Revenge in "Wuthering Heights" and "Hamlet" Essay

Hamlet had the chance to kill Claudius and seek his revenge but he stopped and thought rationally about what would happen if he did.

Hamlet (prince of Denmark) can be greatly compared to Laertes (son of a noble), and Fortinbras (prince of Norway) in the play. They all are very similar but yet different at the same time. They all had love and respect for their fathers and felt the need to avenge their deaths, which all were brutally killed. All three believed that the murderers had dishonoured their fathers as well as themselves. They all reacted and took different approaches in attempt to restore honour in their families.

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.

He is seen again delaying his revenge due to over thinking when refusing to kill Claudius in a moment of weakness. The prince’s reluctance to murder the praying king and thus sending him directly to heaven is ironic due to the fact that Claudius is unable to confess his sins and ask for God’s forgiveness. The readers once again observe Hamlet’s failure to execute his responsibility due to his overwhelming desire to perform the perfect revenge.

In Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Heathcliff’s strong love for Catherine guides his transformation as a character. While Heathcliff enters the story as an innocent child, the abuse he receives at a young age and his heartbreak at Catherine’s choice to marry Edgar Linton bring about a change within him. Heathcliff’s adulthood is consequently marked by jealousy and greed due to his separation from Catherine, along with manipulation and a deep desire to seek revenge on Edgar. Although Heathcliff uses deceit and manipulation to his advantage throughout the novel, he is never entirely content in his current situation. As Heathcliff attempts to revenge Edgar Linton, he does not gain true fulfillment. Throughout Wuthering Heights, Brontë uses Heathcliff’s vengeful actions to convey the message that manipulative and revenge-seeking behaviors will not bring a person satisfaction.

Now Hamlet uses a rational “now he is praying; And now I'll do't./ And so he goes to heaven;/ And so am I revenged. That would be scann'd:/ A villain kills my father; and for that,/ I, his sole son, do this same villain send/ To heaven”(p.79). Hamlet uses this “logic” to further justify his inconsistency between his actions and his motive. Finally, during the last scene, Hamlet encounters yet another chance to avenge his father’s, and now also his mother’s murders after his fencing match against Laertes. Claudius tries to kill Hamlet by poisoning him, and poisons Gertrude instead; this is the final breaking point of Hamlet. After the death of his mother Hamlet, can no longer hold back and strikes his foil through Claudius’s heart. Then, he forces the poisoned wine down his throat. This occurrence yet again shows Hamlet’s indecisive character. He plans out the vengeance of his father’s death so many times perfectly, but kills Claudius without a plan and everyone witnesses the murder.

. . (If Hamlet ever loved his father he will) Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.? Hamlet is possessed with waiting for the right opportunity to commit murder upon King Claudius, even passing up open opportunities when the king is knelt deep in prayer but changes his mind. He reasons that if the King is killed in prayer he will go to heaven, and he will wait for a time when he can catch him in the middle of sin so he will for sure send the king to hell.

Death is a source that fuels the yearning for revenge in both stories. Prince Hamlet is obviously pushed to revenge when he figures out

As the play progresses, Hamlet’s actions tell he actively attempts to escape his self-proclaimed fate. Suspicions rise that Hamlet tests his free-will when he is inactive to plot the murder of his father. Instead, he develops a play to prove that the King is guilty, yet the play’s only effect is such, which does not bring Claudius closer to death. Finally, Hamlet has a chance to assassinate Claudius, but hesitates, believing that since the King is praying, he will go to heaven. This thought process and decision making demonstrates his attempt at free will. Hamlet’s assignment is solely to kill Claudius, yet his own thoughts get in the way, needing Claudius to waste away in hell and not heaven. In addition, when Claudius wishes to send Hamlet to England, he enthusiastically responds “For England!” (4.3.52), accepting being sent away, even though his mission is to kill Claudius, who resides in Denmark. In that instance, Hamlet is content with being shipped away, as he hopes to prolong his fate, hoping free-will will win over.

• Hamlet does not murder Claudius because he thinks that he is praying, and that Claudius would go to heaven if he died while he was praying.

Therefore, Hamlet really did miss a perfect opportunity to kill Claudius, because Claudius would not have gone to heaven after all. This scene shows Hamlet’s indecisiveness, because after the players’ scene, he vows to take action in murdering Claudius. However, when the opportunity rises, Hamlet doesn’t take it. One might think that Hamlet is just making up excuses to avoid murdering Claudius. In forgoing this opportunity to kill Claudius, Hamlet allows Claudius time to act against him. Claudius attempts to rid himself of Hamlet and the possibility of his crime becoming discovered.

Even when he discovers Claudius' guilt, Hamlet finds himself bound by conscience. He comes across Claudius in the King's chamber, but as Claudius is in prayer (or so Hamlet perceives him to be), he cannot bring himself to kill the King, lest Claudius meet with a better end than his own father:

Hamlet lets his religion somewhat get in the way when he gets his first chance to kill Claudius. “A villain kills my father, and for that I, his sole son, do this villain send to heaven,” (III. iii. 76- 79). Here is when hamlet decides to wait because Claudius is kneeled down praying. He did not want to kill him because his soul would go to heaven because he has just repented. “When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in th’ incestuous pleasure of his bed, at game a- swearing, or about some act that has no relish of salvation in’t- then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven, and that his soul may be as damn’d and black as hell, whereto it goes” (III. iii. 89- 92). Hamlet wanted to get Claudius good a sinful like he did his father. He wanted him to go to hell. Here is when you see a different side of hamlet that may seem a bit devious, but when he changes his mind he seems to go back to his original character.

Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous work of tragedy. Throughout the play the title character, Hamlet, tends to seek revenge for his father’s death. Shakespeare achieved his work in Hamlet through his brilliant depiction of the hero’s struggle with two opposing forces that hunt Hamlet throughout the play: moral integrity and the need to avenge his father’s murder. When Hamlet sets his mind to revenge his fathers’ death, he is faced with many challenges that delay him from committing murder to his uncle Claudius, who killed Hamlets’ father, the former king. During this delay, he harms others with his actions by acting irrationally, threatening Gertrude, his mother, and by killing Polonius which led into the madness and death of Ophelia.

He had many opportunities to catch Claudius but did not. One such case is when Claudius went to repent. While Claudius was praying, Hamlet thought, “I, his sole son, do this same villain send/ to heaven…No! / Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent” (3.3.77-88). Hamlet did not kill Claudius, as he didn’t want him to go to heaven and decided to procrastinate even further. Hamlet’s weak choices can be compared to that of a train wreck. The choices are unbelievable and passersby, or in this case readers, just cannot look away. Hamlet sees the wrongdoings surrounding him and does nothing. As Ronald Knowles says, “He believes only too well that murder and incest are ‘bad’ and in need of corrective action… but such a resolution is dialectically reversed from action to words” (1056-1057). Hamlet lacks the courage to do what he desires and deems right. To me, if you don’t do what you think is right you are the biggest coward of all.