ipl-logo

Critical Theme Of Revenge In Hamlet

1025 Words5 Pages

Hamlet is a play that incorporates betrayal, vengeance, misguided love, and death into its plot to showcase the downfall of Hamlet. There are many questions that arise within the plot that are left una nswered such as the significance of the Ghost and why Hamlet hesitates to take revenge on Claudius. But, a critical question to ask is how revenge influences the interactions between people. Answers to this question are evident throughout the play and they give context to Hamlet’s affairs with Ophelia and her father Polonius, as well as his interactions with Claudius. The structure of this question and its answers are divided based on how the plot itself progresses; as Hamlet becomes exceedingly disconnected from his surroundings, his flaws …show more content…

Hamlet states “this is most brave, that he, the son of a dear father murder’d, prompted to his revenge by heaven and hell, must like a whore unpack his heart with words and fall a-cursing like a very drab, a scullion!” (Act 2 Scene 2, Lines 569-575) Hamlet is tormented by his inability to physically confront Claudius and that he resorts only to words. Hamlet shortly after contemplates whether or not it “‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings of arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them.” (Act 3 Scene 1, Lines 57-60) Hamlet questions if his revenge is worth the agony of his sanity or if he should take a stand against Claudius. This question is manifested in the popular phrase: “to be or not to be, that is the question.” (Act 3 Scene 1, Line 56) How Hamlet’s revenge is affecting the interactions between individuals is clearly indicated by the conversations Polonius has with Claudius. Polonius spews all of his suspicions concerning Hamlet such as his stealing of Ophelia’s heart and his alleged “madness” to Claudius. Polonius falsely believes that “the origin and commencement of Hamlet’s grief sprung from neglected love.” (Act 3 Scene 1, Lines 177-178) Claudius believes the lies Polonius speaks which explains the varied perceptions each character has of Hamlet’s behaviour: Gertrude doesn’t want to believe that Hamlet is mad, Claudius is legitimately concerned for Hamlet, and Polonius is enraged by Hamlet’s advancements towards Ophelia. When Claudius inevitably observes Hamlet’s play that outlines his sins, he, out of sheer guilt decides to send Hamlet to England with two spies to “vent his madness” and preserve his own reputation as

Show More
Related
1378 Words | 6 Pages

Claudius expresses his thoughts on Hamlet to many people including Gertrude: “His liberty is full of threats to us all” (iv.i.14). Hamlet makes attempts to expose Claudius for murdering his father by putting on a play that mirrors the murder and he shames his mother for marrying Claudius. After seeing the play and hearing of Polonius' murder, Claudius felt even stronger about Hamlet being a threat. In order to prevent Hamlet from convincing everyone Claudius should not be king. He tells the people around him that Hamlet has gone mad and must leave.

Read More
948 Words | 4 Pages

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Shakespeare uses range of literary techniques such as soliloquies to express Hamlet’s depression and anger. Hamlet’s emotions play a crucial role to achieve his secret ambitions. Events such as King Hamlet’s death, Hamlet’s mother’s expeditious marriage, conflict between Hamlet and Ophelia. Hamlet’s depression and anger is expressed throughout the play but what are the causes. The root of Hamlet’s feelings of depression and anger was his father’s death.

Read More
2017 Words | 9 Pages

Have you ever been wronged by someone so badly that you felt as though revenge was needed? Perhaps your best friend stole the woman you loved, so you felt that you needed to act and do something to get back at him. Maybe you destroy his life by starting a false rumor about him, or you get in a fight with him and humiliate him. This is just one common example of “revenge” in our everyday lives. In the play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, there are much more serious things going on, involving death, murder, and wars between nations.

Read More
567 Words | 3 Pages

Hamlet is a powerful story of love, life, revenge, and death. The themes within the play are written to live on for eternity. It is difficult to fully and accurately represent a play as great as this one. The movie that we watched in class did not wholly represent the wonders and the magnitude of the themes within Shakespeare’s work.

Read More
1598 Words | 7 Pages

The main character of William Shakespeare’s tragedy is actually a confused person that’s stuck between two choices. Some may argue that he feels guilty for his father’s death and so it’s his duty to avenge it. While others may disagree and conclude that he is just a maniac who is both violent and dangerous. Hamlet passes through the lane of hesitancy, where he hesitates to kill King Claudius. As a matter of fact, the main conflict of Hamlet is that he feels both the need to solve the crime and punish the responsible.

Read More
746 Words | 3 Pages

The quote relates to the rest of the play as Shakespeare intends to show us how revenge can impede purposeful, logical, action. As well as how one may say something but do something different. That the spoken version of one is diminished by what they actually do. Hamlet often acts abrasively and Claudius is conscious of his evils but is still blinded by his greed. All characters

Read More
1234 Words | 5 Pages

Not all people respond with hate and revenge, some people let themselves get walked over but not hamlet. Hamlet does not respond to injustice too kindly. He wants revenge for his father's death, wants to set things right, help out whoever is in charge of people receiving karma by taking things into his own hands. His main goal in the novel is to seek revenge on his father's death, this started when he was visited by the ghost of the old king. The ghost said to him “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” the ghost of the old king wanted Hamlet to seek revenge on claudius for his ‘unnatural” murder of the kind.

Read More
1358 Words | 6 Pages

However, Hamlet’s goes through a journey of different feelings towards this motivation. Hamlet is initially ardent to kill Claudius, driven by his anger and hate towards him. For example, Hamlet describes his hate for Claudius when he exclaims, “O villain, villain, smiling, damnèd villain!... At least I’m sure it may be so in Denmark (1.5.107–110). His description of Claudius as the villain shows that Hamlet seeks to commit justice for the corruption that Claudius has brought about.

Read More
1228 Words | 5 Pages

Some people may believe that the connection and strong affection between Hamlet and his father caused his anger to kindle even more towards Claudius, eventually leading to Hamlet's ambition towards killing his uncle. However, Hamlet is not able to take revenge because of his emotions, but when he sets them aside he is able to take action and therefore is not affected by the love of his father. Hamlet says “[i]s it monstrous that this player here,/ But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,/ could force his soul so to his own conceit/ That from her working all his visage wanned,/ Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect,/ A broken voice, and his whole function suiting/ With forms to his conceit?

Read More
1386 Words | 6 Pages

Redemption, is the action, regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing debt. In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, redemption is a common focus for the protagonist Hamlet, followed by Old King Fortinbras’ son, Fortinbras, and Laertes. These ambitious men embark on a quest for truth and redemption because of the loss of their father’s. In spite of the fluctuations in their quest, their journey for truth and redemption is successful because Fortinbras, Laertes and Hamlet all avenge their fathers’ deaths. Through Active Reversal, Fortinbras’ quest was successful, by Laertes’ Fear of Betrayal his quest to kill Hamlet was successful.

Read More
731 Words | 3 Pages

As a result,Hamlet can never trust his uncle’s wicked ways to get into people’s heads. Hamlet was betrayed by his friends because they worked for Claudius and gave orders from him,which caused him to not trust them either. For example,when Claudius summons Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to spy on Hamlet,Claudius said,”see if you can make Hamlet feel better and see if you can get info on what he is up to”(Shakespeare 87). This behavior shows evil purposes and twisted words. Claudius sends Hamlet’s friends to make him happier but also use them to see if Hamlet is mad.

Read More
1482 Words | 6 Pages

“So he adopts the posture of the malcontent satirist in his outburst to Polonius in Act IV” (Kay 279). But in opposition to this, at some points of the play, Hamlet shifts between a more uplifting and merry disposition, to a much darker, profound one. For example, Hamlet makes the comment, “the croaking raven doth bellow for revenge,” which is a couple of lines from the play, The True Tragedy of Richard III. “It’s as if, through an apparent joke, Hamlet employs a historical precedent to classify his duty for revenge as a act in accordance with divine providence and justice” (Kay 279).

Read More
1267 Words | 6 Pages

Hamlet, one of the world’s most popular revenge tragedies, is a play written between 1599 and 1601 by renown playwright William Shakespeare. It tells a story of the royal family of Denmark plagued by corruption and schism. Prince Hamlet, the protagonist, embarks on a journey of incessant brooding and contemplation on whether to avenge his father’s death. In Hamlet’s soliloquy, at the end of Act 2, Scene 2, he asks himself, ‘Am I a coward?’ (II.ii.523) after failing to carry out revenge.

Read More
1173 Words | 5 Pages

Towards the end of the play, Hamlet finally receives his chance at revenge in the form of a fencing match against Claudius. Although he kills Claudius, a poisonous sword wounds Hamlet, and he exclaims that “O, I die, Horatio./ The potent poison quite o’ercrows my spirit”(5.2.352-353). Revenge distorts Hamlet’s mind to the extent that he challenges Claudius to a fencing match, even though Claudius is out to kill Hamlet. As a result, Hamlet dies, and, in turn, illustrates that revenge hinders logical decision making, and induces dire repercussions.

Read More
1305 Words | 6 Pages

By the end of the play, Shakespeare shows how all of the characters attempt to get their revenge and how revenge does not always work out for the best. Hamlet is the main character of the play and it seems as if everything he does is based off his wanting to revenge Claudius for killing

Read More

More about Critical Theme Of Revenge In Hamlet

Related Topics

Open Document