Anh Ly Professor Robert Lunday ENGL 1302 April 22, 2018 Hamlet Revenge Theme Hamlet, the play written by William Shakespeare, is a tragic story that is entangled in a web of vengeance and deceit. Several characters in the play try to entrap their enemies to kill them in the name of revenge for any wrongdoing done. Several themes do come forth in this play; deception, madness and suicide, revenge, immorality and consequences. However, the most prominent theme in the play is revenge. Revenge underlies every scene in the play having the most effect on the story as a whole. What drives the play is Hamlet’s intense desire to avenge the murder of his father (Ray, 12). In order for a play to be considered a revenge tragedy, it has to have a revenge theme prevailing throughout the narration. Revenge has to be the driving force of the story line and it has to be part of the characters intercommunication. Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras have a strong desire to avenge their fathers’ downfalls and it is the recurring theme of the whole play. The revenge theme is noticed right from the beginning of the play when Hamlet is visited by the ghost of his late father who tells him about his murderer. When Hamlet learns that his uncle, Claudius, killed his father, he feels responsible to right this wrong. The three main revenge plots in the play are the desire of Hamlet to avenge his father’s death by killing his treacherous uncle, Claudius, the desire of Ophelia’s’ brother, Laertes, to also avenge the death of his father who was murdered by Hamlet, and the desire of Prince Fortinbras to get back his father’s land. These plots offer the audience a series of well planned events to trick and harm one another. The theme of revenge is driven by deceit, madness and corruption that is manifested throughout the play. Blinded by revenge, the hero of the play is led down the path of evil and destruction and the consequences are high (Haque, 55). The statement an eye for an eye is outwardly expressed in the play. Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras are all seeking to revenge their father’s falling. In doing this they use extreme forms of violence to express their malice. Everything trickles down from an act of deceit and corruption. Claudius conspires to kill his brother, the king, in order to get the throne and marries his widow barely two months after killing him. Hamlet is visited by his father’s ghost, learns the truth, and acts on it without thinking. He also kills Claudius’ accomplice, Polonius, which in turn resulted to Laertes seeking revenge for his father’s death. All this revenge seeking ended with a lot of people dead, a kingdom in jeopardy and zero achievement for the whole. Hamlet was also disappointed at his mother’s choice of a new husband. Although she wasn’t part of the conspiracy to kill his father, he felt betrayed by her decision to marry him so soon after his father had died (Stragman, 44). He sought revenge on her by making her feel terrible about her decision and making her realize that her choice in new husband was terrible. He played a psychological warfare on her. “A bloody deed. Almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king and marry with his brother”, he said (3,4,30). This is the moment Gertrude, his mother, realizes that her new husband had killed her late husband. Hamlet digs at his mother to make her feel awful and terrible for being oblivious about what had transpired. When Claudius kills Gertrude, although not intentionally, hamlet finds reason number two to kill him for revenge. “It is a poisoned cup, it is too late” (5.2.286) This line is uttered by Claudius and shows that he had no intentions to murder his wife but did not do anything to stop her. It is a rather fitting, although a bit morbid, culmination of all the evil that Claudius had done to get the throne. He lost the queen he got through treachery to the poison intended for her own son. The irony in that was not lost in him but that even intensified the revenge desires of his nephew. Even though killing Gertrude was an accident, hamlet was still intent on his revenge. Laertes on the other hand is seeking revenge on hamlet for the deaths of his father and sister. Although hamlet was not responsible for Ophelia’s death, her brother still thought hamlet was responsible for her death through his actions. “He is justly served. It is a poison tempered by himself. Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet. Mine and my father’s death come not upon thee, nor thine on me” (5,2,325) These words were spoken by Laertes and they show how angry he was at Hamlet for killing his father and he felt justified for, in return, killing Hamlet. Hamlet did not intend on killing Polonius "How now? A rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!" (3,5, 23) but he felt it was justified in the end. So, hamlet avenges his father and Laertes retaliates to avenge his father’s death. This is a vicious cycle that can only end in disaster. The masterly of revenge in this play is high and the end result is obviously total destruction. When Laertes hears the news of his father’s death, he immediately swears to avenge his murder, “How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with: to hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation. To this point I stand, that both the worlds I give to negligence, let come what comes; only I'll be revenged most thoroughly for my father”. (4.5.105). King Claudius plays him by telling him that Hamlet had killed his father intentionally. It shows that the king was afraid of the revenge plot against him from Hamlet and he played Laertes in order to rid himself of Hamlet. Claudius himself even knew that revenge had no bounds. He said this to Laertes, “No place, indeed, should murder sanctuarize. Revenge should have no bounds” (4.7.125). He knew very well that Hamlet was coming for him and that he was justified in doing so. Hamlet tells the audience that to perform his revenge scheme, he’d act insane to be able to commit to his role (Zak, 54). His purported insanity is portrayed in the scene with his mother when he says “That essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft" (3,4,191). It shows that he was only pretending to be crazy in order to get through with his revenge scheme. This show of madness is contradicted when Hamlet kills Polonius by accident when he mistook him for the king, but right after, he shows no remorse nor sympathy for his mistake and brushes it off. He justifies his actions for a mistake well spent. His first mission was to kill Claudius but after he starts killing at will. He becomes reckless and not conforming to his better judgment. This becomes his downfall; revenge becomes the roots of his evil (Prosser, 65). Revenge changes him from a young boy to a man on a mission without any scruples. Throughout the play, we see young Hamlet procrastinating on taking revenge for his father’s murder. He’s not sure whether to believe the ghost that appeared to him or not. He’s uncertain about killing the new king just on a whim, “Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge (1.5.29). Even when he decides to get on with his revenge, the timing seems to be ‘not right’, “Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; And now I'll do't. And so, he goes to heaven; And so am I revenged. That would be scann'd: A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven (3.3.75). He feels that, even in death, Claudius should not be in peace for killing his father so the prospect of him ending up in heaven, because he was praying, was not welcomed. The turning point is seen when he watches a play and sees some actor playacting emotions that he had denied himself. “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! Is it not monstrous that this player here, but in a fiction, in a dream of passion, could force his soul so to his own conceit that from her working all his visage wann'd, tears in his eyes, distraction in's aspect, a broken voice, and his whole function suiting with forms to his conceit? and all for nothing! (2.2.58). He wonders why he’s not done anything to avenge his father and from that moment he takes the steps to make his fathers killer pay for his sins. Killing his uncle was his mission as the only son of his father. This play, despite its linguistic style and age, resonates with modern world because it captures the universal human condition with its manipulation of revenge. Hamlet, the character, is very relatable in today’s world especially to the young people. He’s impressionable, young and naïve and easily succumbs to his whims. His myopic look on life makes him easily susceptible to manipulation and easily falls prey to his own emotions. Hamlet has become timeless due to the fact that it has an emotional hold on it’s reader and its relevance is universal. If we can’t learn from other’s mistakes then we are fools. Hamlet helps us understand that the act of revenge does not always end up well. It might seem noble but it may start an avalanche that will end up in total destruction (Ray, 30) Modern day society is obsessed with revenge, it is depicted that revenge is sweet. It is seen on movies and best-selling novels. According to Shakespeare, especially in Hamlet, that is not the case. Revenge is bittersweet with a very high price to pay. An ancient Chinese proverb says, “if you seek revenge, dig two graves” and this what is seen in the play, Hamlet. His quest on revenge becomes his own undoing. By getting caught up in this revenge scheme from the words of a ghost, he enters into total chaos that eventually destroys him and his whole family and kingdom. In the end, with all this destruction, Denmark arises from these ashes and becomes a new state free of corruption. Hamlet’s quest for justice and understanding was not entirely in vain. The country fell to its knees and rose up again strong. Hamlet’s quest for revenge was destructive but, in the end, it saved his country from corruption and bad leadership. Works Cited Feingold, Michael. William Shakespeare's Hamlet: Barron's Book Notes. Barron's, 1984. Haque, Farhana. Revenge and Vengeance in Shakespeare’s Hamlet: A Study of Hamlet’s Pursuit and Procrastination Regarding Revenge. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science. Sep 2016. Web. 21 Apr 2016 Prosser, Eleanor. Hamlet and Revenge. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1971. Ray, Caitlin. Revenge. Minnespolis, MN: ABDO Digital, 2016. Rist, Thomas. Revenge Tragedy and the Drama of Commemoration in Reforming England. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2008. Ryan, Kiernan, Hamlet and Revenge. British Library. 15 Mar 2016. Web. 21 Apr 2016. Stagman, Myron. "Plot, Characters and The Greatness of Hamlet." The Greatness of Shakespeare. 2010: 3-115. UK: Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. EBSCOhost. 22 April 2018 Zak, William F. "Hamlet's Problematic Revenge: Forging a Royal Mandate." How All Occasions Do Inform Against Me and Spur a Dull Revenge. 2015: 53-98. Lanham: Lexington Books. EBSCOhost. 22 April 2018