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
(III ii) This elucidate as if it was a horror story and how a villain is about to commit a crime which applies to Hamlet how he ‘purposely’ stabs ‘Claudius’ through the curtains but it was Polonius who died of the stab wound. The brutal revenge
In the play, “Hamlet” written by William Shakespeare, introduces us to a tragic hero whose indecisiveness and morals identifies the theme for the whole play. The hero being Hamlet, a prince whose recently fallen father (also named Hamlet) calls upon him in ghost form to kill the now current king and new husband to Hamlet’s previous wife, Claudius. Hamlet’s character throughout the play is what drives the theme seen in the story which is revenge. The character hamlet is identified as a tragic hero due to what motivates him to seek revenge for his father and how he does it.
How does violence affects people ability to control their future? In the story The Tragedy of Hamlet by Williams Shakespeare. Hamlet, Claudius and laertes all revealed violence in the story. Claudius and Laertes poisoned the sword to try and kill hamlet. Violence affects people because it changes their morals.
Laertes is the stereotypical son striving for revenge in his father’s memory. After receiving the news revolving around the death of Polonius, his first action was to find and get revenge for the wrong done to his life.
Revenge is a dish best served cold, being one of the biggest themes in the play, at its Hamlet’s biggest goal in the play. From the very start Hamlet was out seeking revenge over his father’s death. He wanted to kill Claudius because Claudius killed his father, in an effort to become king himself. Hamlet then becomes obsessed with seeking vengeance, going so far as to fake madness in order to prove that Claudius is truly guilty for his father’s murder…
This motivates Claudius to use Polonius as a pawn to exact his own cruelty onto Hamlet. Both Laertes and Claudius agree to arrange a duel between Hamlet and Laertes, they both add on ways to kill Hamlet if the previous one doesn’t work, by using an unfoiled rapier, wounding Hamlet with a poisoned rapier, and poisoning Hamlet’s own
Once the seed of revenge is sown in Hamlet it continues to dominate his thinking and control his actions. This theme of corrosive revenge which Shakespeare highlights presents itself throughout history and in our modern lives. For Hamlet the pursuit of of avenging his father’s death leads to his own demise. For the Americans during World War II avenging the the attack at Pearl Harbor lead to the imprisonment of innocent Japanese Americans, and for The German people after World War I avenging the fallen pride of their fatherland lead to the atrocities of World War II rise of the Nazi
Moreover, likening his situation to a lack of pregnancy demonstrates that Hamlet has yet to formulate a plan to achieve his goal. In fact, Hamlet does not devise a plan until the next act, and even then, he is slow to act. As King Claudius confesses his sins, Hamlet hides behind him, sword drawn. Thinking aloud, he prompts, "Now might I do it pat now a is praying/ And now I'll do't/ . . . / and so a 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" (Hamlet III. iv. 71-78). Hamlet has the prime opportunity to kill his father's murderer, but he hesitates. The prince's judgment is clouded not only by his religious beliefs, but also by his own selfishness. In this verse alone, Hamlet mentions "I" four times, while he mentions his father only once. This self-centered nature further hinders the prince's plan for revenge.
In Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, the thoughts of revenge are introduced early in the play. At the end of the first act, Hamlet meets the ghost of his deceased father. He is brought to see him by Horatio and Marcellus, who saw the ghost "yesternight" (Shakespeare 1.2.190). During this exchange of words between the Ghost and Hamlet, the Ghost tells Hamlet, "[s]o art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear." (Shakespeare 1.5.5). He is telling Hamlet to listen closely to what he has to say. Then he tells Hamlet to "[r]evenge his foul and most unnatural murder" (Shakespeare 1.5.23). When Hamlet finds out that it was his Uncle Claudius who murdered his father, Hamlet plots against him to avenge his father's
heaven” (3.3.81-82). Claudius is now aware that Hamlet know the truth. Hamlet shall seek revenge for his father. All who fail to do good must face the consequence of vengeance no matter who they
The theme of Revenge has been utilized in numerous works of art throughout history, including books, plays, movies, etc. Revenge is the result of one’s desire for vengeance, however, revenge is known to be implied under high emotions of anger thus not with reason concluding with a horrible outcome. Shakespeare’s play ‘Hamlet’ is no doubt a play about a tragedy caused by revenge; Prince Hamlet’s retribution for his father, King Hamlet’s murder and Laertes vengeance for his father, Polonius’ murder. The theme of revenge in Hamlet is portrayed through various literary techniques such as foreshadowing and irony.
In great literature, or in literature in general, no scene of violence exists, or should exist for its own sake. Every scene of violence should contribute and reinforce to the plot of the work and to what is yet to come of the work. William Shakespeare successfully merges the acts of violence into a rational and coherent meaning and the audience can evidence that through the violence of act three, scene four in which the prince Hamlet of Denmark stabs and kills Polonius. Hamlet’s act of violence not only serves to illuminate important aspects of the play but also accentuates and forces certain themes into play and adds great meaning to the work as a whole.
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.
Although there are many themes within the play of Hamlet, the theme of revenge sticks out the most due to the fact that various characters in the play are motivated by it. Characters such as Hamlet, Claudius, and Laertes are all motived by revenge and allow it to consume them leading to deadly consequences. By analyzing the text of Hamlet, we arrive at the conclusion that the action of seeking at revenge can lead to horrible outcomes such as death and loss of sanity.
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet’s actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his ‘outsider’ outlook on society,