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Revenge At What Cost Essay

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Revenge at What Cost? The tragedy, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare shows the toll that Hamlet’s quest for revenge took on those around him. Hamlet’s downfall as a tragic hero through his actions in getting justice for his father’s death show that although revenge may be desired by those who are wronged, pursuing this revenge can lead to unwanted consequences. The first two acts of the play establish Hamlet’s single-minded desire to avenge his father and remove every other thought from his mind. In Hamlet’s Scene 5, Act 1 soliloquy, he states that he will “wipe away all trivial fond records…and [his father’s] commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of [his] brain”. After being told the truth of his father’s death by his …show more content…

Hamlet’s reversal of fortune occurs when he kills Polonius in Act 3, Scene 4, mistaking Polonius “for [his] superior”, Cladius. Hamlet dismisses this accidental murder and tells Polonius that he has “gotten what [he] deserve[s]”. Hamlet fails to realize that this mishap in his quest for revenge will have serious repercussions for those around him, specifically Ophelia. After her father’s death, Ophelia goes mad and her grief is shown through her strange, although meaningful actions. In Act 4, Scene 5, Ophelia says she’d give Gertrude and Claudius “some violets, but they all dried up when [her] father died”. Burdened with grief, Ophelia uses the symbol of violets as faithfulness to show her love for her father, as he was one of the few people who was faithful to her. Later in Scene 7 of the same act, Gertrude delivers the news that Ophelia has been “pulled…to muddy death”, informing Claudius that Ophelia drowned. It is implied that she committed suicide when Gertrude states that Ophelia was “one incapable of her own distress”, suggesting that Ophelia knew she was drowning and let it happen. Hamlet killing Claudius while seeking revenge, whether intentional or not, had dire consequences. In Act 5, Scene 1, Hamlet states that he “loved” Ophelia more than “forty thousand brothers could”. However, Hamlet’s need for revenge inadvertently led to Ophelia’s death. By being so

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