Poison Motif Within Hamlet By William Shakespeare

Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, begins as an admired and noble young man. However, fate and the turn of events lead the tragic hero the depths of his fortunes. The tragedy starts with the death of the heroic King Hamlet. His brother, Claudius is the successor as King of Denmark and married the protagonist’s mother. When a ghost of the late King Hamlet appears, Hamlet’s downfall begins. The ghost explains to Hamlet that Claudius killed his father “upon my secure hour thy uncle stole with juice of cursed hebona in a vial, and in the porches of my ears did pour the leperous distilment, whose effect holds such an enmity with blood of man” (1001). Hamlet then feels like he must get revenge against Claudius and sets out to plot how it will happen. King Claudius senses something suspicious about Hamlet and sends for Hamlet’s two

When the sword fighting begins they hope that there is blood drawn so that the poison will go into Hamlet and kill him. He tries to poison him during the dual. He begins to confess his love for Ophelia to him, but in the meantime, Gertrude drinks the poison and dies. Laertes then wounds Hamlet, but the idea of poisoning him does not work. Laertes then stabs himself with his sword that is soaked in poisoned. When Laertes tells Hamlet that Claudius is the reason for the queen’s death, he then stabs himself to death with the poison that came off of the blade. Hamlet then immediately dies along with Claudius. Horatio will then fulfill his wishes and tell Hamlet’s

Hamlet is considered to be Shakespeare's most famous play. The play is about Prince Hamlet and his struggles with the new marriage of his mother, Gertrude, and his uncle and now stepfather, King Claudius about only two months after his father’s death. Hamlet has an encounter with his father, Old King Hamlet, in ghost form. His father accuses Claudius of killing him and tells Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlet is infuriated by this news and then begins his thoughts on what to do to get revenge. Hamlet and Claudius are contrasting characters. They do share similarities, however, their profound differences are what divides them.Hamlet was portrayed as troubled, inactive, and impulsive at times. Hamlet is troubled by many things, but the main source of his problems come from the the death of his father. “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, or that the everlasting had not fixed his canon 'gainst self-slaughter” (Act 1, Scene 2). In this scene, Hamlet is contemplating suicide, which is caused by the death of his father and the new marriage of Gertrude and King Claudius. This scene shows the extent of how troubled Hamlet is. Even though Hamlet’s father asked him to avenge his death, Hamlet is very slow to act on this throughout the play. “Now might I do it pat. Now he is a-praying. And now I’ll do ’t. And so he goes to heaven. And so am I revenged.—That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven” (Act 3, Scene 3). This scene shows King Claudius praying, while Hamlet is behind him drawing his sword but decides not to kill

In Act I, Scene i of the play, a supernatural being assuming the shape of the late king is seen by Marcellus, Bernardo and Horatio. They tell Hamlet of their peculiar sighting and in Act I, scene iv of the play the ghost reappears to Hamlet and reveals Claudius 's sinful secret. Claudius heinously murders his own brother by pouring a poisonous liquid into the king 's ear during his nap in the orchard. This toxin curdles the blood of the king causing a short but painful death. This information sets vengeance in the mind of Hamlet to murder his uncle and bestow tranquility among his family.

If fact, Hamlet waits so long to tell anyone or to do anything about the revenge he swore to his fathers ghost, he begins to question his courage, knowing he has been all talk and no action. Hamlet also decides that before he takes his revenge, he will find out for himself if the ghost is telling the truth. He stages the play and sees in the kings reaction to the similar set of circumstances that he was involved. When the time comes for Hamlet to take action against the King, he agrees to a fencing match with Laertes. Claudius and Laertes conspire to kill Hamlet with poison in his drink and poison on Laertes? sword. Hamlet finally sees his chance for revenge after the Queen drinks the poisoned wine and Laertes and Hamlet are both mortally wounded. Plunging his sword into the King, his uncle, and his father and mother?s murderer wasn?t enough revenge for Hamlet. He gets the poisoned wine and pours it down the King?s throat, before

The play ‘Hamlet’ written by William Shakespeare had many aspects of betrayal, a lack of loyalty, and tragic deaths. The storyline begins as a ghost appears and he resembles the late king of Denmark ‘Hamlet’. King Hamlet was Hamlets father, after his ghost appears Hamlet conversates with the figure and asks him why he is here, and the ghost states that his brother Claudius poisoned him by pouring poison in his ear while he was asleep, married his wife and finally took the power of the throne. Already in a confused state of mind Hamlet questions the ghost and decides to act delusional and put on a play to decide whether he will get revenge on Claudius. Consequently, one can tell how selfish both brothers Claudius and Hamlet are, how much do you have to hate your own family to commit such hatred. Ultimately blood is not thicker than water.

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been widely regarded as one of the greatest tragedies ever written. One prominent theme exemplified in this particular play is the theme of rottenness or decay. Shakespeare uniquely uses disease, rotting, and decay in order to reveal the manifestation and consequence of moral corruption. Physical corruption mirrors the moral corruption within the characters in the play. The moral corruption in Denmark is showcased for the readers throughout the play by images of physical corruption and disease. Shakespeare argues in Hamlet that sin or moral corruption is like a disease that leads one to one’s own “death” or demise. Nobody is immune from it.

The play, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, surrounds the central idea of revenge and betrayal. Revenge drives the characters and determines their actions throughout the play, which results in several instances of betrayal. With revenge, the friendship and loyalty of characters are tested and conflicts are established between characters. Hamlet’s father, the king of Denmark, was helplessly poisoned by his own brother, Claudius. Hamlet, the protagonist, becomes aware of his father’s death and finds himself seeking revenge and starting a cycle of hatred. Hamlet embarks on his journey for revenge by displaying an act of craziness. Throughout the play, there were several moments where Hamlet’s actions caused confusion and made it difficult for

In Hamlet, imagery of disease, poison and decay, are used by Shakespeare for a purpose. The descriptions of disease, poison, and decay help us understand the bitter relationships that exist in the play and Hamlet’s own cynicism. We see Hamlet’s pessimism in his soliloquy when he contemplates suicide. The resentful relationship that exists between Claudius and Hamlet is heightened with the use of imagery when Claudius asks about Polonius. Imagery enhances Claudius’ abhorrence of Hamlet. Shakespeare uses imagery in this play to deepen our understanding of the emotions experienced.

Shakespeare expresses the theme of morality through the ghost of King Duncan, Laertes and Hamlet. Hamlet encounters the ghost where they speak of what truly happened during King Hamlet's death. As they speak to each other the ghost says, "A serpent stung me-so the whole ear of Denmark/is by a forged process of my death/ rankly abus'd- but know, thou noble youth,/ the serpent that did sting thy father's life/now wears his crown"(I,v, 35-40). The ghost of King Hamlet explains how there are false rumours about the way he died and informs Hamlet that he should not believe in them. He later clarifies that Claudius is the man who murdered him. Claudius’ act of betrayal presents his lack of morality which continues to show throughout the play. After this encounter, audiences feel a sense of revenge, lack of ethics and honesty amongst the characters. Moreover, as Hamlet and Laertes are in a fencing match, Laertes cheats as his sword is sharpened and coated with poison in order kill Hamlet. As both individuals fence, Laertes tells himself, “And yet it is almost against my conscience.”(V, ii,292). Laertes feels guilty for what he is about to do even though Hamlet was the cause of Polonius and Ophelia’s death. In spite of the fact that Laertes is willing to give up anything to kill the man who murdered his father and sister, he faces Hamlet in a fencing match, which makes him think back on his morality. Furthermore, the audience sees morality once again when Hamlet is telling Gertrude about how awful of a person she is for quickly moving on to a new king after king Hamlet's death. Hamlet is deeply hurt by Gertrude's affection towards the new king and says, "Nay, but to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stew'd in corruption,

Poison, disease and decay are constantly reoccurring themes of imagery used within “Hamlet”. Shakespeare uses this technique to create an atmosphere that resounds throughout the course of the play. This therefore has an impact upon how the reader views the play as they are constantly under the influence of imagery. An example of this technique can be seen in Hamlet's first

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.

Perusing the description which the ghost of Hamlet’s father gives of his poisoning by Claudius, one cannot help being struck by the vividness with which the process of poisoning, the malicious spreading of the disease, is portrayed:

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most popular dramas in world literature, as it examines the passionate, but toxic ambitions of King Claudius. He murders his own brother, King Hamlet, to overtake the throne, power, and wife. As a result of King Claudius’ fratricide, he inherits the “primal eldest curse” of Cain and Abel, and the dispersion of his venom ends the lives of several major characters. Including, of course, Prince Hamlet, who gets drawn into a deep depression over his father’s death, who later visits him as an apparition. This essay will analyze Shakespeare’s symbolic use of poison, embodied by King Claudius and the unintended consequences of his wicked acts.

Hamlet is full of death and murder, elements which seem almost to occur in a continual flow, accelerating as the play progresses. It begins with the King's murder by Claudius, before the play actually opens, although the audience only