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Hamlet
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare Two of the character's fathers
are brutishly murdered. The first murdered character is King Hamlet who
is supposed to be revenge by his son prince Hamlet. The second murder is
Polonius who is supposed to be revenged by his son Laertes. Both Prince
Hamlet and Laertes go to seek revenge for the death of fathers, however
they will each use different methods to accomplish their deeds.
Prince Hamlet has a meeting with the dead ghost of his father King Hamlet.
King Hamlet's ghost reveals to his son, his murder by his brother
Claudius. Hamlet is informed by his father that he needs to be avenged by
the death of his brother Claudius. By this time Claudius has already
ascended the throne, and married Hamlet's mother Queen Gertrude. Hamlet
decides to take a passive approach to avenge his father. Hamlet first
decides to act abnormal which does not accomplish much besides warning his
uncle that he might know he killed his father. Later in the play a troop
of actors come to act out a play, and Hamlet has them reenact the murder
of is father in front of his uncle Claudius. The actors murder scene also
make Hamlet question himself about the fact that he has done nothing yet
to avenge his father. Hamlet says " But am I Pigeon-livered and lack gall
/ To make oppression bitter, or ere this / I should ha' fatted all the
region kites / With this slave's offal. Bloody, bawdy villain! ( Act II
scene 2 page 84 line 577- 580 ). During the play Hamlet watches is uncle
Claudius to see his reaction when the actors perform the murder scene.
Hamlet plan works his uncle throws a fit and runs out the room, where
Hamlet goes after him. When Hamlet catches up to his uncle his uncle is
kneeling down praying, and Hamlet pulls out his sword and gets ready to
kill him. But all the sudden Hamlet changes his mind because if he kills
his uncle while he's praying he will go to heaven, and Hamlet wants him to
go to hell. So hamlet postpones the execution of his uncle. The next
confrontation does not happen till the end of the book when Hamlet escapes
from his uncle's ill murder attempt on his life. Hamlet later sword fences
with Laertes. All the sudden Hamlet's mother Queen Gertrude drinks a
poison glass intended for Hamlet. When Hamlet is not looking Laertes stabs
him with a poison sword then Hamlet takes hold of the poisoned sword, and
stabs Laertes with it. As this happens Queen Gertrude dies from the poison
drink. As Laertes lays down dying he reveals to Hamlet that his uncle King
Claudius was behind it all, the poisoned sword and drink that has just
killed his mother. Hamlet then in a fit of rage runs his uncle through
with the poison sword. Hamlet has now finally revenged his father through
much time then after his task is completed he finally collapses from the
poison on the sword.
Polonius is murdered by Hamlet when Polonius his discovered listening to
Hamlet, and his mother's Queen Gertrude conversation . Hamlet unknowing
of who the person behind the tapestry is, kills Polonius from where he
was spying. When news of his fathers death reaches Polonius's son Laertes,
he comes back with an entourage to seek revenge for his fathers death.
In this conversation Laertes believes Hamlets uncle King Claudius is
responsible for his fathers death. " How came he dead? I'll not be
juggled with. / To hell, allegiance! Vows, to the blackest devil! /
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! / I dare damnation. To this
point I stand, / That both the worlds I give to negligence, / Let come
what comes, only I'll be revenged / Most thoroughly for my father. ( Act
IV scene 5 page 134 line 133-139 ) Laertes takes a more aggressive stand
point than Hamlet Laertes is ready to kill the king right away thinking
that he murdered his father. But king Claudius tells Laertes that Hamlet
is the one who killed his father. King Claudius also finds out that
Hamlet has escape the trap that he setup to get him murdered. So King
Claudius sets up another plan with Laertes. This plan calls for Hamlet
and Laertes to have a mock sword fight, but Laertes will be using a real
poisoned sword. Laertes agrees with this, ready to claim Hamlets life for
his father's vile murder. When the sword fight begins Hamlet is winning,
but Laertes gets frustrated and stabs Hamlet when he is not looking with
the poisoned sword. After Laertes stabs Hamlet, Hamlet then turns around
and manages to take the sword from Laertes and stabs Laertes with it.
Although Laertes dies first he accomplishes his purpose because Hamlet
will die shortly from the poison on the sword.
In this play Hamlet by William Shakespeare these two characters Hamlet
and Laertes both seek to revenged their slayed fathers. Hamlet with is
passive and scheming approach manages to kill his father's murder his
uncle Claudius. Laertes with his direct, and forceful dedication slays
his fathers killer Prince Hamlet. Altough Laertes took a much more
direct approach than Hamlet wasting no time, they both however
accomplished their goal but at the ultimate price of both their lives!
Word Count: 874
ADDITIONAL FEATURED ESSAYS
Hamlet - Movie Critique
The movie of Hamlet was an excellent, as far as book-movies go. I believe it was produced with focus, reason, and logic.
Hamlet: Holding Back Revenge
One of the themes I found in the play Hamlet, was the way Hamlet seemed to hold back on getting revenge for his father’s
Book-Movie Comparison Hamlet
Usually, when a movie is made about a story in a book or a play, the two stories are not exactly the same. The movie ten
Hamlet To Kill Or Not To Kill
Hamlet promises to the ghost of his father to kill the man who killed former King Hamlet. From that day, Hamlet has been
Hamlet: Hamlet Defeated By His Own Flaws
In William Shakespeare's well known tragic play, Hamlet, the main character Hamlet is defeated by his own flaws. These f
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