Theme Of Revenge In Hamlet

Hamlet has lived through plenty of ups and downs throughout his childhood. He has been lost and confused within himself, but knew he wanted one thing, which was revenge on his fathers killer, Claudius. His passion of hate developed for Claudius as he married Hamlets mother shortly after the king’s death. Hamlet could not decide on the perfect decision for himself, his mother and father as well as the best way to follow through with the best consequence for Claudius that would impress his father. His everyday life, along with his love life, left him with an empty heart, which slowed the process of the revenge down. Hamlet never expected to be captured and kidnapped by pirates, as he was sent overseas as a young man. His inside thoughts were attacking and overwhelming Him, leaving him depressed and anxious. Hamlet’s life has been leading him to negative thoughts that he cannot process or act accordingly to, due to the excessive amount of issues and options involved in his life at a young age, him being overwhelmed lead him to delaying the process of avenging his fathers killer.

Revenge is a recurring theme in Hamlet. Although Hamlet wants to avenge his father’s death, he is afraid of what would result from this. In the play Hamlet, Hamlet’s unwillingness to revenge appears throughout the text; Shakespeare exhibits this through Hamlet’s realization that revenge is not the right option, Hamlet‘s realization that revenge is the same as the crime which was already committed, and his understanding that to revenge is to become a “beast” and to not revenge is as well (Kastan 1).

In modern society humans stand up and fight for what they think is right and fair. Human beings have the desire to avenge what they think is wrong. The theme of revenge has a major effect in the play Hamlet and is a constant throughout the play, it underlies almost every scene. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare examines the theme of revenge through the erratic thoughts and actions of the characters Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras. The main revenge plots in the play is Hamlet’s aim to avenge his father, Hamlet Sr, Laertes’ aim to avenge the murder of his father, Polonius, and Fortinbras’ aim to avenge the death of his father, Fortinbras. Having lost their fathers, Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras take vengeance on the people that killed them. These plots play a major role in the play presenting the theme of revenge to the audience.

Throughout time, people have served justice for the wrongs of others, often through revenge. Because of this, some people see justice as taking an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is no exception. The primary form of justice throughout the play is through revenge. There are three characters who demand and successfully achieve the justice by taking revenge on the wrongdoer. Hamlet seeks justice for his father’s murder, Laertes for the death of his father and sister, and Fortinbras for both the death of his father and the loss of his land.

The play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare is about a guy named Hamlet going through a hard time in life, after the death of his father, and the remarriage of his mother to his uncle. Throughout the play were are able to get a greater understanding of who Hamlet really is. The actions of Hamlet in Shakespeare's master piece “Hamlet” proves him to a revenge seeker, emotional, and crazy.

In his play Hamlet, William Shakespeare frequently utilizes the word “revenge” and images associated with this word in order to illustrate the idea that the pursuit of revenge has caused the downfall of many people. He builds up the idea that revenge causes people to act recklessly through anger rather than reason. In Hamlet, Fortinbras, Laertes and Hamlet all seek to avenge the deaths of their fathers. Hamlet and Laertes manage to avenge their father’s deaths and in doing so, both rely more on their emotions rather than their reasoning, which eventually leads to their downfalls at the end of Hamlet.

In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses revenge as a major theme present throughout the work. Revenge plays a crucial role in the development of Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, and Laertes, son of Polonius. All three men seek revenge for the murder of their fathers. Revenge can be interpreted as a separate character in Hamlet. Revenge is set to overcome anyone who seeks it. Initially, after each of the murders, every son had a definite course of action to obtain vengeance. Or in Hamlet's case the choice was to seek no vengeance. As the play unfolds, each young man approaches the desire for revenge and chooses a different path towards gaining it based on the guidance of another character in

In this case, Hamlet is obsessed with yet unable to act out his revenge since he is a man of thought and reflection, not of action and impulsiveness. "Revenge, said Francis Bacon in his essay on the subject, is a kind of wild justice, and something in Hamlet is too civilized for stealthy murder," says Northrop Frye (Frye). While he knows it is his duty to avenge his father's murder, Hamlet's desire to fulfill this obligation constantly wavers. In self-pity he cries, "O cursed spite / That ever I was born to set it right!" (1.5. 188-189), and yet in rage he utters, "Now could I drink hot blood / and do such bitter business as the day / Would quake to loot on," (3.2. 397-399). Hamlet hesitates numerous times to fulfill his duty to avenge his father, and in the end he must actually convince himself to kill Claudius. "... I do not know / Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do', / Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means / To do't... / ... / O, from this time forth, / My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!" (4.4. 43-46, 65-66). This unusual flaw leads to Hamlet's inevitable demise, and is the most convincing evidence that Hamlet is, indeed, a tragedy. The protagonist, however, is not the only character in the play that experiences a want for revenge. Shakespeare uses all three of the sons seeking vengeance to reveal the complexity of the human yearning for

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, it is very evident that hatred and a thirst for revenge can turn people into something that they are not. Many characters throughout this story exemplify this, but the main two are Hamlet and Laertes. This theme of revenge is established throughout the whole play and it acts as a vital character. Revenge is seen as a cause for many outcomes. Hamlet pursues revenge on Claudius to avenge his father 's death. Gertrude is targeted by Hamlet for wedding Claudius too quickly after the death of her husband. He also reprimands herfor her participation in his murder. Finally, Laertes pursues Hamlet to avenge his father, Polonius ' death. Shakespeare does this through intense suspense, vivid imagery, and through the character’s phrasing.

“While seeking revenge, dig two graves - one for yourself”, as is what happens to those who take revenge, buried in their own unforgiveness. Francis Bacon’s idea of revenge attempts to bypass this problem of unforgiveness, with the forgiveness of the perpetrator. But not all revenge can be simply forgiven, which is the case in Hamlet; Francis Bacon also knows about this problem, but describes it in his own words with “The most tolerable sort of revenge is for those wrongs which there is no law to remedy; but then let a man take heed the revenge be such as there is no law to punish”(Francis Bacon 15). Sir Francis Bacon’s idea of revenge relates to Hamlet in how revenge is handled, the repercussions of acting in revenge, and its ability to change a person's thought process.

Revenge is one’s desire to retaliate and get even. Human instincts turn to revenge when loved ones are hurt. But, these misdeeds of taking upon revenge may lead to serious consequences. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet,” Fortinbras, Hamlet, and Laertes’s each show how their desire for revenge unavoidably leads to tragedy. The loss of their loved ones caused these characters in Hamlet to take action. Young Fortinbras has built an army to get back the lands his father lost to King Hamlet and Denmark. His actions can be compared to the measures Hamlet is willing to take upon Claudius. Hamlet wants to kill his uncle, Claudius, for killing his father to gain royalty status. Laertes has the same anger as Hamlet killed Polonius,

In the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare in 1600, several characters’ attempt to lure their foes into their death as revenge for any wrongdoing. Revenge does not only underlie almost every scene, but it has a major effect on the play as a whole. Shakespeare’s purpose in writing this play was to……… One movie version of Hamlet was filmed in 1996 and was directed by Kenneth Branagh. Another movie version of Hamlet was directed by Franco Zeffirelli in 1990. There are three main revenge plots throughout the play. Hamlet seeks revenge on King Claudius, who killed his father. Laertes seeks revenge on Hamlet, who killed his father, Polonius. Fortinbras avenges his revenge on Denmark because his father, the King of Norway, was killed by Hamlet's father in battle. The theme of revenge appears throughout the entire play written by William Shakespeare, including both movie versions by Branagh and Zeffirelli, and the play at the Park Square Theater.

The major theme of Hamlet is revenge, which is why analyzing the play through the point of view of a Traditional Revenge Tragedy is extremely common. In fact, the premise of the entire play is for Hamlet to right the wrong of his father’s murder. A typical Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy requires the definition of revenge to be “extralegal retaliation” (Broude). The main character must convince themselves a great wrong has been done to them. While both internal and external obstacles are presented to said character, they eventually exact their revenge. However, through this process, the main character becomes exactly who they were attempting to acquire revenge on; both are just as “depraved” (Broude). In Act 1 Scene v. the ghost of Hamlet’s father, dressed in armour, appears to Hamlet once again. The armour signifies the ghost is prepared for battle. In this case, the battle is not the ghost’s, but Hamlet’s. He informs Hamlet that he is stuck in Purgatory-although indirectly stated- because he was murdered without being allowed the chance to confess his sins. The murderer? Hamlet’s Uncle and the King’s own brother- Claudius (Hamlet, Act 1, Scene v). The ghost tasked Hamlet with avenging his assassination by killing Claudius. As the play develops, Hamlet fails to terminate Claudius because he is unsure whether or not Claudius committed the crime in question. Once Hamlet confirms Claudius’s guilt by mirroring the murder with a play, the Murder of Gonzago, and watching the King’s

In the play Hamlet, the author, William Shakespeare tells the story of Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, whose father, the king, was killed by his brother Claudius. The play proceeds to display Hamlet’s struggle to find the strength to get revenge on Claudius for killing his father as well as his disdain for his mother Gertrude for marrying Claudius. The children of the king’s advisor, Laertes and Ophelia, become involved in this familial conflict after Hamlet kills their father and breaks up with Ophelia, who was once the object of his affection. In the play, Shakespeare argues that when an individual learns a painful truth, he or she will always search for a scapegoat to blame for his or her pain and seek revenge on that individual, even if the scapegoat isn’t the truly to blame, as demonstrated by Ophelia’s revenge on Hamlet, Hamlet’s revenge on Gertrude, and Laertes’ attempted revenge on Claudius.

The death of Hamlet’s father and his mother remarrying two months after his father’s death are two scenarios that instill revenge into Hamlet’s brain. Throughout the play, the readers see how Hamlet’s personality and mental state evolves while revenge is still on his mind. Hamlet rationally thinks about revenge and the consequences to come by contemplating killing Claudius for a great amount of the play. Ever since Hamlet discovered that Claudius killed his father by pouring poison down his ear, Hamlet became obsessed with the idea of death and revenge. King Hamlet encourages Prince Hamlet to take action immediately against Claudius and ultimately leaves it up to Hamlet to figure out the revenge plan (1.5.7-41). Hamlet solely focuses on getting revenge even if it is the last thing he does. Because King Hamlet left his fate up to his son, Hamlet had to make complicated decisions on his own, which altered his mental state as the play progressed. Shakespeare tactically builds up the beginning of Hamlet, only to have Hamlet question the authenticity later in the play, which is where his paranoia begins. In the article “Revenge and Vengeance in Shakespeare’s Hamlet: A Study of Hamlet’s Pursuit and Procrastination Regarding Revenge,” the author, Haque, states that “Hamlet was actually considered to be an indecisive person who always used to think much but act too little,” meaning that the conversation with the ghost telling him to get revenge would not be the only time Hamlet was indecisive, which delayed his revenge process. The readers see that Hamlet is eager planning the revenge on Claudius, but when the time comes, Hamlet is unable to