William Shakespeare is considered the greatest writer of the English language.
Shakespeare wrote hundreds of pieces, from sonnets to plays. Hamlet is one of his most
well-known plays. There isn’t any shortage of revenge in Hamlet, and so that is the theme
we’ll be discussing. Hamlet and Laertes are the most obvious character with revenge in
their minds, and that’s who we’ll be focusing on throughout the essay.
Two months before the beginning of the play, the King Hamlet dies. The King
shows himself to two guards, Barnardo and Francisco, at first. The guards decide to bring
in Horatio, who brings Marcellus, to see the spirit as well. This is so they can confirm its
existence, as Horatio was a well-respected scholar. The ghost won’t speak to Horatio,
Barnardo or Marcellus (Francisco has already left). The three make a decision to bring
Hamlet, they believe that the King will speak to Hamlet, as he is the Prince and his son.
Hamlet is brought to the courtyard, and despite his friends pleas, he follows the
ghost to an isolated area. King Hamlet reveals that his death was not accidental, he was
victim of murder. A murder his own brother, Claudius committed. Hamlet is told by his
father he must avenge his death, by killing Claudius for his soul to find peace. By this
time Claudius has already ascended the throne, and has married his sister-in-law, Queen
Gertrude. Hamlet has decided to take a submissive approach to get revenge on Claudius.
At first, Hamlet acts unusual and strange, unlike himself. This doesn’t truly accomplish
anything, aside from the fact that he’s now warned his uncle that he knows Claudius.
might’ve murdered King Hamlet. Later, a throng of ac...
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...acted.
Hamlet turns around is able to grab the sword to injure Laertes. Despite that Laertes dies
first, he has accomplished his mission as Hamlet will also die from the wound caused by
the poisoned sword.
Hamlet and Laertes both want revenge for their fathers, King Hamlet and
Polonius respectively, murders. Hamlet takes much longer to avenge, he does so in a much
more devious and conniving approach. Hamlet does manage to get revenge on Claudius
through a poisoned sword. Laertes is much more direct in his approach, he plans to
murder Hamlet with no interruptions. Laertes also manages to murder Hamlet, with the
same sword that Claudius was killed with. Both men are able to accomplish what they set
out to do, at the price of their own lives.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, 1997, Hamlet, International Thomson Limited, Canada
...e story. Indeed, if Hamlet acts quickly, there would be only one act of Hamlet. Laertes, upon hearing of his father’s demise wants swift and fervent justice. Although he is the more impassioned of the two, it is this incisiveness that leads to Laertes’ demise. He allows himself to be manipulated, enamored by the king’s rhetoric. Laertes, suddenly realizing the plot at hand, repents for his killing of Hamlet, true to his character even in the face of death. Hamlet seeks to blame his "madness" for the death of Polonius, and never admits fault for the fate of his schoolmates.
Claudius feels much guilt about the death of his brother he also faces the desires of power. The guilt of his brother death drives Claudius to be on his toes around the kingdom. He remains very scared that someone like Hamlet Jr. might avenge his father’s death. Hamlet Jr. chooses to use a play to test Claudius’s guilt. He rewrites parts of the play to replicate the story voiced by the ghost. Hamlet Jr. watches Claudius carefully during the performance, and the king leaves during it (Gale). Claudius gets up and leaves because he cannot bear to see the reenactment of how he killed his own brother. The internal conflict of the guilt about his brother eats Claudius up and he goes to repent for the corrupt act he has done: “My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent,/ And like a man to double business bound,/ I stand in pause where I shall first begin,/ And neglect; what if this cursed hand,/Were thicker than itself with brothers blood” (3.3.40-45). Claudius repents but knows his words will mean nothing to the heavens because Claudius is an insincere being whom
But in the end, his actions get him slayed, drive his daughter to insanity, and eventually set the stage for his son to die in a sword fight with Hamlet.... ... middle of paper ... ... She starts to feel the poison and she warns Hamlet of it before she dies.
...we mourn for" Claudius was not fooled for very long but at first he was sorry for, and was trying to help his past nephew now son get rid of his madness.
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.
Hamlet swears that he will, which will eventually lead to the total decay of him and his
King Hamlet loved his son like any father does. Hamlet looked up to his father like all children do and his life was greatly changed when he learned of his fathers death. After hearing the news of his father’s death, Hamlet felt as if a part of his life was ripped away from him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. During an encounter with his father’s ghost, King Hamlet, Hamlet learns that his father was murdered. It was not the news that his father was murdered that shocked Hamlet into reality, it was the fact that the one who murdered him, was in fact his own loving brother, Claudius. After killing his own brother, Claudius believes that he can go on with life like nothing has happened. Hamlet does not understand how someone can murder somebody, who is not only the King, but their own brother, and go on with life like he did nothing wrong.
Claudius feels guilty about killing his brother. We can see Claudius;s remorse when he is talking to God and gives his monologue about his his murder. Therefore, Claudius says, "My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent(pg.165)." This quote proves that Claudius realizes that he made a mistake and he also realizes that he cannot put everything behind him as mich as he wants to. Everything reminds him about his brother, the kingdom, the queen and the crown.
Following the performance of “The Mousetrap”, Hamlet is summoned to his mother's chamber. Upon arguing with Gertrude over the intentions of his play, and his reasons for wanting to distress the king so openly, Hamlet kills Polonius. “How now? A rat? Dead for a ducat, dead (III.iv.27-28)! Perhaps Hamlet did not know whom he was killing. “Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell! / I took thee for thy better”(III.iv.38-39)! Perhaps Hamlet thought he was killing the king.
he know that he killed his father, who’s also his own brother. Claudius is pretty much using a
Throughout Shakespeare’s play, revenge intertwines to bring about the deaths of most of the main characters. Hamlet’s course of revenge initiates the first fatality when Polonius gets caught spying on him and Gertrude (III. iv. 24-25). By pursuing revenge, Hamlet killing Polonius paves the way for more lives to be lost. Claudius sees the murder as an opportunity to eliminate Hamlet, because Laertes’s obsession with revenge leaves him vulnerable. Laertes’s and Hamlet’s revenge lead to the deaths of Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius, and finally Hamlet (V. ii. 287-357). 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.
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).
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.
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is undoubtedly the most successful play or tragedy ever written by the William Shakespeare between the time period of 1599 and 1601. The longest ever play with 1536 lines, which obviously grounded a landmark for itself in English literature. Hamlet is considered more as a Revenge Tragedy, for Hamlet, the protagonist of the play feels a responsibility to avenge his father's murder by his uncle Claudius. Also, what lies consistent throughout the play was the inconsistency and dilemma of Hamlet as a character There are several other importunate details that are linked with this play like: It is the most widely performed play in the world, It is being performed somewhere every single minute of everyday, it has Shakespeare's most
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.