Revenge In Shakespeare's Hamlet And Robertson Davies Fifth Business

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Revenge can be a dark and winding road for those who choose to take it. This proves true in the play William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Robertson Davies' fifth business throughout the lives of characters Paul Dempster and Hamlet. In both Hamlet and fifth business, revenge used to avenge another person close to a character leads to the death of the one who causes a character's need for revenge; however, in Hamlet of William Shakespeare's Hamlet and in Paul Dempster of Robertson Davies' fifth business, revenge displays different effects on their lives. Paul and Hamlet's paths to revenge are both born out of anger and resentment, both planned ahead of time, but where Hamlet's personality changes, Paul's stays the same during his revenge.

At their …show more content…

He has just discovered that his uncle murdered his father by his father's ghost, and the ghost asks him to avenge his death. The overwhelming anger he displays in this quote towards not only his uncle, but his mother who married him, allows him to take the mission given to him by the ghost, and get revenge. Therefore, in both pieces of literature a longing for revenge has been created in both characters to avenge Hamlet's father and Paul's mother due to how other characters have affected and changed the lives of the people they are trying to avenge. Now the path to revenge …show more content…

In Paul's case, after hearing Dunstable's confession and learning the truth about how Mrs. Dempster became mad, he does not react. Even when Boy himself, who is to blame for his mother's madness, does not remember him or his mother and explosively reacts to Dunstable's comments about this event and Boy's character, Paul remains calm and does not say a word. Paul, under his new persona, Eisengrim says, "Gentlemen,” said Eisengrim, “deeply interesting though this is, Sunday nights are the only nights when I can get to bed before midnight. So I shall