Revenge in Shakespeare's Hamlet Essay

Hamlet has lived through plenty of ups and downs throughout his childhood. He has been lost and confused within himself, but knew he wanted one thing, which was revenge on his fathers killer, Claudius. His passion of hate developed for Claudius as he married Hamlets mother shortly after the king’s death. Hamlet could not decide on the perfect decision for himself, his mother and father as well as the best way to follow through with the best consequence for Claudius that would impress his father. His everyday life, along with his love life, left him with an empty heart, which slowed the process of the revenge down. Hamlet never expected to be captured and kidnapped by pirates, as he was sent overseas as a young man. His inside thoughts were attacking and overwhelming Him, leaving him depressed and anxious. Hamlet’s life has been leading him to negative thoughts that he cannot process or act accordingly to, due to the excessive amount of issues and options involved in his life at a young age, him being overwhelmed lead him to delaying the process of avenging his fathers killer.

In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the playwright introduces the compelling, complex, and complicated character of the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet. In the events of the play, Hamlet swears revenge against his uncle for the foul murder of his father, the king. However, despite his intense catalyst, Hamlet reveals to be continuously torn between his motive of revenge and conflicted conscience, generating an inability to carry out his desired actions. While Hamlet possesses the passion and intellect to murder his uncle, Claudius, his actual inclination to act upon the murder directly opposes that of his powerfully emotional contemplations (S.T. Coleridge). Hamlet’s overzealous thoughts become unrealistic compared to his actual endeavors throughout the play.

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).

In modern society humans stand up and fight for what they think is right and fair. Human beings have the desire to avenge what they think is wrong. The theme of revenge has a major effect in the play Hamlet and is a constant throughout the play, it underlies almost every scene. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare examines the theme of revenge through the erratic thoughts and actions of the characters Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras. The main revenge plots in the play is Hamlet’s aim to avenge his father, Hamlet Sr, Laertes’ aim to avenge the murder of his father, Polonius, and Fortinbras’ aim to avenge the death of his father, Fortinbras. Having lost their fathers, Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras take vengeance on the people that killed them. These plots play a major role in the play presenting the theme of revenge to the audience.

Hamlet is as much a story of emotional conflict, paranoia, and self-doubt as it is one of revenge and tragedy. The protagonist, Prince Hamlet of Denmark, is instructed by his slain father’s ghost to enact vengeance upon his uncle Claudius, whose treacherous murder of Hamlet’s father gave way to his rise to power. Overcome by anguish and obligation to avenge his father’s death, Hamlet ultimately commits a number of killings throughout the story. However, we are not to view the character Hamlet as a sick individual, but rather one who has been victimized by his own circumstances.

Hamlet’s absurd actions began when he got a visit from his father’s ghost. As he was conversing matters with the ghost, he acknowledged that he may need to disguise himself with strange behavior (antic disposition) in order to not give himself away. He wanted to ensure that he wouldn’t make it conspicuous that he was planning to kill Claudius in order to achieve his own equanimity. Hamlet mentioned to Horatio, Marcellus, and the Ghost, “How strange or odd some’er I bear myself (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on)... ” (Pg. Act I Scene V Lines 175-177). He needed to surreptitiously act in a strange manner in order to convey the idea to the culpable King that he didn’t have a plan, although he did. Hamlet would not have given them the caveat that he would act mad if he actually was crazy. One who is mad will most likely not admit it, but Hamlet certainly admitted that he would be acting this way to communicate a certain impression. At the climax of the play, the queen claimed that Hamlet was mad when he interacted with his father’s ghost after he murdered Polonius. She vehemently claimed, “Alas, he’s mad” (Pg. 177 Act III Scene IV Line 109). She declared

In his play Hamlet, William Shakespeare frequently utilizes the word “revenge” and images associated with this word in order to illustrate the idea that the pursuit of revenge has caused the downfall of many people. He builds up the idea that revenge causes people to act recklessly through anger rather than reason. In Hamlet, Fortinbras, Laertes and Hamlet all seek to avenge the deaths of their fathers. Hamlet and Laertes manage to avenge their father’s deaths and in doing so, both rely more on their emotions rather than their reasoning, which eventually leads to their downfalls at the end of Hamlet.

In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses revenge as a major theme present throughout the work. Revenge plays a crucial role in the development of Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, and Laertes, son of Polonius. All three men seek revenge for the murder of their fathers. Revenge can be interpreted as a separate character in Hamlet. Revenge is set to overcome anyone who seeks it. Initially, after each of the murders, every son had a definite course of action to obtain vengeance. Or in Hamlet's case the choice was to seek no vengeance. As the play unfolds, each young man approaches the desire for revenge and chooses a different path towards gaining it based on the guidance of another character in

In the timeless play Hamlet by Shakespeare, one man’s apparent madness impacts not only his fate but also the lives of those around him. Hamlet, enlightened by a ghostly figure, devises a scheme of revenge on his uncle King Claudius. Consequently, Hamlet’s flaw of indecisiveness causes him to blur the lines between sanity and insanity as he is unable to make important decisions while unfolding his need for vengeance. Ultimately, his irrational madness embodies Hamlet’s high intelligence and ability to think one step ahead of others. After questioning Claudius’s involvement in his father’s death, Hamlet creates a plan to act crazy in the presence of others in order to find justice.

     There is an old saying, "The sins of the fathers are visited upon the sons." When the sons in question are Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras - pivotal characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet - one might wonder how each man's father affects their particular natures - their particular sins. While Hamlet could be considered a story in the vein of Cain and Abel; a jealous man who slays his brother, an allusion which Claudius himself makes during his "prayer" at the climax of the play - "O! my offense is rank, it smells to heaven,/It hath the primal eldest curse upon 't;/A brother's murder! . . ." (III, iii, 36-39) - the greatest sum of miseries in the play are caused by the paths taken by Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras

Throughout the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare Hamlet, the protagonist, puts on an antic disposition, meaning that he acts mad. He does this in order to avenge his father’s death. His father, who was the king of Denmark, was killed by Claudius, the king’s brother, he also married the former king’s wife, Hamlet’s mother. Hamlet found out that Claudius was guilty for his father's death when his father’s ghost was haunting the castle, the ghost spoke to Hamlet and told him to get revenge for his death by killing Claudius. Hamlet’s plan throughout the whole play is to put on a series of pretenses to make others believe he has gone insane so that way his madness is to blame if he does something against the king. Some may say that during the course

Self- knowledge is when a person gain understanding of their selves. It is when they recognize their goals and abilities. Hamlet was bitter in the beginning of the play, due to his father’s death. He was disgusted with his mother, and he had hatred for his uncle Claudius. Hamlet felt this way because his father had just died and his mother had already re- married and to his uncle, which made him become his father. Hamlet’s goal was to avenge his father’s death, but he first needed to gain the strength and right plan to do so. Othello on the other hand was looked upon as a noble man, a hero in the beginning of the play. But by him being naïve he was tricked into believing that his love, Desdemona, betrayed him. This caused Othello to try to

“While seeking revenge, dig two graves - one for yourself”, as is what happens to those who take revenge, buried in their own unforgiveness. Francis Bacon’s idea of revenge attempts to bypass this problem of unforgiveness, with the forgiveness of the perpetrator. But not all revenge can be simply forgiven, which is the case in Hamlet; Francis Bacon also knows about this problem, but describes it in his own words with “The most tolerable sort of revenge is for those wrongs which there is no law to remedy; but then let a man take heed the revenge be such as there is no law to punish”(Francis Bacon 15). Sir Francis Bacon’s idea of revenge relates to Hamlet in how revenge is handled, the repercussions of acting in revenge, and its ability to change a person's thought process.

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!".

In a tale of death, lies and deceit, In the still of the night a ghost appears to Hamlet, claiming to be his father’s spirit, telling Hamlet to revenge his death, so art thou to revenge when thou shalt hear, (I.v. 5). After learning of his father’s death and how King Hamlet was betrayed by his brother, a young Hamlet vowed revenged on his uncle a “foul and most unnatural murder” (I.v.25). An angrily young Hamlet plot to avenge his father’s deaths takes a slow start. Somewhat confused and a little dismay, he ponders if the ghost that appeared to him is real really his father’s ghost. Those in Hamlet circle thought to believe that the ghost was not real. “What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord? Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff? And there assume some other horrible form, which might deprive your sovereignty of reason (I.4.71-82)?”