In William Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy, Hamlet, Prince Hamlet of Denmark acts as an instrument of the suffering of others during his quest to avenge his father’s murder. While hamlet only intends to kill Claudius, he unintentionally causes other to suffer, showing that revenge often has unexpected consequences.
Hamlet’s actions lead to emotional turmoil in several characters. Hamlet harasses his mother, Queen Gertrude until she admits that she feels guilty and that in her soul there are “such black and grainèd spots as will not leave their tinct” and begs him to “speak no more” because his words are “like daggers” in her ears. He is even crueler to Ophelia, manipulating her and using her to make his charade of madness more believable,
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He mistakes Polonius for Claudius when he catches him spying on him from behind a drapery and feels no remorse. While Gertrude is horrified and exclaims “Oh Me, what hast thou done!” Hamlet merely asks “is it the king?” showing that his pursuit of revenge has made him numb to all the horrific things that he has done. This is shown again when he sends his former childhood friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to die in his place without feeling any guilt at all. The only death he seems to fell remorse for is Ophelia, and even that feels like he is trying to prove to Laertes that he feels more grief than him. Hamlet proclaims loudly “What is he whose grief bears such an emphasis, whose phrase of sorrow conjures the wandering stars, and makes them stand like wonder-wounded hearers? this is I, Hamlet the Dane.” This confrontation at Ophelia’s grave leads to the duel in which Laertes is killed with his own poisoned sword, Gertrude and Claudius drink the poisoned wine, and Hamlet is first stabbed with the poisoned sword and then drinks the poisoned wine to hasten his death, leaving Horatio as the only survivor to tell Fortinbras what
Polonius’s death did not only affect Ophelia, but it also caused Laertes to go mad with revenge, desiring “To cut his [Hamlet’s] throat i’ the church” (109, line 124). Not only does Laertes go mad with a murderous craving for retribution, he also shows mental deterioration of logic in his planning for Hamlet’s demise. Laertes is so obsessed by creating many ways to kill hamlet (with a sword, poison on a sword, poison on a cup, slitting his throat in a church) that he accidentally causes the fatality of Hamlet, himself, Claudius, and
Claudius becomes angry and leaves, never admitting to his crime. Gertrude tries to calm Hamlet down; Claudius send Polonis to spy on them through a curtain, Polonius is heard by Hamlet, Hamlet thought it was Claudius, he stabbed Polonius. When Hamlet found out it was Polonius instead of Claudius, he is deep regret. Hamlet is immediately sent to England by Claudius. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were ordered to look after Hamlet during his travels to England and when he got there The English were order to kill
Hamlet is overcome by emotion and becomes unstable, saying on line 264, “Yet I have in me something dangerous, which let thy wisdom fear. Hold off thy hand,” as he fights with Laertes. This emotional instability continues after the fight is broken up as Hamlet insists that he loved Ophelia much more than Laertes. Hamlet once again demonstrates true madness in the final scene of the play, the fight between himself and Laertes. After the scuffle between Hamlet and Laertes and the collapse of Gertrude, Laertes tells Hamlet that the dagger and the Queen were poisoned by King Claudius.
Hamlet then his polonius’ body and the whereabouts are unknown. During a conversation with Claudius about Polonius’ corpse, he says, “ But if indeed you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby”(IV.iii.35/37). It is shown that Hamlet has the psychotic capability of murder. He also shows no remorse for what he’s done because he feels as though killing Polonius was right. Furthermore, Hamlet’s sick and grotesque personality is even more in depth shown as he speaks on the fate of the rulers that come after
While Hamlet is concerned whether revenge is reasonable, Laertes focuses on how to “revenge most thoroughly”. (Act 4, Scene 5, p156) At the moment Laertes hears about his father Polonius’s death, he, armed with Danes, recklessly breaks into the castle in Denmark. He is too angry thinking about revenging that he doesn’t notice Claudius watching his actions while planning on a backup plan to kill Hamlet. Out of this accumulative anger and grief of vengeance, Laertes is an easy victim of Claudius’s manipulation, becoming a tool of the King in the murder of Hamlet.
In the play The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is a character full with complex emotions and revenge that confronts the readers or audience with his scenes of violence. Hamlet acts of violence is the plays way to push the play to its climax and to contribute the hidden meaning of the play. In act four, Hamlet lets his true internal emotions that has built up about his mother affair with his uncle, with so much rage Hamlet kills polonius in cold blood without even thinking, this scene contributes to the play because it show how Hamlet rage for revenge for his father has turned into real madness that will never end well for the characters who intertwine with him. In act 3, Hamlet goes off on Ophelia for crushing his heart and calls her
The story of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a story of betrayal, revenge, and intrigue. Hamlet, the title character discovers that his uncle killed his father and married his mother effectively stealing the throne. Hamlet decides he must kill his uncle Claudius as revenge for what he had done. However, as the new king, Hamlet isn't sure how to get to him, so he decides to fake madness, but his plan backfires as Claudius doesn't trust him and makes sure he is always watched. In his fumbled plan for revenge, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, forces Polonius's son Laertes to seek revenge against him, and drives Ophelia crazy causing her to kill herself.
Hamlet, also, could not get over the death of his father. He found out when his father’s ghost came back that his brother, and Hamlet’s uncle, murdered him. He then was willing to do anything possible to get revenge on Claudius, his uncle. Both of
The character Hamlet possess many traits that make him seem modern, however many of these traits lead to his downfall. Hamlet is stubborn and impulsive, which many of the young people today are. His stubbornness is shown when he keep going after revenge even after he killed an innocent person. He impulsive in Act III, Scene IV when he believe that Claudius was behind the curtain and decides to stab it, only to kill Polonius. This show that he takes action, but does not think it through.
Hamlet's detrimental characteristics, lead to killing several people in the play, which Ophelia dies from suicide, accidently killing Polonius, also he kills Claudius out of revenge. For instance, Hamlet’s murder of Polonius might have had some melodramatic shock value. Despite, a murderer of his father, killing someone out of dispute is depravity and immature, “ hamlet kills Polonius, mistaking him for Claudius…” However, Hamlet's obstacle in life gave him excuse to not take responsibility and disregard his moral standing. Although, Hamlet took irrational action against Polonius through impulse, unintentionally kills him, yet does not feel remorseful.
Tragedies have a significant effect on audiences due to its relevant complexes that occur every day through different situations. Throughout the course of a tragedy audience build a relationship with the tragic hero whose exceptional nature excites them and forces them to question his situation and flaws. In the Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet, Hamlet’s catastrophic environment ignites his tragic flaws and ultimately leads to his demise. Hamlet succeeds in overcoming his hamartia through his death which allows him to maintain his legacy and avenge his father’s death. The famed poet T.S Elliot suggests in his essay “Hamlet and his problems”, that Hamlet faces disastrous conditions that exemplify the main complex within the play.
In the end, I believe that Hamlet virtuous intentions totally reflect faultily in many circumstances that led to his tragic flaw. He was thinking the greatest outcomes possible so that he won’t take any wrong steps that can kill a naïve person and his values. Hamlets Flaw is his good traits but certainly these traits didn’t help him a lot when he was dealing with those harsh environment and circumstances. Hamlets were very close to his father and mother but after the discovery that his own mother betrayed his father loves he completely got outraged and he started to think of his mother as selfish and trustworthy women. He started to believe that all women are identical and he feared that his love Ophelia might also betray him.
Through the entirety of the play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, the characters were overcome with the need for revenge as the outcome of many deaths. Therefore, no one was happy through “Hamlet” and it resulted in a tragedy. The character Hamlet played a big role in turning towards revenge and never would classify himself as being happy. Hamlet displays positive and negative behavior throughout the play. Hamlet exhibits strengths and weaknesses as well, although his weaknesses of over-thinking, bitterness, and his inability to accept the death of his father overshadow his strengths.
However, in the same speech he switches to the encouragement of his marriage to Gertrude to distract the royal court from speculating his right to the throne. Figuratively, he pours poison into others’ ears to reshape the appearance of an event to his advantage. He becomes a direct antagonist for Hamlet as he calculates how to switch the situation of Hamlet’s “madness” to find safety for himself. In the end, Claudius’s use of deception becomes too crafty for his own good when he plans for Hamlet’s death. Claudius starts off by calling Hamlet’s grief “sweet and commendable” (I.II.92), praising him for the “mourning duties to [his] father” (I.II.94).
An honorable king was sleeping in the garden, a man driven for the crown and kills his own brother, A wife to the old king and a wife to the new king, and the son who is caught up in the middle of it all. These are all characters in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Hamlet encounters his deceased father’s ghost, who reveals to Hamlet how he really died...murder. Hamlet embarks on a mission to avenge his father’s death. He must kill the new king.