Discuss Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” as a revenge play. Introduction : Shakespeare was a groundbreaking pioneer in his time and wrote plays that were totally diferent rom anything the world had ever seen beore. He explored the human spirit and what happens when it is challenged. He also tested the limits o language, inventing new words and phrases. Big illy wrote Hamlet between !"## and !$%!, and the play tells the story o &rince Hamlet. Hamlet, in particular, has a lot o 'most amous' amo us' things thin gs in it. (t is Shak Shakes espe pear are) e)s s most most amou amous s play play abou aboutt Shakes Shakespe pear are) e)s s most amous character Hamlet, and it contains Shakespeare)s most amous line: '*o be or not to be, that is the +uestion.' ( extraterrestrials were to visit &lanet arth, we would probably put a copy o Hamlet in their welcome basket. (t)s that good. -ow, over %% years ater illiam Shakespeare wrote the play, readers and audie audience nces s are are still still conne connecti cting ng with with it. it. Her Here ( am going going to consid consider er /Hamle Hamlet0 t0 as a revenge revenge tragedy. Beore doing doing so, ( would like like to discuss somet something hing about li1 l i1a abeth be than an era in which the play was written. “Hamlet” as a revenge play: 2uring the li1abethan era the revenge plays were well acclaimed. 3ost o them were a typical tragedy, a melo4drama melo4drama with so many twists and turns to keep keep the audience spellbound. *homas 5yd6s Spanish *ragedy *ragedy opened a new chapter in the history o the revenge plays. 7ur Shakespeare has also enriched the 8eld o revenge plays with his /Hamlet0. But Hamlet is certainly a great advance on *he S Spanish panish *ragedy *ragedy.. Hamlet is de8nitely a great example o atypical revenge tragedy o the li1abethan theater era. (t ol olllowed ev every convention re+uired re+uired to classiy it as a revenge play +uite perectly. Hamlet is de8nitely one o the greatest revenge stories ever written and it was all in9uen in9uenced ced 8rst by Sophocle Sophocles, s, uripid uripides es and other other reek reeks, s, and then more importantly by Seneca. Hamlet as well as *he Spanish *ragedy tackled and con+uered all areas that were re+uired or the consummation o a great revenge tragedy. ;haracteristics o a revenge play and their application in /Hamlet0: 1. Such play deals with the theme o murder or some crime to the person o the state. (n this reerence we can say that the central theme o the play / Hamle Ha mlet0 t0 is reveng evenge e to be taken. taken. *he play play /Haml /Hamlet et0 0 is built built upon the long, long, tragi tragic c con9ict between Hamlet and ;laudius and the con9ict is built upon the moti o revenge. So, the driving orce that shapes the turns o the plot o the play namely exposition, gradual development o the plot, the suspense, climax and the catastrophe o the play is the revenge, revenge, especially especially the revenge or the death o ather. ather. (t is not only Hamlet6s desire to take revenge, but also that o
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enerally speaking the ghost is a part o the machinery o the revenge play, and as such the ghost in Hamlet. *he ghost is primarily connected with the moti o revenge? and so there is the =usti8cation o such a convention. -ow the detness o Shakespeare in handling the supernatural is a thing that nobody will +uestion. *he opening scene sets the tune o the whole play4a play shrouded in mystery and terror. *he ghost does indeed visible appear, but it is a shadowy 8gure, resembling in dress and arm our the late king o 2enmark, Hamlet6s ather. e can observe the subtle skill o Shakespeare in that the ghost is not made to speak but strides away ma=estically. (t leaves a proound impression upon the night guards. Horatio becomes skeptical. He has to believe the evidence o his eyes, and concludes that /this bodes some eruption to our state.0 *he ghost appears twice in the opening scene, but will vouchsae no reply to Horatio6s +uestion. *he speculation that the ghost invokes Horatio has some bearing upon the play, and generates the necessary tension o eeling. *he news o the appearance o the ghost is later on communicated to Hamlet. (n /Hamlet0 the &rince o 2enmark is urged in very strong terms by the ghost o the dead king to take revenge upon ;laudius who has ascended to the throne by oul means, whose guilt is unknown to anybody. *he real tension o the play begins as soon as the ghost o the late king tells Hamlet about his murder. Hamlet learns that his ather)s death was no mistake, but it was Hamlet)s uncle)s plan to murder him. *he ghost also tells Hamlet that he has been given the role o the person who will take revenge upon ;laudius. So, like a typical revenge tragedy, in Hamlet a crime @the killing o the kingA is committed and or various reasons laws and =ustice cannot punish the crime so the individual, Hamlet proceeds on to take revenge in spite o everything. 'nd so ( am revenged. *hat would be scanned: villain kills my ather, and or that, (, his sole son, d this same villain send to heaven?' (n this +uote, Hamlet states that since he is his ather)s only son, it is up to him to avenge his murder. *his development or Hamlet comes ater his encounter with his ather)s ghost. (t is one o the 8rst times that the theme o revenge is introduced as a primary element o the story. (n this play Hamlet by illiam Shakespeare these two characters Hamlet and
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xamples o ;on9ict !A *he 8rst and most obvious con9ict o the character o hamlet is his contemplation o suicide. *his is an example o inward con9ict in Hamlet. Hamlet has recently lost his ather to death and his mother to his uncle ;laudius. He learns that his ather was murdered and by his own brother no less. He)s learned o his athers6 demise rom his athers6 ghostC -ow he is obligated to take revenge on ;laudius and the list goes on. 7bviously Hamlet has an extreme amount o ood on his plate o moral dilemma and he contemplates suicide because he does not want to deal with it. Supporting Duote: *"o #e' or not to #e' that is the +uestion: whether ,tis no#ler in the mind to su-er the slings and arrows o outrageous ortune' or to take arms against a sea o trou#les and #y opposing end them* 7n this opposite side o this con9ict is the ear o the aterlie. Hamlet speaks o man as mules willing to bear the burden o the misortunes o lie or ear o what is to come, or ear o the unknownC *o Hamlet this is what keeps him rom taking his lie. Supporting Duote: 'ho would ardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary lie, but that the dread o something ater death, the undiscovered country, rom whose bourn no traveler returns, pu11les, the will, and make us rather bear those ills we have than 9y to others that we know not o' EA nother example o con9ict in the character o hamlet is his exacting revenge upon his mother or marrying ;laudius so soon ater his athers6 death, dismissing the man that had been her husband in a mere two months. *he host o his ather had bid Hamlet to
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the uncle)s behaviors or his matrimony with his mother. He was emotionally tormented with thoughts about his unusual departure rom this short4lived world. He was inormed about his ather)s death but it was alsely implicated. 2espite this darkness, he came to learn about his ather)s killers by way o the ghostly spirit o his ather. hile it might be diFcult to believe, Hamlet)s inner con9ict is only resolved when he comes to the end o his =ourney to avenge his ather)s murder. Since the murder is secret to everyone except Hamlet, the ghost, Horatio, and ;laudius, Hamlet cannot eel truly ree until he believes all members o the court will, in act, know the truth and carry on in the uture knowing how the reign o Hamlet)s ather ended. Horatio, although he wishes he could kill himsel, is assigned to carry on in Hamlet)s place and is expected to do the =ob
which Hamlet can no longer do. However, we believe that Hamlet is now at peace.
2. "he revenge tragedy is ound to #e ull o struggle' murder' #loodshed' adultery and treachery. (n this reerence, Shakespeare6s world amous tragedy /Hamlet0 has close similarity with a revenge play. ;laudius kills his elder brother and marries his wie and his guilt is unknown to the people but the ghost reveals the act to Hamlet who takes revenge. *he thrilling and sensational events and the use o high sounding language not only make the play a masterpiece but also give it a new identity. mysterious murder and the adultery are the shocking revelations. Samuel Gohnson calls Hamlet 'through the whole piece an instrument rather than an agent'. *his is giving too much credence to the solilo+uies, when Hamlet ponders, and gives too little credence to the act that he sent osencrant1 and uildenstern to their deaths without hesitating, and the act that he was the 8rst on the pirate ship when attacked on the high seas. (t is the type o revenge that Hamlet insists on that shapes his character and orces the bloodshed at the end o the play. 3. In revenge play the e-ects o the revenge are serious on #oth the avenger and avenged. (n the end o the play /Hamlet0, there are a number o murders. *he +ueen is 8rst to die when she drinks the poisoned wine. *he king ;laudius dies when he is stabbed with a poisoned sword by Hamlet,
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Hamlet6s revenge is delayed in three signi8cant ways: (. Hamlet must 8rst establish ;laudius6 guilt, which he does in ct K, Scene E by presenting the murder o his ather in a play. hen ;laudius storms out during the perormance, Hamlet becomes convinced o his guilt. ((. Hamlet then intellectuali1es his revenge, contrasting with the rash actions o Iortinbras and
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