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The Issue Of Revenge In Hamlet By William Shakespeare

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Revenge can cause us to act in anger, rather than act in reason. When someone is seeking revenge they do not think about the consequences of their actions. In the tragedy of Hamlet, William Shakespeare portrays the issue of revenge in a neat way. In this play Young Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet were looking to revenge the deaths of their fathers. They all acted based on emotion rather than reason. However, the way they all went about it was very different. Their actions lead to the downfall of two and the rise of one. The heads of the three major families in this play were murdered in different situations. The eldest sons of these families swore to take revenge, and two of the three sons died while exacting their acts of revenge.
During …show more content…

Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, wanted to take revenge on the current King of his country, his uncle Claudius, who killed Hamlet’s father, in order to take the crown and marry the Queen. The desire of revenge was inculcated by the ghost of his dead father who told him to “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder… the serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown” (1.3.31-47). Hamlet is tasked with avenging his father’s horrible and unnatural murder. This task, affects Hamlet on a spiritual level, as he accepts that good and evil exist in the world and that he must act as soon as possible. His nobility and balance is at constant war with each other from the beginning of the play to the end of it. In his soliloquies we can appreciate t the doubts and dilemmas he was facing. We can also appreciate that this task affected him to the point that he desired to die. Hamlet’s social concerns for Denmark are …show more content…

The play is driven by a desire of revenge that different characters in the play have. As a theme, revenge was present in all parts of the play. Revenge was the driving force behind three of the main characters of the play, for two of them ended in their downfall, and for the other it led to greatness. Fortinbras' good decisions and self-control, as well as, Hamlet and Laertes' bad decisions can be attributed to the outside guidance they received and followed. In conclusion, the various levels of the play ultimately lead to the disintegration of the kingdom and the fall of king of Denmark. Hamlets revenge is accomplished and it cost him his own life and the life of his loved ones. Many other characters had their downfall because of Hamlet. On a social level, Denmark will finally be able to start over with a new king. The decisions that Young Fortinbras, Laertes and Hamlet took made the theme to come into life and showed us how humans can find their downfall while seeking

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