Themes Of William Shakespeare 's ' Hamlet '

The English Play writer, William Shakespeare had written many well-known pieces of work including Hamlet. Hamlet is known to be one of his most popular works. Hamlet was written in the late 16th Century about the Prince of Denmark. The original title of the work was The Tragedy of Hamlet, now it is referred to as just Hamlet. In Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses the mental state of his characters to prove that not all characters in books have to be one dimensional. Shakespeare’s writing shows that humans are complex, and can have different mental states. Characters throughout the story such as, Hamlet, Gertrude, and Ophelia show their not so stable mental state. First we will analyze Hamlet and talk about Ernest Jones’ Psycho-analytic study of Hamlet. Then we will talk about Ophelia and how the events that happened leading up to her death or suicide played a role into her mental state. Finally we will analyze Gertrude, the Queen’s role in Hamlet, and how she is a mentally weak woman and relies on the men in her life.

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.

The speech of Hamlet “O that this too sullied flesh would melt, … But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.” (1.2.129-159) is where we can see Hamlet’s sadness towards his mother, Gertrude and his uncle Claudius and feels disappointed about their decision of getting married. Hamlet is seen to be too upset after his father’s death. It’s not even a month has passed and he gets to hear another news about his mother Gertrude and uncle, Claudius getting married. In the beginning of Act 1 Scene 2, King Claudius gives a speech to his courtiers, telling them about his recent marriage to Gertrude, mother of Hamlet and his brother’s widow. Claudius says that he mourns his brother but has chosen to balance Denmark’s mourning with delight of his marriage. He also mentions in his speech that young Fortinbras has written to him, rashly demanding the surrender of the lands King Hamlet won from Fortinbras’s father, and dispatches Cornelius and Voltimand with a message for the King of Norway, Fortinbras’s elderly uncle.

Revenge is the great motivator of men and women alike. People are compelled to seek justice for themselves and for the ones they love and many will commit atrocities to achieve their retribution. Revenge, and its role in Hamlet, is established early in the play with the presentation of the character Fortinbras, the Prince of Norway. Fortinbras is introduced as a hot headed, merciless, and revenge obsessed man who is assembling a private army to reclaim the land that his father, the former King of Norway, died for. The theme of revenge is further established in Act I when Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, is convinced by the ghost of his father, the former King of Denmark, to avenge his death by killing the man who murdered him, Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle and the current King of Denmark. Revenge continuously acts as a major motivating force for the actions of Hamlet and Fortinbras, and even affects Laertes, Hamlet’s old friend. When Laertes’ father is killed by Hamlet, he is convinced that he will find justice for his father by killing Hamlet. Love is the uniting force among these men, they all love their fathers and demand justice for their murder. The theme of revenge in Hamlet by Shakespeare shows how human emotion drives: Hamlet, Fortinbras, and Laertes to commit horrendous acts in the name of “justice”.

The lust of revenge can only be satisfied by the person carrying out the revenge and the revenge must be on an individual level. Hamlet has a desire to seek revenge on Claudius for the “most natural murder” of his father (1.5.31). When Hamlet found out about his fathers murder, he wanted to take action into his own hands. Claudius murdered King Hamlet for the royal crown and for a position as King of Denmark. Laertes wishes to take “revenge most thoroughly for

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

Through Hamlets desire for revenge on Claudius, Laertes need for revenge on Hamlet and Fortinbras commitment to get revenge on the state of Denmark, concrete revenge is proven to be the most destructive. Throughout the entire play, Hamlet is looking to get revenge on Claudius for killing his father and marrying his mother. He finally accomplishes his goal when he says “The point envenomed too! Then, venom, to thy work.” (5.2. 323).

To begin with, in the story “Hamlet” Prince Hamlet father was killed by his (uncle) King Claudius. So Prince Hamlet wanted revenge of his father death and to kill King Claudius. The revenge caused characters to go through anger and emotion. Rather than reasoning with each other it

Revenge. Revenge causes one to act blindly through anger, rather than through reason. It is based on the principle of an eye for an eye, but this principle is not always an intelligent theory to live by. Young Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet were all looking to avenge the deaths of their fathers. They all acted on emotion, and this led to the downfall of two, and the rise to power of one. Since the Heads of the three major families were each murdered, the eldest sons of these families swore vengeance, and two of the three sons died while exacting their acts of vengeance. Revenge is a major theme in the Tragedy of Hamlet.

In, or around the year 1600, the great poet/playwright William Shakespeare wrote a play called Hamlet. Hamlet is a play about a very dysfunctional royal family. Throughout the entire play, the family endures sudden loss, and has the invasion of corruptivity. The overwhelming corruptness of this family is so strong that at times it seems like the family will fall apart at any time. By the middle of the play, the main character Hamlet, acts insane, but towards the end of the play, there is the sudden realization that perhaps everyone is a little mad. We can easily tie this play into modern times by comparing it with the modern day corruptness, instability of certain families, and mental instability of the human mind.

Hamlet cover multiple themes. Throughout the book Shakespeare approaches three themes from different angles. These themes are centered around redemption, moral truth redemption and a just society. Hamlet develops through these three themes, each in their own way, as he progresses through the story.

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,

Revenge is a dish best served cold, being one of the biggest themes in the play, at its Hamlet’s biggest goal in the play. From the very start Hamlet was out seeking revenge over his father’s death. He wanted to kill Claudius because Claudius killed his father, in an effort to become king himself. Hamlet then becomes obsessed with seeking vengeance, going so far as to fake madness in order to prove that Claudius is truly guilty for his father’s murder…

“I’m nothing if not fair. I am a result. You are going to die. At some point, I will be standing over you as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms,” narrates Death in Mark Zuask’s The Book Thief. This personification of Death emphasizes the inevitability and finality of its coming and existence. The said motif of death, life, and mortality is the centralized theme identified in William’s Shakespeare’s Hamlet. While myriad themes are evident in the tragedy, each directly correlates to the main idea of death in its entirety.