A Vengeful Hamlet
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In many ways revenge is a major theme to the Shakespeare playwright of Hamlet. It seems as though each main character struggles with some sort of revenge whether it is very discrete or rather obvious. The main character, Hamlet, struggles with it the most. He deals with getting revenge on his uncle for killing his father, he gets revenge on Ophelia for playing with his heart, and he gets revenge on his mother for letting his uncle get away with killing his father. Laertes strives for revenge against Hamlet for killing his father and Ophelia, in a way, gets revenge on Hamlet by killing herself.
The play of Hamlets main plot revolves around Hamlet getting revenge on his uncle for killing his father. Hamlets revenge seems to build up throughout the entirety of the play to the eventual death of his uncle and nearly every other major character in the play. So if you really think about it, Hamlet indirectly killed himself and quite a few others due to his need to get revenge on his uncle. The aspect of revenge brings out a sort of craziness in Hamlet; he seems to gradually lose his marbles as the plot goes on. The thought of his uncle being king and getting away with murdering his father torments him. Though Hamlet doesnt show really any sad emotions at all throughout the play, he is undoubtedly hurt by what his uncle did to him. Likely, he is so hurt by his fathers inhumane death that it drives him crazy to the point where it seems like it doesnt even both him.
Hamlet also seems to want revenge against his mother as well, though he loves his mother, unlike his uncle. At one point in the play, he gets angry and practically yells at his mother to the point where Gertrude is nearly in tears . Gertrude proclaims, “O, speak to me no more. These words like daggers enter in mine ears. No more, sweet Hamlet!” At this point it seems as though Hamlet is getting his revenge against her by making her out to be selfish and oblivious. It seems as though he is trying to enlighten her on her husbands fatal death as if she doesnt know or care. Though he gets part of his revenge at this moment, he ends up getting an unintentional one in the end when she unknowingly drinks the poison meant for Hamlet.
Though it is a less obvious revenge than Hamlets feud against his uncle, he also holds a bit of a grudge against Ophilia. In one scene Ophelia is nearly brought to tears due to Hamlets crazy rage. This can also be seen as Hamlet getting his revenge on Ophelia due to her being indecisive about her love for Hamlet. He feels like Ophelia may or may not love him, yet he seems to love her more than anything in the world. This act of revenge may be seen as just an angry rant towards Ophelia or maybe it is just yet another sign of Hamlets craziness.
Hamlet is not the only one who faced circumstances of revenge in this play. Laertes also falls