Loyalty And Betrayal In Hamlet

In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the themes vary from conditional and unconditional love, deception, honour, power and ambition and lastly poison. But the most significant theme is loyalty and betrayal. This theme ties all the other themes together. The theme loyalty and betrayal both have major effects on each other. Through the different actions of characters and what they say to one another, is where the audience discovers whether or not they are loyal or disloyal. Some characters that present the sense of loyalty and truthfulness are Hamlet, Fortinbras, Laertes and Horatio. Loyalty as we know is a good thing, but it does have negative impact in the play between characters, which leads to damage. Also, the act of betrayal leads to a breakdown of characters such as, Gertrude and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Disloyalty backstabs each character.

When Hamlet’s father returns to Denmark as a ghost, he tells Hamlet that Claudius murdered him. Hamlet listens closely, and when his father tells him to take revenge for his death he says “Haste me to know ’t, that I, with wings as swift, as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge.” This shows Hamlet is eager to take revenge for his father’s death. He becomes obsessed, trying to avenge his father’s death. This causes him to inadvertently kill Polonius, an innocent victim. Horatio shows his loyalty towards Hamlet. He is a great friend to Hamlet who is always looking out for him. As a loyal friend to Hamlet, he informs Hamlet that he saw his father as a ghost. He also warns Hamlet not to follow the ghost because it may harm him. When Horatio sees Hamlet wounded from the poisoned sword, he says to him, “I am more an antique Roman than a Dane. Here's yet some liquor left.” He is telling Hamlet that he will commit suicide rather than live without him. This shows how loyal Horatio is to Hamlet. He would kill himself for his