

Hardly mentioned at all, there was another character in Hamlet that received his revenge at the end of the play. While “Hamlet is definitely a great example of a typical revenge tragedy” (NovelGuide 4) he is unique in the way he hesitates in his path to destroy what is evil and to preserve whatever little good is left. ” (Prosser 1) His “hatred of corruption” and his “vision of what man should be” fueled him through all his pretenses into his final moments. “In large part his course to the fifth act is the result of his moral sensitivity, his unflinching discernment of evil and his determination that it shall not thrive. Hamlet achieves his revenge in the final scene of the final life. What does separate Hamlet from others around him is his reason for his revenge. If Hamlet had only taken the time he used to talk to himself to quietly listen he would have notice Claudius’ inability to utter a prayer, leaving the perfect opportunity untaken. ” (Act I, Scene iv, Shakespeare) Hamlet actually manages to convince himself to not act now, and that another opportunity will present itself. With his sword at the ready, he starts to talk to himself about how he cannot kill his uncle while his father is “Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, And for the day confined to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away. Hamlet finds Claudius after the play to exact his revenge, but finds Claudius praying. ” (Act II, Scene ii, Shakespeare) However, even when he is completely sure Claudius is guilty of killing his own brother, he still finds trouble acting. ” (Shakespeare-online 2) “The play’s the king Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king. To be certain of Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet decides to re-enact the murder of his father with the production of The Murder of Gonzago (known also as the play within the play or The Mousetrap). Not even sure of himself or of the request the father of his ghost, that he may or may not have seen, demanded. ” (Act I, Scene iv, Shakespeare) Hamlet was given multiple opportunities to take the life of his uncle, but failed to do so. “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. Through his father’s ghost, Hamlet is given the task of avenging his father in his untimely death. Hamlet is a completely different example from Laertes. However, Claudius is only seeking “revenge” for fear of being found out, and hides his cowardice by helping Laertes kill Hamlet. Order custom essay Theme of Revenge in Hamlet Claudius is now also presented with his chance for his own revenge against his nephew, or his son in accordance with his incestual marriage.

Laertes wishes to seek revenge on Hamlet for his direct and indirect cause of his family’s deaths.

Hours later, Ophelia is found in a pond after she committed suicide. Ophelia drove herself to an actual insanity from death of her father, or perhaps the rejection of Hamlet. Upon arrival, Laertes finds his delusional sister, Ophelia, too involved in her songs of “Hey nonny, nonny” to really understand anything happening at that moment. Returning home from an adventure for his own educational purposes, Laertes learns of his father murder by a sword through a tapestry. ” (Shmoop 1) Laertes is extremely quick to take action to avenge the murder and suicide of his only remaining family. There is Laertes’ active seeking of vengeance and “Hamlet’s inner struggle to take action. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet while there is the theme of revenge, that theme is divided into two separate entities. Revenge is set to conquer anyone who comes to seek it. Referring as far back as Hammurabi’s idea of “An eye for an eye,” revenge is merely a chain of wrongdoings stimulated each time by a reciprocated act of evil. Revenge is an unnecessary evil causing humans to act blindly through anger rather than through reason. The vengeance in Hamlet is essential to the development of Laertes, son of Polonius, Hamlet, prince of Denmark, and Fortinbras, prince of Norway. In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the theme of revenge is so prominent that it could be considered its own character.
