Hello Everyone!
In today’s topic, we will continue to talk about the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Hamlet is a tragic play, meaning that the protagonist will suffer a downfall. Hamlet is among the most and influential works in literature.
If you didn’t read the book or still wondering what the main theme of the book is, a major theme is the theme of revenge and the inability to take action. To start things off, let me define what revenge is. Revenge means the action of inflicting harm on someone for something done by them. As we know, the main conflict of the story is Hamlet wanting to avenge his father due to him believing King Claudius murdered him. Through revenge, Hamlet wants to achieve justice for his father. In the play, there are several key characters and scenes that exemplifies the theme of revenge and justice.
In this play, Hamlet’s inability to avenge his father lead to the deaths of a number of important characters such as Polonius, Laertes, Ophelia, Gertrude, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. The reason being that after his father’s ghost told him Claudius assassinated him, he decided that he will get justice for his father. Which is that he vows that Claudius will die. However, after when he did get revenge, he did not get much satisfaction due to the fact that Laertes struck him with a blade lace with poison. He died shortly afterward.
When Hamlet decides to take action, he usually delays the action and ends up doing nothing until the end of the play. In Act III Scene I, it is depicted in the famous soliloquy known as “To be or not to be”. In this quote, Hamlet contemplates what to do and what will happen, which breached topics such as his own suicide and whether or not he will avenge for his father. Even though the piece started with him thinking about suicide,
“The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them. To die- to sleep-
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. ‘Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die- to sleep.”
towards the end, he decides that he will avenge his father.
“Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard, their currents turn awry”
So what are the reasons why Hamlet’s revenge was so delayed?
Proof of Murder
When the ghost first told Hamlet that King Claudius killed his father, he was confused but convinced. However, h Hamlet needs proof that King Claudius actually did murder his father. After listening to the ghost’s revelations, he decided to implement procedures to earn proof of Claudiu’s evil actions. He has his proof in Act 3 scene 2 when he presented a dumb show that depicts the murder of his father. When the actor pours poison into “King Hamlet’s” ears, his father stormed out during the show convincing Hamlet that King Claudius did murder his father. King Claudius leaving the dumbshow signifies his guilt of doing the exact or similar thing against King Hamlet. To Hamlet, it is the only proof he needs to make sure the ghost didn’t trick him about King Claudius murdering his father. The dumbshow was the plan to confirm his suspicions on King Claudius.
Claudius praying
During Act 3 scene 3, when Hamlet found King Claudius vulnerable, it was an opportunity to kill him. However, Claudius was praying at his arrival. Hamlet believes that if he killed him while doing something holy such as praying, he may actually be doing King Claudius a favor, which is by sending him to heaven. Instead of committing to the murder, he decides to wait until Claudius in the process of doing something sinful such as drinking or hiding in Gertrude’s bedroom to ensure that he does not go to heaven but instead to hell. The only time he acted was stabbing at someone hiding behind the curtains in Gertrude’s room. However, it wasn’t King Claudius as he wished. It was Polonius.
Sent to England
After Polonius’s death, Hamlet was sent to tag along on a diplomatic trip to England. He was to stay there until he recovers. However, the main reason was King Claudius planning to murder Hamlet. Despite this, Hamlet was still away on a trip which takes time. On his journey, he also met pirates which could also delay his plan to murder his uncle.
After all, he did finally succeed at getting his revenge to kill King Claudius to avenge his father. However, it was not under his conditions that allowed him to get his revenge. He also had luck on his side during the revenge. Not only Gertrude drank the poisoned cup, but he also won a duel against Laertes, where the Laertes’s blade was laced with poison. Despite his success, throughout the story, he was unable to take action. Instead, events came to him.
That will conclude this time’s blog post! Do you know any more examples regarding revenge in Hamlet? If yes, leave a comment down below! See you next time!