Intro: A famous quote from Ghandi says, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” This is a quote that applies to the characters in Hamlet who are driven by revenge. To put in simple terms, an eye for an eye means whatever you do someone will be done to you. The characters acted through their anger and emotions, rather than with thorough thought, because they were insistent on getting revenge on those who did them wrong.
Thesis: When a character in Hamlet is too focused on revenge, it causes them to act destructively which eventually leads to their tragic deaths.
Intro to three topics:
Argument 1: A major conflict in the story of Hamlet is the inner conflict that takes place in his mind. His feelings of grief, and betrayal for the
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He sends Hamlet’s old friends from school to see what is causing his grief. Upon meeting Hamlet, they fake their good intentions, but Hamlet quickly finds out they were sent by the king and queen.
“You were sent for; and there is a kind of confession….”
The shift in Hamlet’s language shows the betrayal he feels after finding out G & R’s intentions weren’t genuine; he starts speaking to them more sarcastically and with less respect.
Hamlet also feels betrayed by the women in his life, his mother and girlfriend Ophelia. He is angered over the haste of his mother and uncle’s marriage, right after his father’s death. With Ophelia, Hamlet senses her unfaithfulness; she is helping her father, Polonius spy on him.
From all the deceit he’s experienced, Hamlet is overcome with grief, consequently leading to his downfall. In a chain of destruction, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, convinces everyone he’s insane, and drives Ophelia to insanity and to her suicide (only to realize after that he really loved her). In the end, he is kills both Laertes and Claudius, only to suffer his own
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He acts with immediate violence, demanding to kill whoever killed his father; however, pursuing his desire for revenge without thinking leads to his own death in the end.
Upon his return to Denmark, he enters the castle furious at the king, who he believes is the one who killed his father.
“That drop of blood that’s calm proclaims me bastard…”
This quote is an example of the theme of honour in the play. Laertes, like other male characters, wants to do what he believes to be honourable, by protecting the name of his family. At that moment, he thinks of himself as a bastard, or cowardly, for not taking action in avenging his father’s death (because he’s been away in France).
Subsequently, the king convinces him that Hamlet is all to blame for his father’s death, but to protect his own honour, he can’t kill Hamlet since the public and the queen love him. The king harps on the grief of Laertes, who is also grieving for his sister who’s gone mad, and lures him into his plan to kill Hamlet.
Laertes says,
“I dare damnation: to this point I stand, that both worlds I give to negligence, let come what comes; only I’ll be revenged most thoroughly for my