Hamlet features several acts of cruelty that lead to many of the events that occur. The meaning of cruelty throughout the play suggests that cruelty does not do good towards anybody and only has negative effects. The characters help portray this by their actions and immediate reactions. Cruelty leads to the downfall of each character. Cruelty is first shown by Hamlet, who has just returned from England. He is grieving the death of his father. Meanwhile, Claudius was likely voted king by the court. Hamlet is very cruel to his mother, Gertrude. This is an effect of Hamlet not having the time to grieve his father, instead he comes back to Denmark only to see his uncle marry his mother. This is causing him to be upset thus his cruelty towards his …show more content…
By doing this she leaves Laertes all alone in the world. When Hamlet returns from England to hear this news he is petrified. He becomes angry with Laertes for grieving too much and in return Laertes is angry at Hamlet because he thinks this is all his fault. The two gramble at each other. This leading to the last act of cruelty. The last act of cruelty leads all to their downfall. The King decides to use Laertes in his revenge against Hamlet and set them to dual in a match.The King poisons Laertes’ foil. He has also poisons a drink but as a dramatic turn of events, the Queen herself drinks it instead of Hamlet leading her to die. Laertes, who is already injured by Hamlet, dies then Hamlet stabs the king who then dies and lastly Hamlet. In conclusion, cruelty is served as a major theme throughout the play. It teaches us that there is no sweet revenge. It also teaches us that acts of cruelty do not do good in serving as a punishment to others. There would´ve been a different outcome if not for the cruelty and seek for revenge in this play. But that is not to be in the way Shakespeare wrote