon himself in his search for revenge. Shakespeare enhances the reader’s appreciation of the play by effectively conveying its theme of revenge through characterization and plot in addition to other literary techniques. “Hamlet,” tells the story of a Danish prince who aims to avenge his father’s murder after his ghost appears before Hamlet and reveals that he was murdered by his own brother. To Hamlet’s disgust, his uncle, Claudius, has stolen Hamlet’s place as King by marrying the prince’s mother, Gertrude. In Hamlet’s search for the truth, he makes the fatal error of stabbing Polonius, the King’s advisor.

Hamlet wants to insure that the ghost really was his dead father before he kills Claudius. To do this Hamlet has people act out the death of his father in front of Claudius and declares him guilty by his reaction to the play. " O good Horatio, I'll take the ghost's word for a thousand pound." Hamlet declares Claudius' guilt to Horatio and now realizes that he must continue on with his revenge plot. The conflict between Hamlet and Claudius is delayed by Hamlet but does eventually occur in the last scene.

The revenge of each character ironically ended their own life. By acting upon revenge and having inimical intentions, the individuals brought fatalities that were unnecessary. 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.

If thou didst ever thy dear father love —” (I.v.21-23). At this point, the ghost is saying to Hamlet if he has any love for his father he will avenge his death. The ghost states, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (I.v.25). Hamlet’s father is telling him to get revenge for his death. Hamlet ‘s initial reaction is to avenge his father, a reaction that is brought on by a sudden shock of the ghost’s confession.To prove that Hamlet has love for his father he is going to avenge his father’s death.

Horatio has come to the funeral of Hamlet’s father, but Hamlet states that he will be here for a wedding, “I prithee, do not mock me, fellow student./ I think it was to (see) my mother’s wedding” (Act 1.2.184-185). Hamlet is not exactly thrilled with his mother Gertrude marrying the new King, his Uncle. The scene then shifts to the scene four and five. This scene is the pentacle of the revenge theme. Hamlet sees his dead father’s ghost and learns that his father was murdered by his brother Hamlets uncle, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder./ Murder?/ Murder Most foul, as in the best it is,/ But this most foul, strange, and unnatural” (Act 1.5.31-34).

Revenge is defined as the action of causing hurt or harm on someone for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands. Shakespeare’s Hamlet contains the central idea of revenge. In this story, the father is murdered, the mother marries the murderer, and the son is left to the duty of revenge (Barzilai 87). It is Hamlet’s duty to follow his father’s commands and get his revenge on his uncle, but multiple problems occur and lead to his death along with many others. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet has returned from Wittenberg to honor the death of his father, King Hamlet, and the ghost of his dead father suddenly confronts him.

By going into excruciating detail of his murder, it pulls on the heart strings of Hamlet. It lights a fire in him to become his father's avenger. Don Andrea's detailed description of his soul's passage in the underworld, he wants help is plotting for appropriate revenge. He wishes to seek revenge against his murder, causing the eternal separation of he and his "worthy dame" (1.1.10), Bel-imperia by "forcing divorce betwixt my love and me...When I was slain, my soul descended straight,/ To pass the flowing stream of Acheron"(14, 18-19). According to Clark, "Ghosts were thought to appear before...to exact justice, to revenge a foul deed" (100).

The Plague of Revenge In William Shakespeare 's play, Hamlet, after Hamlet’s father is murdered with poison by his brother Claudius, the contagion of vengeful actions begins to plague the people in the kingdom. Hamlet Sr. and his death are symbolic of the kingdom as a whole. Once he is poisoned the evil deeds of King Claudius begin to spread throughout Elsinore. Hamlet puts on an antic disposition and decides to seek retribution after speaking with his father’s ghost, and uncovering the truth about his death. The tainting of Hamlet’s mind and his need to seek revenge against his uncle ultimately leads to Hamlet’s insanity and demise towards the resolution of the play.

The obsession and need for revenge displayed by our two main characters eventually led them both to their downfall. Not only did it hurt themselves, but many others close to them. Ophelia’s death, for example could be blamed on Hamlet’s desire for revenge, whilst Hamlets death occurred as a result of Laertes quest to avenge his father’s death. Hopefully, it is easy to see why I believe that revenge is the core theme in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Revenge shapes the entire plot of the play and could be blamed for corrupting Hamlet and Laertes, making them almost evil in their final intentions.