Introduction
William Shakespeare is a great play writer. In the film, he has described dark side of the cruelty of society and human nature. Particularly this renowned play bases its discussion on revenge or simply avenge. This play dramatizes the avenge that Prince Hamlet exacts on Claudius who is his uncle for murdering his brother, King Hamlet and who is Prince Hamlet’s father. This is as evidenced by the below quote when Hamlet is very distressed after his father’s death. Basically this play vividly portrays feigned and true madness, from the overwhelming grief to the seething rage. Therefore, the main themes that it portrays are the themes of revenge, treachery, moral corruption, and incest.
The objective of this essay is thus to identify and analyze 5 stages of plan that Hamlet has to revenge the death of his father hence it concentrates on the theme of revenge. Prince Hamlet actually devotes himself to revenge his father’s death in this paper and this anguish him so much. “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd, His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God! How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world!”
It is in fact interesting that this character is actually a revenge tragedy who is driven by the protagonist who is unable to commit to revenge act. In the play, Hamlet’s inability to revenge his father’s murder drives the plot forward. Also, the deaths of Laertes, Polonius, Gertrude, Guildenstern, Ophelia, and Rosencrantz are as a result of Hamlet delay. To highlight his inability to take action, William Shakespeare includes some other characters who are capable of taking headstrong and resolute revenge a required. For instance, Fortinbras travels numerous miles to take his avenge and he eventually prospers in conquering Denmark. Thus, compared to these other characters, the revenge by Hamlet is ineffectual. We observe that once he makes a decision of taking action, he delays until the finish of this play. However, this is not uncommon in the Elizabethan revenge tragedies. Therefore, what makes this play an exceptional piece of work is actually the extraordinary way in which the author uses delay to build psychological and emotional complexity in the play.
In a plan to avenge the death of his father, Hamlet takes various stages. His revenge is initially delayed. The first key stage is when Hamlet’s father ghost appears to Horatio, Barnado, and Marcellus. We observe Horatio begging the apparition to talk but it refuses. Therefore Horatio reports this encounter to Hamlet. At this stage, the ghost comes to Hamlet and they leave where they go to speak in private. This ghost reveals that he is that of King Hamlet, Hamlet’s father. In this play, the revenge plot is essentially established with this utterance of the Ghost, "So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear." This Ghost goes further and tells Hamlet that his brother Claudius is the one who poisoned. If Hamlet is feeling the desire, we observe his father’s Ghost plainly making the demand: "Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder"
The next stage is when Hamlet decides to first establish the guilt of his uncle Claudius. Therefore, he makes a decision of re-enacting his father murder with production of “The Murder of Gonzago,” which is a play within a play. Thus, if this play is going to disturb Claudius, it will reveal that he is the one who killed King Hamlet. Hamlet has a better opportunity of killing Claudius in his chamber. However, after soliloquizing on this matter, he makes a decision of not taking any action because Claudius his uncle is praying. The reason why he makes this decision is because he feels that killing his uncle in prayer would in fact not be a revenge since Claudius would directly go to heaven.
In the third stage, Hamlet kills Polonius after mistaking him for his uncle, Claudius. His father’s Ghost appears again to him. He is irritated because Claudius is not dead. We observe the Ghost telling Hamlet that he has come back to "whet thy almost blunted purpose." In addition, Claudius deports Hamlet to England after learning that he is the one who murdered Polonius. It is I this stage that Claudius sends Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to spy on the actions of Hamlet and creates plans to have him assassinated in England.
In the fourth stage, Hamlet writes a letter to Horatio reporting that he is about to return to Denmark. Pirates had captured Hamlet’s boat and they released him on promise of upcoming reward.
In the fifth stage Claudius hears that Hamlet will return. Therefore, he conspires with Laertes, who is Polonius’s son, to kill Hamlet. In their plan, Laertes is going to use a sword that is poison-tipped when fighting with Hamlet. Claudius on his part will already have a poisoned drink. Eventually, Hamlet stabs Claudius and as a result forces him to take wine that is poisoned. Thus, the avenge plot is concluded. Hamlet then passes away from the wound that he received when he was fighting with Laertes.
