Among the most critical questions that disturb individuals in their lifetime is whether to take revenge or not for those that may have wrong them. The time one should take to revenge is also another disturbing question. Revenge refers to any action of harming or hurting someone to take back any wrong or injury the individual may have caused. Revenge gets thought to increase anger in an individual and may lead them to perform acts they may regret afterward. Revenge makes a person believe that inflicting the same pain to an individual enables them to have a satisfying feeling. Hamlet is a play by William Shakespeare that gets mainly focused on revenge instances that the characters found themselves in in fight of justice for their loved ones (DiBattista 23). However, there are many consequences accompanied to revenge acts, as will be discussed below. The study is limited and focused on analyzing revenge instances in a play Hamlet by William Shakespeare.
Hamlet’s Revenge
Hamlet is a play that has three prime characters who are determined to taking revenge for their father’s demise. Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras are the three principal characters, but the revenge by Hamlet is the major one. At the beginning of the play, the ghost of Hamlet’s father is seen to appear to Hamlet and instructs Hamlet to take revenge for his death (DiBattista 2). The ghost of his father informs him of how his father got poisoned by Claudius, his brother that later caused his death. After the bitter truth revelation, Hamlet gets motivated to take revenge for his death. Hamlet is in a state of dilemma where one side the vengeance spirit is pushing him towards revenge for his father's death, and on the other hand, a feeling of doing what is right keeps ringing in his mind.
Hamlet struggles since there is no substantial evidence to prove if the ghost is lying or telling the story as it happened. To get to know the truth of the matter, Hamlet comes up with a plan to prove Claudius guilty or not guilty of the murder. Hamlet instructs the players to perform his father’s incident of murder (DiBattista 25). Horatio gets told to closely monitor Claudius's reaction to the event, which it gets proven to be true when Claudius gets uncomfortable and leaves the play. Hamlet seems a good man who does not rejoice on doing what is wrong. The pain of losing his father is what motivates his acts though a spirit keeps on beckoning in his head that it is illegal to kill.
As a Christian, Hamlet knows quite well that killing is prohibited, but the pain of losing his father motivates him to make a choice, and as it is well evident that decisions have consequences, and everyone should be ready to accommodate them based on the choices they make. There is an instance that Hamlet gets presented with an excellent platform for taking revenge on his father by killing Claudius, but the fact that Claudius was praying made Hamlet not take his life but instead postponed it on a later date. The main reason for not killing him is because he thought killing him would only give him a ticket to heaven, and thus Hamlet saw as if he would be doing Claudius a favor by killing him at that time.
Hamlet’s Revenge Consequences
Due to the intense emotions pushing him to take revenge for his father, Hamlet finds himself in an enormous mess when he mistakenly kills Polonius thinking it is Claudius. Despite it being his first murder case, his conscious seems just right even after he realizes that he had killed an innocent person (DiBattista 35). The act of him killing an innocent soul and feeling no guilt at all is contrary to whom he is. The revenge path he chose to follow is definitely what is resulting in this. Hamlet's choice of revenge, however, cost many people like Ophelia, Polonius' daughter, who drowned herself to death since she could not take the pain of losing her father.
Laertes’ Revenge
Laertes is also a character in Hamlet that takes on revenge to protect his family and avenge his father's death. Laertes is a hot-tempered man who fiercely acts without having a second thought of the consequences his acts would result in him. He is also a brave man who is ready to suffer for his family (DiBattista 40). Laertes is not much affected by his father's death, but the urge to revenge for his death and that of his sister drives him. Claudius poisons Laertes’s mind by telling him that Hamlet is responsible for the two deaths of his loved ones. Claudius convinces him to suggest a duel to Hamlet for him to be able to forgive him.
Laertes’ Revenge Consequences
The duel cost Laertes his life in seek for revenge. Additionally, it is not only he who died at the contest but also Hamlet, Claudius, and Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. The choices Laertes made out of anger without thinking of the consequences that will bring costs his life and three other lives. Options indeed have effects, and we should all be cautious when making them. Gertrude was innocent but instead suffered the consequences of another person's decision.
Fortinbras’ Revenge
Fortinbras is a Norway prince who, like Hamlet, failed to have the chance of being crowned by his father. Fortinbras is after revenge for his father's death, who got killed by Hamlet's father. Fortinbras is as hot-tempered as Laertes, and just like Laertes, he is willing to take the revenge not because of how he was too close to his father but just to get the crown (DiBattista 36). Fortinbras decides to attack another kingdom, Denmark, just to take revenge for his father. He was also interested in reclaiming back the land his father had lost to Hamlet’s father. Fortinbras, unlike Hamlet, wanted quick revenge, unlike Hamlet, who had to take his time before deciding to take any actions.
Fortinbras Revenge Consequences
Fortinbras is known for his forceful and swift actions, which got the attention of Hamlet, and for this reason, Hamlet handed him Denmark before he died. Fortinbras, however, left his kingdom to control another, leaving his people under no one’s care. His action portrayed no respect for his people but instead was motivated by his plan. Fortinbras is only doing revenge to win victory and minding only of his present and not future life. At the end of Fortinbras' revenge, he achieved his goals of seeking revenge since he was able to get handed the Denmark kingdom. He ended up more powerful than he was there before; thus, his revenge mission bore him better than harm.
Aside from the above foremost revenge, the play also contains some minor instances of revenge, like in the case of Claudius, who was always motivated to take revenge on Hamlet only because he was the one who knew his secret of having murdered his father. King Claudius was, however, wise enough not to get involved in the killing of Hamlet and instead incited Laertes into calling for a duel with Hamlet. Claudius's intention was for Hamlet to get killed in the contest (DiBattista 47). The primary purpose of his revenge on Hamlet is to escape the viral murder consequences that he committed. With only Hamlet knowing his secrets, he fears that he may decide to take revenge on him, and before that could happen, he devices methods of eliminating him. Claudius succeeds in eliminating Hamlet but at the cost of his life too.
However, the play is not merely a revenge story, especially in the introduction part. The beginning of the play portrays a chilly night, which brings a pathetic fallacy sense in place. The setting describes a sense of trouble and not revenge at the beginning. The appearance of the ghost now brings about the revenge picture in place. The play also can be said to be portraying a tragic hero who encounters some sufferings due to the decision they make. Hamlet begins as a good man who hated evil but ends up getting consumed by anger and emotions and makes choices that affect him and also cause the death of innocent people. Individuals fighting have a rank that makes them different from ordinary people. Laertes and Fortinbras' fight is not primarily based on revenge but after gaining power and victory. Thus from these kinds of scenes, the play can be judged as being not entirely on revenge.
Conclusion
It can thus get concluded from the above argument that Hamlet's play gets based on revenge. Characters in the play make choices that, in turn, have consequences. The primary revenge of the play involves Hamlet, Fortinbras, and Laertes whom purpose to take revenge on their father’s death. Their revenge is emotions driven, and a lot of sacrifices are made by them to achieve their revenge. However, the character’s on their revenge course make various choices that cost the lives of innocent souls. For instance, Hamlet led to the loose of lives of Polonius, Ophelia, and it was also due to him that Laertes, Gertrude, his mother, Claudius, Guildenstern, and Rosencrantz lost their lives. Despite individuals portraying revenge intentions, some motives were more based on power and achieving victory on their gain.
