Essay on Hamlet
“Theme of Hamlet” and code revenge.
The theme of revenge in Hamlet
Many characters in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet wanted to entice their enemies and rivals into their deaths as retaliation for the mistakes they had previously been associated with. These are the crucial instances of revenge that the play alludes to. The play’s plot repeatedly brings up the idea of retaliation. Every scene serves to represent the topic, which has a significant influence on the overall storyline being investigated. Some of the major examples of revenge depicted in the play are Prince Fortinbras’ attempt to reclaim his father’s land, Hamlet’s wish to kill his uncle in punishment for the death of his father, and Laertes’ scheme to kill Hamlet. These three incidents, along with others, had a big impact on how the play’s audience was exposed to the concept of retribution.
Shakespeare creates enmity between Claudius and Hamlet by utilizing the concept of retaliation. In Act I, Hamlet is visited by the spirit of his father, who informs him that his brother is responsible for his death. The spirit says, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder,” after mentioning Claudius. The play’s storyline depends on the ghost’s presence since it develops the notion of Hamlet and Claudius’s retribution. Hamlet is considering strategies for maybe capturing the King and finally getting him to admit his errors. To get Claudius to admit that he killed his father, Hamlet employs a cunning ruse in which he has other characters act out the tragedy (Hameed 139). Hamlet states that he would carry out his plans for revenge after utilizing these as proof of Claudius’ guilt. These act as the play’s cornerstone since Hamlet’s thirst for revenge against his father is its primary motivating factor.
Hamlet’s act of revenge against his mother serves as another illustration of revenge. Shakespeare employs a variety of strategies to keep the play’s retribution theme prominent throughout. Hamlet intended to have sex with his mother in this instance by informing her of the type of spouse she had wed. When Hamlet refers to her as a good mother who killed the king and chose to marry his brother, her mother is offended. This significantly improved the play’s narrative by letting Gertrude know who her late husband’s likely killer was. Due to his mother’s ignorance of the situation, Hamlet is able to strike revenge on her. Claudius had married his mother and then killed her, which infuriated Hamlet. She was now much more eager to kill him as a result.
By concentrating on Laertes rather than Hamlet and enlarging the circle of revenge, Shakespeare advances the concept of retaliation. The author claims that Laertes’ reaction to his father’s death was hasty and thoughtless. Laertes understood that Claudius had to be to blame for the death of Polonius. Going back to Elsinore and threatening to remove Claudius if he did not tell how Polonius died was Laertes’ speedier course of action. Thankfully, the King was able to convince Laertes that Hamlet was to blame for Polonius’s demise. They caused Claudius and Laertes to unite and make the decision to kill Hamlet in retaliation for his misdeeds. “Only I’ll be revenged. Most thoroughly for my father (Hamlet, 133-134). He enthusiastically backed the king’s homicidal plan for Hamlet. They intended to trick Hamlet into falling into a trap, where he would be killed. In order to murder Hamlet with a poisoned rapier, Laertes plans to trick Hamlet into competing in a fencing contest. If Laertes’ ploy failed to fool Hamlet, Claudius was prepared with a poisoned beverage. The King and Laertes’ murderous scheme was effective, but they were also caught up in it, which led to their own demise.
The intermediate ground was occupied by Prince Fortinbras, while Hamlet and Laertes were at opposite ends of the spectrum. In contrast to Hamlet, who is regarded as a procrastination specialist, Fortinbras is neither careless nor tardy in carrying out his revenge after his father was murdered. He had to devise a plan for pursuing justice on his father’s behalf knowing that King Claudius was to blame for his father’s demise. Unlike Hamlet, he made sensible choices (Nassim 567). He never overanalyzed his predicament or rushed to conclusions; instead, he came up with a plan to seek revenge on King Claudius for the death of his father and ultimately retake their realm. He was well-prepared for retaliation. He had to march his men into Denmark in order to carry out his plan to murder King Claudius. He seized the initiative and pretended that his men were unprepared to face him in order to trick Claudius into falling into his trap. Fortinbras was the only one to escape the revenge circles since Shakespeare gave his thoughts an air of rationality and decisiveness.
Shakespeare’s characters in Fortinbras showed his audience the need to act logically even when one is motivated by retribution and rage. Due to their emotions and impulsive behaviors, the other characters die. Shakespeare used three characters- Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet- all of whom are in similar situations to make his point about revenge. The sole difference between the three personalities came from their answers to the same situation (Hameed 200). Due to Laertes’ careless behavior and Hamlet’s careful, deliberate, deliberate acts, both men perished. On the other side, Fortinbras is portrayed as rational and a better combination of the other two characteristics.
The revenge themes in Laertes, Hamlet, and Fortinbras show that revenge is never the best way to show your love for someone you lost as a result of another person’s mistake. Retaliation is described in this case as a cycle that might result in more acts of revenge. In reality, the cycle of revenge won’t end until all persons involved are dead (Nassim 567). In his quest for retribution for a variety of episodes that negatively impacted his family, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius. Laertes was drawn by them into the group of people seeking revenge for the passing of his father. Many innocent lives are lost as a result. Laertes and Hamlet paid the ultimate price for their successful retaliation for the death of their father by dying. It is considered wrong to act impulsively when seeking justice. Since it is impossible to bring someone back to life after they have passed away, it is important to put it behind you and go on.
Works Cited
Hameed, Fahmi Salim. “The Theme of Revenge in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.” Int J Arts Huma Social Studies, 4 (5) (2022): 119-125.
Nassim, Ammari. “Avenge The Fallen: A psychoanalytic study of hamlet’s revenge in William Shakespeare’s hamlet Case study: main characters of hamlet.”
