The Role Of Violence In Hamlet

Authors use the role of violence in a story or play to improve the outlooks readers have on characters by creating a protagonist and an antagonist. Hamlet is one of the most famous productions from English writer Shakespeare. Hamlet is the story of a young boy whose life takes a crazy turn for the worst when his father dies. Outstanding themes in this work are drama, deception, and most importantly violence. The use of violence plays an important role in this story. Throughout the story, there are many times where violence seems as if it is the only way to solve the problem. The violence is this story is significant to the meaning of the story as a whole because the story starts out with an act of violence, placing the royal family at

Although the story starts out without indirectly discussing the murder of the king, we as readers can interpret that this act of violence has already taken place. The biggest question around is: “Who killed the King?” When the ghost visits Hamlet, readers and Hamlet become informed that King Claudius is the one who killed the king. (Act I, Scene 5, lines 39-40). This brings major tension into the mood and tone of the characters because now Hamlet has a feel for all the betrayal that is taking place around him. It also leads to a downfall of almost every character in the play. This act of murder causes Hamlet to die, and everyone else around him, including his mother and uncle. The entire play, readers continuously a theme of revenge due to this one action. Hamlet seeks revenge on his uncle for killing his father. In Act 5, the tension rests when Hamlet and Claudius are both eliminated. This act of violence also leads to many other acts of violence, including the deaths of Polonius, Ophelia, and Laertes. It puts a lot of pressure on Prince Hamlet, because he feels he must devote his entire life to getting justice for his father. Since Hamlet was the King, it also creates a theme of betrayal that carries itself throughout the play. Betrayal in a tragedy is not uncommon, and it is one of the many reasons that so many acts of violence take place in Hamlet. A theme of betrayal ties into a theme

This act is when everyone dies, and Horatio lives on to tell the story. The fight between Laertes and Hamlet in Ophelia’s grave is the first act of violence in this act of the play. When Hamlet feels as though Laertes is disgracing Ophelia’s grave, he takes matters into his own hands to honor her. Hamlet fights it out with Laertes and eventually they settle their differences and move on. The next act of violence in this act is the duel between Laertes and Hamlet in court. This brings back that dramatic irony because readers know Claudius tells Laertes to kill Hamlet. “To cut his throat i’ th’ church.” (4.7.123) This led to many other problems that would later occur. After Laertes and Hamlet finish dueling in the court, Gertrude decides to celebrate by drinking. Little does Gertrude know, the drink is poisoned. This introduces a new outlook for readers on Claudius because readers see that he doesn’t actually care about Gertrude because he knew the drink was poisoned and didn’t stop her from drinking it. We then soon see Hamlet’s true emotions as he shoves the poisonous drink down Claudius’s throat to get justice for his mother. Act V contains a continuous amount of deaths and acts of violence. The most major death in the entire play occurs after a series of events take place that lead up to it. Hamlet’s death is this significant act of