Revenge in Shakespeare's Hamlet Essay

Although Hamlet is “a victim” of Claudius' deeds, the reader is unable to sustain any feeling of heightened pathos once he seeks justice by exacting revenge. However, one must take into consideration the common thought processes of the time. It wasn't until recently that society began to view retributive justice as unacceptable and morally wrong. Therefore, Hamlet would have been justified in his attempts to get revenge for his father's murder. In addition, getting revenge gives Hamlet no personal gain except the redemption of his father's name, while Claudius kills with power in mind. Furthermore, Claudius is responsible for the death of an innocent while Hamlet is only concerned with killing those who are guilty,

Shakespeare’s play tells of how Hamlet’s need for revenge affected his relationships.  Hamlet’s revenge has put his relationships with Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes, Gertrude and even Claudius in very dangerous positions. Hamlet feels that what he has done justifies him being   right to achieve vengeance, but in reality what he has done to justify his revenge is not an act of honor for his ruthlessness.  Hamlet has not taken into consideration what pain it has caused for his family and the people he knows. Hamlet does not know what the ending of all his situations will cause for the future to come.

Revenge is a dangerous downfall. Revenge has caused people to do incredibly stupid and recklessly acts. The worst part of revenge however, is how easily people can justify and rationalize their actions, an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth. Hamlet is no exception. Throughout Shakespeare’s Hamlet, revenge is an almost suffocating theme. Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet are all seeking retribution for the deaths of their fathers. However, while seeking such revenge, they rely on their emotions which drive them to make gambles. Gambles that in the end lead to death save one. Fortinbras father was slain by King Hamlet during battle as seen in the text, "...valiant Hamlet for so this side of our known world esteem'd him did slay this Fortinbras." Fortinbras son was so angered by his father's murder that he not only sought revenge against King Hamlet, but against all of Denmark. Young Fortinbras empowered by his rage planned to take back

Hamlet and the Issue of Revenge in William Shakespeare's Play The question of why Hamlet does not immediately avenge his father's death is perhaps one of the most perplexing problems faced by an audience. Each generation of viewers has come up with it's own explanation, and it has now become the most widely known critical problem in Shakespearean studies. A rather simplistic, yet valid standpoint to take on this problem is that it was essential to the tragedy's narrative progression. As Hanmer said "had he gone naturally to work, there would have been an end to our play!".

Revenge. Revenge causes one to act blindly through anger, rather than through reason. It is based on the principle of an eye for an eye, but this principle is not always an intelligent theory to live by. Young Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet were all looking to avenge the deaths of their fathers. They all acted on emotion, and this led to the downfall of two, and the rise to power of one. Since the Heads of the three major families were each murdered, the eldest sons of these families swore vengeance, and two of the three sons died while exacting their acts of vengeance. Revenge is a major theme in the Tragedy of Hamlet.

Hamlet really wanted the revenge on Claudius but was really on the fence of what to actually do to follow through with then plan. Claudius was brave to feel so free, as Hamlet had opportunities to take advantage of him and had plenty of hate towards him for more than one reason. The action Hamlet may want and outcome of it, may be completely different as to what his father would do or like him to do.

Hamlet's motivation to seek revenge was from his own father, the former King Hamlet as a ghost. “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.31). After the ghost tells him this, Hamlet agrees with it and says

When Hamlet’s father, the late king of Denmark, comes to him as a ghost and reveals he died at the hands of his brother, Claudius, he demands Hamlet “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.4.23-25). Without hesitation, Hamlet agrees to avenge his father’s death, saying, “Haste me to know’t, that I with wings as swift / as meditation or the thoughts of love, / May sweep to my revenge” (1.5.29-31). He decides the proper form of justice is to kill Claudius, just as the king killed his own brother, though he has his own motives. Hamlet loathes Claudius for marrying his mother, and learning King Hamlet died at the hands of Claudius only provokes Hamlet more. As the play continues, Hamlet plots his revenge, and he deceives everyone with his apparent insanity. Hamlet eventually succeeds in his search for vengeance and justice, though it kills him as well. He

Hamlet is able to do anything-except take vengance on the man who did away with his father and took that father’s place with his mother, the man who shows him the repressed wishes of his own childhood realized. Thus the loathing that should drive him on to revenge is replaced in him by self reproaches, by scruples of conscience, which remind him that he himself is literally not better than the sinner whom he is to punish. (Freud

“If you seek revenge, dig two graves.” This ancient Chinese proverb explains the mood in Hamlet, a play, written by Shakespeare. The theme of revenge is seen throughout the play as each character extracts one form or another of revenge from a person who has wronged them. In the play the characters Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras all desire revenge for a lost father; however, their motivations for murder differ.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet tests effectiveness of vengeance, each character, inflicted by a different mindset, takes their own path during the process of revenge. All in the effort to avenge their father’s death, each character has a unique approach to their revenge schemes that determines their outcome, Hamlet procrastinates, Laertes acts impulsively while Fortinbras is calm and collected.

Hamlet is visited by his father’s ghost who ultimately gives him the task of enacting revenge upon Claudius, but because of his suppressed resentment he clashes with the idea of achieving retribution for his father. In addition “Sigmund Freud, in a letter to Wilhelm Fliess, announced that he had found in his own development all the symptoms of the Oedipus complex and that he was coming to consider “love of the mother and jealousy of the father” (Faber pg. 79). Hamlets impulsive actions seem to be driven more by his love for his mother rather than anger derived from the murder of his father. It can be seen that Hamlets subconscious was responsible for creating the ghost figure to help justify his hate towards his uncle. Hamlet tries to

Although deeply sorrowed by his father’s death, Hamlet did not consider payback as an option until he meets with the ghost of his “father.” The ghost tells Hamlet King Claudius, his own brother, murdered him. Then the ghost tells Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder?” (I.v.25). Although murder was an acceptable form of revenge in Hamlet’s time he is uncertain about killing Claudius. However, upon his father's command, Hamlet reluctantly swears to get revenge against Claudius. Hamlet does this not because he wants to, but because his father makes it clear that it is his duty as a son, and so Hamlet should not disappoint his “perfect” father. Hamlet promises to prove his love and duty by killing Claudius.

According to Kastan, “Hamlet is prevented from enacting his revenge by the discomforting ratios that his literary imitations generate” (4). He is also stopped from executing his revenge because of his inability to separate himself from his father, to be different from what generated him (Kastan 4). By this point, Hamlet is no longer caught between whether to avenge his father or not, it is that he no longer realizes whether he is doing this for his father or for himself. When Hamlet finally does kill Claudius, he does it to avenge not his father, but himself (Kastan 4). “Hamlet dies with no word of the father he has sworn to remember” writes David Scott Kastan, “The act he finally

He is quick to assume that Claudius murdered his father and goes to seek him with a 'riotous head' and only one thing on his mind. He will 'dare damnation' to get revenge for his father and will die for his family honour. Hamlet alternately spends most of his time contemplating revenge and deciding how he will get it on Claudius. Hamlet: ‘conscience does make cowards of us all. Levin says, “Hamlet is the man who thinks too much,