...Revenge in Hamlet “Hamlet is the finest of all plays in the English revenge tradition” (Shakespeare, IV). The recurring theme in William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, is revenge, every character in this play wants revenge on someone else. Revenge in this play means murder. From the beginning right through until the end of the book, there are three instances where revenge is seen; the ghost of Hamlet senior wants revenge on Claudius, Hamlet wants revenge on Claudius and Laertes wants revenge on Hamlet. Hamlet is the most serious play on revenge because of all the questions asked (Shakespeare, IV). At the very beginning of Hamlet, Hamlet seniors ghost appears to his son, Hamlet and demands revenge on his brother, Claudius. Claudius murders his brother because he wants to become king, his ambition and he wants to have the Queen Gertrude as his wife. When the ghost of Hamlet senior appears to Hamlet he says, “So art thou to revenge when thou shalt hear” (1.5. Line 7). Once Hamlet discovers that Claudius is the murderer of his father, Hamlet shall find revenge on his uncle. Also during the ghost’s appearance he tells his son to revenge Claudius’ soul in an unnatural murder, “Revenge his soul and most unnatural murder” (1.5. Line 25). Hamlet senior wants his son, Hamlet to find revenge on Claudius for his death and stealing his Queen. Now that Hamlet knows about his fathers murder and who actually caused it, he wants revenge. Hamlet wants revenge on his uncle, King...
Words: 662 - Pages: 3
...Amongst the most tragic story lines of Shakespeare’s plays, Hamlet is definitely one of them. In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Fortinbras, Hamlet and Laertes each demonstrate the ways revenge leads to tragedy when they are unable to cope with the loss of a loved one. Young Fortinbras has intentions of honoring his father’s loss by gaining the territory that was rightfully theirs. The lengths he is willing to go compare to Hamlet’s determination to seek revenge upon his uncle, and father’s murderer, Claudius. Hamlet’s hopes of wanting to destroy Claudius the way he had done to King Hamlet are delayed several times throughout the play, making it nearly impossible to follow through with his plan. One of Hamlet’s setbacks is being shipped off to England for the murder of Polonius, which is Laertes’ father. After discovering that Hamlet was responsible for the death of Polonius, Laertes does all he can to get revenge on Hamlet. The three men’s need for revenge relates to the corruption of the characters within the play. The corruption of the characters within the play results in the tragic death of each major character. The first of the murdered fathers was King Fortinbras who was the King of Norway. King Fortinbras challenged King Hamlet to a single combat over the state of Denmark by which King Hamlet won. This incident is responsible for Young Fortinbras’ hopes of seeking revenge upon his father’s death and winning back the land that he believes was rightfully his family...
Words: 1064 - Pages: 5
...that of revenge. Revenge is one of the defining traits of humanity. The drive to exact vengeance on one's enemy is the driving force behind many pivotal events in human history. The object of every war is to get revenge on the other side. Revenge is also a common motive for robbery and murder. There is no denying that revenge is a force for terrible deeds in this world, but at the same time it is a basic human desire. Stories of retribution are some of the oldest humans have ever told and also some of the most treasured. In the Christian Bible, one of the most revered texts in human history, vengeance is a key element to many stories. When Adam and Eve eat the fruit in the Garden of Eden, God takes his retribution on them by banishing them from the garden for all time. Cain takes revenge on Abel for outdoing him in his sacrifices to God. The list goes on, the point being that people have been taking revenge upon one another since the dawn of man. Even though the desire to obtain revenge often leads people to perform criminal, or at least unkind, acts, it is necessary for human society to function. Revenge acts as a very effective deterrent against undeserved violence. When man first learned to use tools and communicate, there was no police force or other entity capable of enforcing rules of any kind. If not for the threat of later revenge, there would not have been any reason for early humans to refrain from killing and stealing from each other. Revenge is the most...
Words: 920 - Pages: 4
...Hamlet Hamlet is a classic example of a tragedy as Hamlet suffers while trying to avenge his fathers death and eventually dies at the end while attempting to do so. Hamlet feels empty without resolution to his father’s death and since there is no justice system that is going to reveal the truth about his father’s death, he must take it into his own hands. Hamlet delays killing Claudius for a long time after the ghost appears. Hamlet delays his revenge of his fathers death not because he is a coward but because his psychological feelings and need for a perfect revenge cause him to delay in order to wait for the perfect moment to kill Claudius. When the ghost first appears to Hamlet he tells him that it was his brother who slipped poison in his ear while he was sleeping in the orchard and clearly asks him to get revenge for his untimely murder. The ghost speaks to Hamlet about his father and says, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murderer';(1.5. 31). Although Hamlet has little doubt that the ghost is not his father’s, he must still prove to himself that Claudius is in fact the murderer before he attempts to kill him. Hamlet decides to have the players act out what the ghost has told him and see Claudius’ reaction. When the play “The Mouse Trap'; is performed, Claudius is shocked by the play and storms out, which is the reaction of guilt that Hamlet had...
Words: 261 - Pages: 2
...A paramount theme that is displayed throughout the entire story of Hamlet is an individual's quest for vengeance. One example is Laertes seeking revenge on Hamlet for the death of his father. King Claudius was a major influence in the way Laertes seeked out retribution by leveraging him to take action for his own benefit. The king believed that Hamlet was a threat to not only his marriage but also his throne. Therefore he manipulated Laertes into using his hatred and drive to eliminate any risk of his downfall. Of course, Hamlet was another character that showed the theme of revenge but in a more hesitant way. After learning of the true cause of his father's death, Hamlet waits a total of 2 months before finally acting upon his wishes to avenge...
Words: 311 - Pages: 2
...play, Hamlet by William Shakespeare explores the concept of revenge. To most people, revenge means getting back at somebody. In order to get to the point of wanting revenge, something has to happen to you and has to get to you. Revenge is a common human emotion that is usually negative and destructive. This destructive aspect of revenge is evident in the play, Hamlet. The main character of the play, Prince Hamlet, is the principal character who struggles with seeking revenge. For Hamlet, revenge becomes a chain reaction in the play causing him to commit acts of violence against others both intentional and accidental. Other characters in the play like Laertes, Hamlet’s dead father’s ghost, Fortinbras, and King Claudius also look for revenge. Overall, the play Hamlet portrays revenge as a destructive and powerful emotion that negatively influences the characters. The first incident where revenge is brought up in the play is at the beginning when Hamlet confronts the ghost of his father. Horatio, Hamlet’s friend, is the one who tells Hamlet that there is a ghost that Hamlet needs to see. Intrigued by this thought, Hamlet goes with Horatio to see this ghost. As it turns out, the apparition is the ghost of Hamlet’s dead father. The revenge is mentioned when the ghost commands Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” (1.5.31) The ghost does not hesitate to mention revenge; it is a natural act that Hamlet should commit to honor his father. Hamlet is told...
Words: 2581 - Pages: 11
...the feeling of revenge is meant to motivate a person to retaliate towards someone who did them wrong, it often harms themself in the process. In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley and the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Victor’s devotion to acting on his revenge leads to his death, while Hamlet’s refusal to do so leads to being killed by a man who does take action. This reveals that a person devoted to revenge causes their own death as well as the deaths of people who take too long to act. After Victor creates a monster a spurns it for his appearance, it kills several people close to him, including his brother, best friend and wife. Hamlet meanwhile, discovers via his father’s ghost that his father was murdered by his uncle, now king Claudius. Both promise that they will get revenge. Despite this, Hamlet constantly delays his revenge, while Victor often chooses to act on his feelings. Eventually, Hamlet acts on his revenge when he realizes he is dying nonetheless, contrasting with Victor, who dedicates his life to fulfilling his revenge after his wife’s death. Because of his late action, Hamlet is killed by his uncle, who takes action before he does, unlike Victor who eventually wears out and dies because of his own long quest for revenge. Hamlet and Victor’s fates are first determined by their decisions as to whether or not to act on their feelings of revenge. After agreeing to create a mate for his monster, Victor takes his first action of revenge on the monster when...
Words: 1575 - Pages: 7
...August 8, 2013 Is Hamlet Primarily a Tragedy of Revenge? The play Hamlet has several occurring themes, romance, sex, madness, suicide, or even death. It is a very famous play written by Shakespeare in the early 1600's, which is also known for the many different perspectives it gives readers. Despite all these themes being present in Hamlet, Shakespeare may have intended another topic to be the prominent theme in this tragedy. The main event which sets the story, is the murder of Prince Hamlet's father, King Hamlet. The ghost of King Hamlet tells his son to seek out his killer and avenge him. The most primary theme in the tragedy of Hamlet is definitely revenge. The idea of “an eye for an eye” revenge is demonstrable in several circumstances in the play, since Hamlet swears to carry out revenge on his uncle Claudius, Prince Fortinbras of Norway vows revenge on the state of Denmark, and Laertes swears revenge on Hamlet. During the onset of the play, a ghost appears to Hamlet, and claims he is his deceased father, and that he was murdered by Hamlet's uncle Claudius in order to steal the throne of Denmark. It is evident the ghost wants Hamlet to seek revenge, since he tells hamlet he must do it by his command: "So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear"(1.5.7). The ghost also reminds Hamlet his purpose on multiple occasions. Hamlet is very distraught at the thought of his mother marrying his...
Words: 905 - Pages: 4
...The Theme of Hamlet - Revenge In Hamlet, Shakespeare created three revenge plots; all of the revenges involve a son seeking vengeance for the death of a father. Revenge has caused the downfall of many people. In my opinion, revenge is a very dangerous theory to live by. It will consuming ones nature and causes one to act recklessly through anger rather without any reason. Throughout Hamlet, revenge is a dominant theme. Prince Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet all seek to avenge the deaths of their fathers. But in doing so, three of them rely more on emotion than thought, and take a very big risk, the risk which eventually leads to the downfall and death. In Act 1 Scene 1, Shakespeare was written about Prince Fortinbras's attempts to reclaim the land his father lost to Old Hamlet and that is the first of three revenge plots in the play. King Fortinbras was killed 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 sealed compact. "…our valiant Hamlet-for so this side of our known world esteemed him-did slay this Fortinbras."(Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 1 Lines 85) Prince Fortinbras was enraged by his father’s murder and sought revenge against Denmark. He wanted to take back 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…"(Hamlet...
Words: 1291 - Pages: 6
...Hamlet Many of Shakespeare’s plays tend to have focus on many common themes between each other. Like in Titus Andronicus, where revenge is the main purpose of the entire play, Hamlet also primarily focuses on revenge. Death is the only reason in Shakespeare’s play that the characters get vengeance. Hamlet, known to be one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, brings together the idea of both death and revenge through the main character, Hamlet. From the moment the play begins, the first encounter of death that the audience sees is the death of the Hamlet’s father. In this play, we see how the death of King Hamlet affects his son who is also named Hamlet, through his own ghost. The ghost is the character that reveals the information to Hamlet causing the other events to take place. Through the ghost, we can see how both death and revenge merge together. When Hamlet has an encounter with his dead father’s ghost, the ghost reveals to Hamlet how he was murdered demonstrating how death turns into vengeance. Not only is Hamlet the only one with intentions to seek vengeance for his fathers death, but the ghost its self tells Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.25). The ghost was already the representation for death, now he shows the representation and the true motivation for Hamlet’s vengeance. The ghost is the primary reason for Hamlet’s desire to kill King Claudius, the new King of Denmark. Continuously throughout the play, death and revenge seem...
Words: 746 - Pages: 3
...Corruption and Revenge The Renaissance was a time period with drastic change, not only in art but in the way that society thought about the world. The spread of humanism throughout Europe allowed people to question the ethics of their society, as curiosity was encouraged. William Shakespeare lived in the Elizabethan era, and he noted things about society that he emphasized in his plays. While it was illegal, revenge occurred frequently, as did corruption (as exemplified by Queen Elizabeth’s Court ). In Hamlet, Shakespeare intertwines the two themes of corruption and revenge, and throughout the piece, he makes it evident that the two are part of a relentless cycle. Throughout the play, Hamlet, Shakespeare makes it known that when...
Words: 1055 - Pages: 5
...Revenge William Shakespeare’s, “The Hamlet,” has many themes used to reflect the Renaissance period. Shakespeare used revenge as the main theme of this play to get a more dramatic connection between the actors and the audience. The characters show this by acting mindlessly through anger instead of through reason. Hamlet is based around the principle, an eye for an eye, which means a person who has injured another person will be penalized at a similar degree. The characters go about their conflicts very differently than perceived because they all acted on negative emotion to seek revenge. The actions of the characters led to major conflict throughout the play, leading to death in multiple occasions. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet’s...
Words: 1454 - Pages: 6
...The Trials of Vengeance Hamlet is about to avenge; one specifically, it is about a sun-dried he revenge for the death of his father. In fact, Shakespeare has three different sons trying to get revenge for the death of their fathers. All three sons have a primary cause for revenge, develop plan to obtain revenge, deal of complications that arise with their plan, and resolve their attempt to gain revenge. fortinbras is a person attempting to gain revenge for the death of his father Horatio provides the reason fortinbras wants revenge as he waits with the guards for the ghost to appear. Horatio explains that’ [old] fortinbras of Norway/] backspace […/Was] geared to combat; in which our Valley and [old King] Hamlet/ […] Did say this fortinbras’ (1.181 – 85). Essentially worn bras is looking to avenge himself on Denmark because his father was killed by Denmark’s King Horatio goes on to explain why the country has been preparing for invasion. To help the user avenge “young fortinbras/ […] /Half in our skirts of Norway here and there/sharked up a list of lawless resolutes” (1.1.95 – 90). Fortinbras plans to use his army of “desperate men” to get his revenge. Unfortunately for him, his plan runs and problems. Claudius is aware of his preparations and wrote “to Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras / […] / […] To suppress”his attempts to gather his army “[sent] out arrests/on fortinbras” and made him vow before [the entire court] never more / to give th’assay of arms against [Claudius]”...
Words: 1201 - Pages: 5
...N V Professor Bayer English 1202 AO 25 April 2011 Revenge and Forgiveness Revenge and forgiveness are the two underlying factors that are present throughout the entirety of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet: Prince of Denmark. The play is begun with the death of Hamlet’s father, which Hamlet finds to be unsettling from the start. Hamlet’s uncle Claudius then takes over the throne while Hamlet’s mother then marries his uncle. It is then that the ghost of his father, tells Hamlet that the very man who had become king murdered him in cold blood; the ghost brings the idea of revenge to Hamlet’s mind (Shakespeare 1547). While revenge is constantly on his mind throughout the play, there is also the idea that Hamlet must forgive those who have done wrongs to him or his family; this is shown through his dedication to religion. But in the end, Hamlet’s internal need to seek revenge for his father’s death is so great that he is ultimately unable to forgive his uncle. The play begins with the sudden death of Hamlet’s father, and his uncle Claudius, his father’s brother, taking the throne (Shakespeare 1550). Hamlet’s mother chooses to marry Claudius just days after the death of Hamlet’s father, and Prince Hamlet expresses his disgust through his soliloquies, where he exclaims, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (Shakespeare 1553). After some time, Hamlet is brought out to a forest by two guards who have claimed to see the ghost of his father. After some deliberation, the ghost of Hamlet’s...
Words: 1396 - Pages: 6
...In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a common theme is revenge. The plots all have one common driving factor. Three revenge plots in Hamlet are Hamlet’s revenge on King Claudius, Fortinbras’s revenge on Denmark, and Laertes’s revenge on Hamlet; they add inadequacy to the play. To begin, Hamlet wants to get revenge on King Claudius for killing his father. Hamlet discovers, after speaking to the ghost of his late father, that King Claudius killed King Hamlet for power and love. The Ghost tells Hamlet to avenge his death and kill King Claudius, which Hamlet has a hard time accepting. Hamlet has to plot a revenge plan against King Claudius in order to avenge his father’s death. Next, Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, wants to bring revenge on Denmark to...
Words: 332 - Pages: 2
