Loyalty and Betrayal in Hamlet

Even though Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s original loyalties were with their friend Hamlet, when the king asks, as loyal subjects, they obey. Hamlet figures it out pretty quick, dismissing them, sending them on unimportant errands and generally making sure they weren’t around. They eventually turn their friendship against Hamlet to confirm his madness to the king. This results in their later commission to kill Hamlet and eventually their own

Shakespeare's Hamlet is filled with murder, revenge, and betrayal. The way the characters go about their revengeful murder says a lot about them. Claudius is a manipulating coward: he poisoned his own brother in his sleep in order to obtain the throne. Hamlet is completely indecisive: he spends majority of the play debating whether not to kill Claudius, when he would do it, and how he would do it. As soon as Laertes hears of his father’s death, he leaves Paris and marches an angry mob into the castle to demand blood. The methods in which the protagonist, antagonist, and foil murder others reflects back on their true in our character.

Hamlet believes he is justified in killing Polonius – although this is not true and dresses Ophelia mad when she hears of her father’s death. Although Hamlet’s intention was to kill Claudius he condemns himself in killing an innocent person. As a matter of fact, he is so driven to kill Claudius – he does not even know who he has killed. However, if the intruder had been Claudius, rather than Polonius, Hamlet’s killing would have been justified as vengeance for

Prior to this scene Hamlet was indecisive, moody and overanalyzed everything. Hamlet did not want to be destroyed either being by being consumed by his own guilt for killing Polonius or by the king. Not only is Hamlet impacted by the death of Polonius, but this violence led to other acts of violence. Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius, is stressed by the actions of Hamlet and the death of her father. It became too much for her to bear, and Ophelia committed suicide. With the deaths of his father Polonius and his sister Ophelia, Laertes was then moved to harbor hatred for Hamlet. A former friend of Hamlet, Laertes, allowed hatred to cause him to become the enemy of Hamlet. In turn, Claudius was able to use him as a ploy in his schemes against Hamlet. , Because Claudius now feared Hamlet, he devised an elaborate plan to kill him. In the end, Hamlet and Laertes are killed in the swordfight by the poisonous sword the king intended for Hamlet. The wine poisoned the queen, and Hamlet forced the king to run into the poisonous sword and drink the rest of the wine. In the end, Hamlet and Laertes forgave each other before their

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were not loyal towards Hamlet; they’ve agreed to spy on him and get paid for doing so. Their disloyalty then shows the audience they are a supply of

When the ghost talks privately to Hamlet, he learns not only about the murder of his father, but also about the unfaithfulness and adultery of his mother. Gertrude was seduced by “that incestuous, that adulterate beast,/With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts” – Claudius himself – prior to his brother’s passing. “So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd,/Will sate itself in a celestial bed,/And prey on garbage.” In the mind of Hamlet, this drastically reduces the goodness of womankind generally. Hamlet chooses to use an “antic disposition” to disguise his actions as he maneuvers to kill the one who poisoned his father in the garden. Wilkie and Hurt say that Shakespeare “is particularly fond of double-plotting.” (2156)

There are many themes that can be found within William Shakespeare’s works of literature. In the play Hamlet, it is evident that there is a prominent theme of obedience. Throughout the course of the play obedience is shown numerous times and involves many characters. These instances can be divided into three categories of reasoning to be obedient: obedience through family, obedience through an authority figure, and obedience through friendship and trust. These characters include Hamlet, Ophelia, Fortinbras, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Horatio and Marcellus.

Delaying, Hamlet continues to avoid murdering Claudius. After hesitating to kill Claudius, Hamlet flees to his mother’s room. Polonius hides in Gertrude’s room while Hamlet is speaking with his mother, but Hamlet soon catches on and murders Polonius. Shocked, Gertrude confronts Hamlet about the murder, but Hamlet retaliates by asserting, "A bloody deed! almost as bad, good

Hamlet kills Polonius and Gertrude becomes scared as to what is going to happen with Hamlet. Claudius betrays her trust by taking advantage of it and takes matter into his own hands. Claudius solution to the problem is to have Hamlet sent to England, where he is going to be safe from the law and will not have to deal with any consequences for his actions. " O Gertrude, come away! The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch. But we will ship him hence, and this vile deed. We must, with all out majesty and skill, Both countenance and excuse" (4.1.28-32). Claudius makes Gertrude believe he is setting this up because he wants to protect Hamlet. But even though the audience knows the real reason as to why he is doing this. He is sending Hamlet to England to be killed. " By letters congruing to that effect, The present death of Hamlet" (4.3.66-67).

Similar to Ophelia, Gertrude experiences her son’s ill demeanor when during their conversation in her bedroom. After killing Polonius, Gertrude responds with, “O, what rash and bloody deed this is” (3.4.33), a statement which perfectly captures the crime that Hamlet committed. Again Hamlet takes

Commitment, faithfulness, and closeness are all words that describe loyalty. If missing commitment, faithfulness, and closeness that would describe disloyalty. If those things exist or are missing between family members that is known as family loyalty or disloyalty. In the readings I chose I believe there are very good examples of both family loyalty and disloyalty.

Fisher, Jerilyn, and Ellen S. Silber. "Reading Between the Lines: Connecting with Gertrude and Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet." Women in Literature: Reading through the Lens of

Hamlet's rant to persuade her that Claudius is a bad man and the murderer of his father depicts his disrespect to his mother. For instance, he tells her, "You go not till I set you up a glass / Where you may see the inmost part of you." (III.iv.20-21) He is threatening his own mother! Later, he addresses her as "thou wretched, rash, intruding fool" (III.iv.32) Even though Gertrude's lust for Claudius aggravates him, Hamlet fails to show even the most fundamental respect to his superior. The relationship is full of disloyalty and distrust from Gertrude's part. First, she appeases, "Be thou assured... I have no life to breathe what thou hast said to me." (III.iv.201-203) It is assumed that she will listen to Hamlet and stay away from Claudius. However, in the next act, she displays her true loyalty to her husband, telling him that Hamlet is "in this brainish apprehension kills / The unseen good old man." (IV.I.12-13) This is partially contributed by her observations of her son talking to a ghost that she doesn't see. Polonius' death causes her to think Hamlet is dangerous, further driving the two apart. Her distrust to her son harms him by further solidifying Claudius' plan to execute him in England because the king sees him as a threat to the throne who is capable of killing. In the end, Hamlet and Gertrude's relationship take a bittersweet ending.

Her feelings of confusion and unsure loyalty reflect some of Hamlet's deep-seated weaknesses, while her unnatural sexuality and traitorousness ultimately reflect the darker qualities of Claudius. Gertrude - though distinctly female and independent in her worldview - is in many respects tainted or misguided by the flaws in both her lover and her son.

When individuals struggle to balance a desire for independence with the need to maintain meaningful relationships with others, it often results in complicated decisions, which alter relationships. In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the author justifies that when an individual is caught up in a dilemma, between one’s self-motivation or sincere relationships, meaningful relationships alter as a result of sophisticated decisions made. Hamlet is a character that is caught up in the crossfire between pursuing his self-motivations and his need to stay loyal to his relationships, with Ophelia, King Claudius, and his mother Gertrude.