Hamlet Loyalty Analysis

When King Hamlet passes away everyone seemed to want to just forget about him and act like he never existed, including Queen Gertrude. That would explain why Hamlet really wants to get revenge on Claudius so bad. He wants his father to still have some sort of legacy and not just be thrown away like a piece of trash. Since Claudius became king he just shows his true self more and more which makes Hamlet angrier and his sense for revenge stronger.

Although deeply sorrowed by his father?s death, he did not consider payback as an option until he meets with the ghost of his father. The ghost tells Hamlet King Claudius, his own brother, murdered him. The ghost then tells Hamlet ?to revenge his foul and most unnatural murder? (I.v.25). Although murder was an acceptable form of revenge in Hamlet?s time he is uncertain about killing Claudius. However, upon his father?s command, Hamlet reluctantly swears to retaliate against Claudius. Hamlet does this not because he wants to, but because his father makes it clear that it is his duty as a son. Hamlet promises to prove his love and duty by killing Claudius.

Losing a loved one to tragedy, especially two most brutal and malicious tragedies as these, will torture the minds of any and all men. Terrifying thoughts, even carefully planned acts of revenge will plow themselves into your brain. It is how we react to these situations that can and will forever define that man, his life, and his actions. In these two stories, Hamlet's father and Matt Fowler's son are murdered with jealous motives of romance, ambition, betrayal and rage. Revenge captures the hearts of both characters, but in different forms. Hamlet sees his fathers ghost and is told if he ever loved his father he is to ?[revenge his foul and most unnatural

In the play, “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, Hamlet struggles to restore honour and certainty in the kingdom. Hamlet’s father, the true King of Denmark was murdered by Claudius so that Claudius could become the king, this was seen as dishonorable as Claudius was the King’s brother, and the right to the throne was not his. Hamlet finds out about the murder and feels he must avenge his father to restore honour and certainty in the kingdom.

Hamlet is as much a story of emotional conflict, paranoia, and self-doubt as it is one of revenge and tragedy. The protagonist, Prince Hamlet of Denmark, is instructed by his slain father’s ghost to enact vengeance upon his uncle Claudius, whose treacherous murder of Hamlet’s father gave way to his rise to power. Overcome by anguish and obligation to avenge his father’s death, Hamlet ultimately commits a number of killings throughout the story. However, we are not to view the character Hamlet as a sick individual, but rather one who has been victimized by his own circumstances.

Both Hamlet and Claudius betray many to reach their goals of ridding themselves each other other. Even from the very start of the play, when Hamlet is first introduced, he is visibly unhappy with the situation at hand with his new father, but he can’t really do anything about it. This is the way things stand until the end of the first act, when the spark that ignites the plot and theme of treachery takes place. Old Hamlet appears to Hamlet on the outer walls of the castle and tells him of the treachery that his uncle has committed. Of course Hamlet is shocked but he still isn’t ready to take action on his uncle. Not until he knows for certain that it was his uncle, Claudius who killed his father. Act 2 is almost entirely betrayals, Claudius and Gertrude hire Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet, while Polonius commits a similar act. He orders one of his servants, Reynaldo to go to France and spy on Laertes.

The play ‘Hamlet’ written by William Shakespeare had many aspects of betrayal, a lack of loyalty, and tragic deaths. The storyline begins as a ghost appears and he resembles the late king of Denmark ‘Hamlet’. King Hamlet was Hamlets father, after his ghost appears Hamlet conversates with the figure and asks him why he is here, and the ghost states that his brother Claudius poisoned him by pouring poison in his ear while he was asleep, married his wife and finally took the power of the throne. Already in a confused state of mind Hamlet questions the ghost and decides to act delusional and put on a play to decide whether he will get revenge on Claudius. Consequently, one can tell how selfish both brothers Claudius and Hamlet are, how much do you have to hate your own family to commit such hatred. Ultimately blood is not thicker than water.

It is quite obvious that everyone is usually obedient towards their family, even if it is unwanted at times. Well the same goes for Hamlet. In the court scene, Hamlet speaks with the king and queen, with Claudius trying to act more like a new father figure to Hamlet. However, Hamlet does not obey his orders, but pretends to for the sake of others. For instance, Hamlet only listens to his mother’s request to remain in Denmark. As an example, “Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet. I pray thee stay with us, go not to Wittenberg”. Hamlet responds by saying “I shall in all my best obey you, madam (1.2.118-120).” This shows Hamlet’s respect for his mother and his obedience towards her even with the recent events that have transpired. George Rylands concurs, “Claudius...with the Queen’s aid he persuades him not to return to the University of Wittenberg” (Rylands 36).

Claudius is ultimately revealed as the antagonist of Hamlet because he removed the good from his life, becoming the prime opposition of Hamlet. He is then faced with the king’s direction to avenge his father’s death by doing anything it takes to reveal the crimes of Claudius. Although not the chief antagonist, another opposition to Hamlet is his mother, whose crime is also revealed by the deceased king Hamlet. The king tells Hamlet how his wife betrayed him when he comments, “whose love was of that dignity that it went hand in hand even with the vow I made to her in marriage, and to decline upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor to those of mine” (I.vi.786-791). Queen Gertrude has also crushed Hamlet’s belief of his mother’s faithfulness by forgetting her vows and looking to Claudius’ gifts and love when she should be remembering king Hamlet. Both Claudius and Gertrude threw Hamlet’s integral foundations out the window, leaving Hamlet infuriated and ready to do what it takes to avenge his father’s death and accuse his opposing family of their crime against him.

Hamlet really wanted the revenge on Claudius but was really on the fence of what to actually do to follow through with then plan. Claudius was brave to feel so free, as Hamlet had opportunities to take advantage of him and had plenty of hate towards him for more than one reason. The action Hamlet may want and outcome of it, may be completely different as to what his father would do or like him to do.

Throughout the play, Hamlet’s disdain for his mother marriage to his uncle, Claudius, is made apparent. It is because of this union, Hamlet believes that it is his responsibility to separate Claudius from his mother for her own good. Because Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, was killed his brother, Claudius, is now King and has married Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother. After a play which depicts the death of King

Loyalty is a significant theme in ‘Hamlet’ because Hamlet himself judges people by their loyalty or disloyalty-his mother, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Horatio and he acts accordingly. The significance of the betrayal theme is that many of the major events in the play result from the betrayal of one character by another.

Hamlet was intensely loyal to his family name, and this, although noble, was the cause of his downfall. He was a dedicated man, his conscience haunted with avenging his fathers death. His dying request, I will do my best to obey. T' was to make it known to all of Denmark that Claudius was not the man he appeared. In reality, he was a villain. It was him who caused the death of the late King Hamlet and this constitutes to Hamlet's changed attitude recently, as anyone would be if a murdering brother in law married your mother.

Beyond Claudius’ need for admiration, he also tends to disregard the feelings of people around him. This is shown in a similar way as his need for admiration, being that he kills his brother to gain power. Such a selfish action will obviously impact those around King Hamlet, but Claudius disregard that and simply does it for his own gain. He doesn’t think about how Hamlet’s death will affect Gertrude, young Hamlet, Polonius, or anyone else close to him. In the aftermath of this, instead of helping Hamlet through the hard time following his fathers sudden death, he tells Hamlet he’s not a man for mourning for such a long time. Staying on the topic of the death of a father, Claudius uses Polonius’ death to get Laertes to want to avenge his

Secondly, due to his corruptive nature, Claudius manipulates everyone in the play as noted by Mabillard (n.p). It is evident from the start that Claudius symbolizes what is rotten in Denmark. For instance, when the ghost talks to his son prince Hamlet, he refers Claudius as “that incestuous, that adulterate beast” (1.5). Claudius commits fratricide and marries the Queen who is his brother’s wife in an arrangement that is incestuous. Due to his corrupt nature, Claudius manipulates everyone in the play. He manipulates Polonius so that he can have Ophelia converse with Hamlet as his old friends Guildenstern and Rosencrantz spy on Hamlet. In Act five, Claudius fails to alert Gertrude that the cup she is drinking from contains poison which he had planned to use to kill Hamlet. As a result of his corrupt nature, King Claudius turns a victim of his own evil by swallowing his own poison.