The Theme Of Hate And Revenge In Shakespeares Hamlet

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tale laced with hate and revenge. Young Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, is his role model who he bases his actions after. His unexpected death throws Hamlet into a dark time of despair which only compounds his grief when his mother Gertrude remarries to his father’s brother, Claudius. Hamlet mopes around the castle at Elsinore feeling sorry for himself. This is why when Hamlet hears his father’s ghost may have appeared he jumps at the opportunity to see him again. He listens earnestly to the ghost and falls head over heels for his commands, sending him down a single-minded path of no return. His one desire for revenge consumes his thoughts and causes him to hurt those around him. Throughout the play, Hamlet’s†¦show more content†¦Later, he confirms his sorrow is overwhelming by sequentially decreasing the increments of time between King Hamlet’s death and his mother’s remarriage. Both incidents demonstr ate Hamlet’s feelings of hopelessness and devastation caused by his father’s absence and foreshadows he would undergo almost anything to bring back his beloved role model and father figure. Illustrating this desperation, Hamlet fights of his friends in order to converse with his father’s ghost. Furthermore, the ghost confirms he is in fact King Hamlet’s spirit and notifies Hamlet that Claudius poisoned him. Horrified, Hamlet vows to avenge his father and devises a plan to gain knowledge: he will pretend to become mad. By taking his revenge to such extremes early on, it demonstrates Hamlet will likewise continue to other extremes on his quest for revenge. Furthermore, Hamlet fails to discuss or identify any consequences his actions might have on those around him, indicating how focused he remains already on his revenge. Act II then reveals Hamlet displays changes in his relationships with other characters. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two childhood friend s, are asked by Claudius and Gertrude to help cure Hamlet’s madness. Because his friends are working for his parents and follow the king’s orders, Hamlet decides to omit the pair from his plans. When Claudius plans to terminate Hamlet, he writes a letter to England asking the English monarch to take care ofShow MoreRelatedThe Libation Bearers and Hamlet1308 Words   |  6 PagesThe Libation Bearers and Hamlet Many of Shakespeare’s plays draw from classical Greek themes, plot and metaphors. The tragedies of Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides and Homer have themes like royal murders, assassinations by near relatives, the supernatural, ghostly visits, and vengeful spirits of the dead- themes which reappear in Shakespeare’s tragedies with a difference. Shakespeare’s tragic hero Hamlet and Aeschylus’s Orestes have a great deal in common. 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