Theme Of Betrayal In Hamlet

The worst feeling of pain anyone could feel is when you are betrayed by some who you though loved you. Betrayal is an act of disloyalty and it is violating someone's trust. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, betrayal is a reoccurring action between many characters. This play shows the audience different types of betrayal that are imaginable, from a husband betraying his wife, a boyfriend betraying his girlfriend and a mother betraying the son and father. These actions of betrayal hurt the people that are most loved and destroys them where it most hurts in the end. Betrayal is one of the strongest and most important themes in Hamlet. The entire play revolves around the murder of King Hamlet. Betrayal is expanded even further, there

Hamlet puts off avenging his father’s death because of his severe Oedipus complex. Hamlet did not kill Claudius until his mother had already died. This is a sign that Hamlet did not want to hurt his mother because of the sexual feelings he had for her. Hamlet felt that killing Claudius would hurt his mother too much, and he could not do that to her. Hamlet wants to save Gertrude form Claudius because of his feelings for her, his incestual feelings, not maternal ones. Subconsciously the queen knows the effect she has on her son. Gertrude tries to play off that fact that’s she knows about Hamlet’s feeling several times in the play. Gertrude is very fond of her son and wants to protect him however she can. This can be seen in the play, many times even up to when Gertrude is about to die. She tries to save Hamlet from drinking the poison himself. She also decided not to tell Claudius that Hamlet knows what Claudius has done.

Loyalty is a significant theme in ‘Hamlet’ because Hamlet himself judges people by their loyalty or disloyalty-his mother, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Horatio and he acts accordingly. The significance of the betrayal theme is that many of the major events in the play result from the betrayal of one character by another.

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.

Gertrude appears oblivious to the fact that Claudius killed King Hamlet to take over the crown and to have her. Her decision to marry her deceased husband’s brother had a lot of people questioning her sanity also. “The funeral baked meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables” (Shakespeare 17). Gertrude had gotten married so quick after the funeral of King Hamlet that the food from the funeral catered for the wedding. During the play that Hamlet produced to show people what Claudius had done, she was blind to the fact that it was actually Claudius that he was talking about. Due to Hamlet knowing the truth, Claudius has been trying to kill him.

This, in turn, exploits Hamlet’s similar flaw of ego and furthers the conflict, but what’s more, it illustrates Claudius’ sheer audacity and lack of repentance. He continues to try to cover up the sin and appease Hamlet into complacency rather than confess and ask for forgiveness. In a mark of pure arrogance, Claudius tells Hamlet to “throw to earth / This unprevailing woe and think of us / As of a father”, conceitedly requesting that Hamlet merely forget the murder and replace his father with the murderer himself (I, ii, 110-112). Similarly, instead of directly confronting Hamlet about his mental condition, the king more or less hires Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on the prince, again cementing his smug mindset. The king does not believe he can be caught or, rather, that Hamlet is competent enough to figure out his plan and foil him. Claudius, too, thinks only of himself after Hamlet’s inadvertent killing of Polonius, pondering “how shall this bloody deed be answered? / It will be laid to us” instead of considering the ramifications of the murder with respect to Hamlet (4.1.17-18). The other two paper-thin traps the king hatches only reinforce his failure to see beyond the apparent; his attempt to deport Hamlet to England and have him killed reeks of treachery and, luckily, Hamlet realizes the king’s subterfuge, crushing the plot and flipping it back on him. Claudius remains steadfast in his efforts to remove Hamlet, going so far as to set up a

Does love exist when someone is intentionally out to hurt their loved one? There is nothing more vulgar than betrayal and exploitation from family. In the tragedy, Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare sometime in between 1599 to 1601, false love spirals around the kingdom of Denmark. Betrayal in the royal family causes death and distrust. Darkness spreads around the kingdom as King Hamlet dies and everything falls apart for his son, Hamlet. Revenge adds to the conflict that occurs between the parents and their children. All of this contributes to the misery of the main characters of the play and their lack of forgivingness. Love causes corruption rather than peace within the people of the kingdom. Through disloyalty and deception, families in the play, Hamlet, have a negative influence on the main characters of the play.

From the perspective of Claudius, Hamlet is insane and this discourse is motivated by Claudius’s desire to silence his nephew. Claudius feels the urge to silence Hamlet because he is asking far too many questions about his father’s death and appears to be getting too close to the

In Act IV of Shakespeare's play titled Hamlet, King Claudius is shown to be extremely manipulative as he deceives numerous different characters throughout the play. Firstly, Claudius manipulates Gertrude by tricking her into thinking that he actually cares about Hamlet and his well-being. In the beginning of act IV, Claudius states, “His liberty is full of threats to all—To you yourself, to us, to everyone. Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answered? It will be laid to us, whose providence. Should have kept short, restrained and out of haunt, This mad young man. But so much was our love, We would not understand what was most fit, But, like the owner of a foul disease, To keep it from divulging, let it feed. Even on the pith of life. Where is he gone?” (IV. i. 12-21). Claudius proclaims that he will be held responsible for Hamlet’s actions. Despite the obviousness and the pathetically over-exaggerated speech, Gertrude falls for this and agrees to send Hamlet away to England for Hamlet’s own “protection”. Claudius does this because he wants Hamlet to be “accidentally” killed by the prince of England so that Hamlet is no longer a threat to Claudius. However, Gertrude obviously has no idea about any of this. This shows that Gertrude is pretty clueless when it comes to situations like this whereas Claudius is actually quite intelligent as he is able to trick Gertrude easily. Additionally, he manipulates Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by making them spy on Hamlet and lure him

Towards the beginning of the play Gertrude appears to be subservient to Claudius by doing whatever he asks of her. When Claudius sets up a plan to spy on Hamlet, Gertrude’s own son, Gertrude does not bother standing up for herself or Hamlet, she simply states, “I shall obey you” (Shack III.I.38). Gertrude allows herself to be portrayed as vulnerable and submissive until Hamlet convinces her to support his “madness” when they are in Gertrude’s room. Then, Gertrude begins to stand up for herself to Claudius, demonstrating bravery and courage. This courage and bravery is manifested when Laertes and Hamlet fight in a fencing match. Gertrude goes to take a drink from the poisoned cup and when Claudius asserts, “Gertrude, do not drink” she dismisses him and says, “I will, my lord, I pray you pardon me” (Shack V.II.282-283). Gertrude’s decision to drink the poisoned cup as an act of defiance towards Claudius and the patriarchal society shows Hamlet that she did not intentionally seek to abandon either Hamlet or his father and is willing to help him in his fight against Claudius. This defiance also shows Claudius whose side she is on and makes him feel

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the theme of betrayal is most apparent. One betrayal causes an entire family to fall. These three characters portray many forms of betrayal; Gertrude ( the queen), Ophelia, and even Hamlet himself. Hamlet is also meant to be a tragic play. Most of the characters in the play have very selfish motives.

Claudius lives in a corrupted world and solves his problems with violence and threats. It is especially visible in the scene in a laundry room when he attacks Hamlet with his security guards. Never before has Claudius hit his nephew himself, especially in front of witnesses. Those actions do not only show CEO’s desperation but also determination. He wants to send a warning signal to Hamlet and in his world the best tool to gain respect is violence. Once again Claudius is a perfect example of involvement in corrupted background. What is more, unlike in any other adaptation, Hamlet’s uncle is not showing a lot of affection towards Gertrude, as if she was only one point on the list. Nevertheless, Claudius is aware of the fact that without her

Hamlet already despises Claudius for the killing of his father, and Claudius purposefully exasperates his emotions to order to push him into action that would be seen publicly as insane—to do so would be to remove attention from the suspicious timing of the king’s death and the queen’s hasty marriage, and prove Hamlet unfit for

Deceit, mystery, murder, and betrayal are all very captivating and together have the makings for a daytime soap opera. In this case, however, they are a part of the tragedy of Hamlet. The most regaling aspects of this play, despite the entertaining and compelling qualities just mentioned, are the revenge and the surprisingly unappealing nature of the main character, Hamlet. Throughout the play, Hamlet makes stupid choices that will ultimately lead to his own death, and the death of many around him. Hamlet should not be identified as a courageous hero seeking to avenge his father but instead as a coward lacking determination.

In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet has received news that his father died suddenly. Only a couple of months later, his mother marries his deceased father’s brother, Claudius. This then makes Claudus become King of Denmark, enraging Prince Hamlet. After being visited by his father’s ghost Hamlet must make a decision on whether or not to kill King Claudius for vengeance. Although acts of weakness such as cowardness are showing throughout the play of Hamlet by William shakespeare, the sense of morality is what seems to be the cause of Hamlet’s lack of action. Both of these problems could have changed the novel as a whole if they had not held Hamlet back from acting upon Claudius.