Hamlet

themes. The plays themes of honour, revenge and suicide, make it a classical revenge

tragedy. Hamlet’s basic conflict with Claudius sets the main parameters for the play;

however, as the play develops, his conflict with Claudius will end up crossing paths with

Gertrude, not to mention his own ‘perfect conscious.’ The obstacles and disasters that

Hamlet will pursue will enable the reader to enter the mind of Shakespeare, and fully

grasp the effect of a revenge tragedy.

Upon studying Shakespear’s characters in this play, we discover that Hamlet

plays a key role in the development of the revenge tragedy. With the recent death of the

king, Hamlet is dismayed at the loss of his father. However, he keeps his composure, as

he knows there is more to the story than meets the eye. His suspicions of Claudius are

confirmed when his father’s ghost and tells him, “ The serpent that did sting thy father’s

life now wears his crown.” (I, iv, 39-40) Now that Hamlet knows the truth, his emotions

are raging with anger and hostility towards Claudius. Despite Hamlet’s feelings, his

. . .
Hamlet walks by and sees

the king at prayer, yet he chooses to think it over. Many a time throughout the play, Hamlet could easily have killed Claudius, yet

his analytical approach kept him from doing so. Thus, the only probable solution is to try and break up the marriage.

Hamlet ingeniously devises a plan to try and destroy the marriage. Throughout the play Hamlet’s ‘prefects conscience’ will come into play, as

well as his relationship with Gertrude. Now to be my word;

It is, “Adieu, adieu! remember me. A perfect example of this would be in

scene three, act two, where Claudius was alone in his room. Talking to himself, Hamlet says,

And now I’ll do’t: and so he goes to heaven

And so am I revenged. The story has slowly begun to unfold as the basic

conflict for the plot has been laid out. ’ Hence,

allowing the reader to fully understand William Shakespear’s revenge tragedy in is play. The hunter has now become the hunted, and thus

the revenge tragedy has been introduced to the reader. He puts on an antic

disposition in hopes of fooling both Gertrude and Claudius. ctual wit allows him to get an upper hand on the situation.

O, this is hire and salary, not revenge… (III, iii, 74-80)

This weakness that Hamlet possesses is surely the downfall of his brilliant character.

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Approximate Word count = 871
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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