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Violence In Hamlet Essay

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William Shakespeare utilizes various motifs within his play, The tragedy Hamlet, Prince of Denmark in which revolve around a central theme. Specifically, a deep center of violence manifests throughout the play. These violent features relate to the prominent theme of revenge in which the leading characters, such as Hamlet and Laertes wish to achieve in every act. Through the moral duty to obtain vengeance, there are abundant, prevalent forms of violence within the play in which reveal the theme of revenge. In Act I, Hamlet grieves his late father, and loathes the recent marriage between his Uncle Claudius and his mother, Gertrude. However, his father arrives as a ghost to attain his revenge on his murderer, his brother Claudius. The ghost of late King Hamlet instructs his son to, …show more content…

As Polonius leaves, Hamlet commences to speak to himself regarding King Claudius while the king prays by emphasizing,
Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;
And now I’ll do’t. And so he goes to heaven,
And so I am revenged. That would be scanned.
A villain kills my father; and for that,
I, his sole son, do this same villain send
To heaven. (III.iii.73-78).
From the quote, a foreshadowing of revenge appears as Hamlet divulges his thoughts if he were to murder King Claudius in that moment. However, he will not murder his uncle now as it will send Claudius to Heaven and not Hell. Furthermore, his confession of violence indicates the appearance of revenge in Act III, Scene III. From the violence in Hamlet’s intentions, Shakespeare utilizes this a driving force to develop the theme of revenge.
As a result of Polonius’s death in Act IV, a new plot for revenge emerges as Laertes discusses with King Claudius along with, Queen Gertrude to employ violence in order to avenge his father’s death. Laertes announces to Claudius and Gertrude his questioning regarding Polonius’s death

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