Why Does Hamlet When Some People Seek Revenge

In this case, Hamlet is obsessed with yet unable to act out his revenge since he is a man of thought and reflection, not of action and impulsiveness. "Revenge, said Francis Bacon in his essay on the subject, is a kind of wild justice, and something in Hamlet is too civilized for stealthy murder," says Northrop Frye (Frye). While he knows it is his duty to avenge his father's murder, Hamlet's desire to fulfill this obligation constantly wavers. In self-pity he cries, "O cursed spite / That ever I was born to set it right!" (1.5. 188-189), and yet in rage he utters, "Now could I drink hot blood / and do such bitter business as the day / Would quake to loot on," (3.2. 397-399). Hamlet hesitates numerous times to fulfill his duty to avenge his father, and in the end he must actually convince himself to kill Claudius. "... I do not know / Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do', / Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means / To do't... / ... / O, from this time forth, / My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!" (4.4. 43-46, 65-66). This unusual flaw leads to Hamlet's inevitable demise, and is the most convincing evidence that Hamlet is, indeed, a tragedy. The protagonist, however, is not the only character in the play that experiences a want for revenge. Shakespeare uses all three of the sons seeking vengeance to reveal the complexity of the human yearning for

Although revenge seems immoral, Hamlet considers it because he wants to defend his family’s dignity. In one of his soliloquies when considering putting on a play to determine Claudius’ guilt, Hamlet sorrows, “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!” (II 2. 520). The. Hamlet’s weeping demonstrates that he believes getting revenge for his father is the best way to honor King Hamlet and fulfill his own wishes, and he is disappointed in his inability to decide whether he should act on it.

Hamlet is conflicted with his fear and morals . He wants to fill his duty as a son and go on with the revenge but he is scared and feels like a cowered. passion and fear for revenge and Hamlet’s love and doubt toward his father’s ghost. This soliloquy develops Hamlet’s character as Hamlet is frustrated with himself. for he is not being courageous and to complete the revenge. He starts to be doubtful of ability and strength.

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the titular character struggles to engage in his desired plan of revenge. Hamlet shows throughout the play that he is inconsistent, indecisive, and unsure of himself, as well as his actions. The play focuses on Hamlet’s revenge; however, he continuously fails to happen at opportunistic moments. Throughout the play, Hamlet insists that he intends to avenge his father’s death through the murder of Claudius, but Hamlet fails to act on occasion because of his indecisive personality.

Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, portrays a recurring theme of revenge. As we know, revenge without a brain can be extremely detrimental, it can turn a person inside out--making them act irrational and do the unthinkable. However, in times of trouble, Hamlet uses his scholarly characteristics of reasoning and logic that he has obtained from Wittenberg University to actively think through situations first, then proceed with his vengeance. Hamlet’s vengeance stems from Claudius for marrying his mother shortly after the death of his father. In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet’s twofold mindset of scholar and warrior both contribute to his decisions; one cannot survive without the other to obtain justice.

Apparently, unlike the army, Hamlet has all the reasons to act upon his revenge; reasons that would justify his actions (Tomarken 109). However, he has been reluctant to act and sees himself as a coward all along. Ultimately, this passage reflects on the character’s awakening. He seems to have been holding back as a result of his own fears of what might take place in the event that he accomplishes his mission of vengeance for his father’s murder (Tomarken 110). Realizing that he has been stalling for long enough, the necessity for action is now apparent to him.

This all sets the stage for Hamlet’s mental state prior to learning that he was killed by somebody in his family. These themes of death and betrayal lead into the end of the first act when Hamlet is tasked by the ghost of his father to seek revenge against Claudius for what he did. Hamlet believes that he was “born to set it right” (1.5.190). The extremes of this line reveal that Hamlet believes that the whole reason for his existence is to avenge his father. This need for revenge drives Hamlet for the rest of the play. He wants justice for his father, but he also wants to punish Claudius for his murder and marrying his mother. He gives in to human nature when he starts striving to avenge his father’s death.

Hamlet and the Issue of Revenge in William Shakespeare's Play The question of why Hamlet does not immediately avenge his father's death is perhaps one of the most perplexing problems faced by an audience. Each generation of viewers has come up with it's own explanation, and it has now become the most widely known critical problem in Shakespearean studies. A rather simplistic, yet valid standpoint to take on this problem is that it was essential to the tragedy's narrative progression. As Hanmer said "had he gone naturally to work, there would have been an end to our play!".

Revenge is a dish best served cold, being one of the biggest themes in the play, at its Hamlet’s biggest goal in the play. From the very start Hamlet was out seeking revenge over his father’s death. He wanted to kill Claudius because Claudius killed his father, in an effort to become king himself. Hamlet then becomes obsessed with seeking vengeance, going so far as to fake madness in order to prove that Claudius is truly guilty for his father’s murder…

Hamlet has lived through plenty of ups and downs throughout his childhood. He has been lost and confused within himself, but knew he wanted one thing, which was revenge on his fathers killer, Claudius. His passion of hate developed for Claudius as he married Hamlets mother shortly after the king’s death. Hamlet could not decide on the perfect decision for himself, his mother and father as well as the best way to follow through with the best consequence for Claudius that would impress his father. His everyday life, along with his love life, left him with an empty heart, which slowed the process of the revenge down. Hamlet never expected to be captured and kidnapped by pirates, as he was sent overseas as a young man. His inside thoughts were attacking and overwhelming Him, leaving him depressed and anxious. Hamlet’s life has been leading him to negative thoughts that he cannot process or act accordingly to, due to the excessive amount of issues and options involved in his life at a young age, him being overwhelmed lead him to delaying the process of avenging his fathers killer.

In his mature, adult mind, he knows that he must avenge his father, but there lives an innocent child in his conscience who does not want to commit murder; and Hamlet perceives this as cowardice. It seems as though Hamlet is struggling with what he knows he must do, and actually doing it. While instead of pursuing his father’s revenge, he lets his emotions dictate his actions (in this case, his lack of action). So, in self-justification, he tucks away his apprehension and decides to seek proof of Claudius’s murder of Hamlet’s father. Furthermore, Hamlet is beginning to question his identity as a “pigeon-livered coward.” What is more noteworthy, however, is that both soliloquies exhibit Hamlet to be an immature boy, as he speaks on impulses of emotion, rather than logic itself.

Although Hamlet knows well enough that he must avenge his fathers’ death, the action of revenge does not come easily to him. Hamlet throughout Hamlet is contemplating the revenge for his father’s death. Hamlet is indecisive, hesitant, and contemplative yet at other times impulsive. He is still, as it is, being influenced by his reason taking into consideration that Hamlet is a scholar. He does not act upon his feelings immediately but decides to investigate further on the suspicions he has about Claudius and his fathers’ death. This attitude tends to make Hamlet procrastinate and only until he has done away with his scholastic characters will he actually play out his Acton.

He is internally reflecting on the morality of revenge. In existentialism, it is believed that the best way to live is for man to accept disorder and nothingness because ignoring it would mean settling into a delusional security blanket. If this blanket is torn off, we are forced to face it abruptly. Hamlet becomes conflicted in this way during the play. His father’s death, learning about the murder and adultery, and facing the morality of revenge all quake his previous orderly life.Now, he must figure out what is right and wrong and what to do as he contemplates the noble idea of avenging his father’s death versus his own misanthropic view of human nature.

According to Kastan, “Hamlet is prevented from enacting his revenge by the discomforting ratios that his literary imitations generate” (4). He is also stopped from executing his revenge because of his inability to separate himself from his father, to be different from what generated him (Kastan 4). By this point, Hamlet is no longer caught between whether to avenge his father or not, it is that he no longer realizes whether he is doing this for his father or for himself. When Hamlet finally does kill Claudius, he does it to avenge not his father, but himself (Kastan 4). “Hamlet dies with no word of the father he has sworn to remember” writes David Scott Kastan, “The act he finally

The death of Hamlet’s father and his mother remarrying two months after his father’s death are two scenarios that instill revenge into Hamlet’s brain. Throughout the play, the readers see how Hamlet’s personality and mental state evolves while revenge is still on his mind. Hamlet rationally thinks about revenge and the consequences to come by contemplating killing Claudius for a great amount of the play. Ever since Hamlet discovered that Claudius killed his father by pouring poison down his ear, Hamlet became obsessed with the idea of death and revenge. King Hamlet encourages Prince Hamlet to take action immediately against Claudius and ultimately leaves it up to Hamlet to figure out the revenge plan (1.5.7-41). Hamlet solely focuses on getting revenge even if it is the last thing he does. Because King Hamlet left his fate up to his son, Hamlet had to make complicated decisions on his own, which altered his mental state as the play progressed. Shakespeare tactically builds up the beginning of Hamlet, only to have Hamlet question the authenticity later in the play, which is where his paranoia begins. In the article “Revenge and Vengeance in Shakespeare’s Hamlet: A Study of Hamlet’s Pursuit and Procrastination Regarding Revenge,” the author, Haque, states that “Hamlet was actually considered to be an indecisive person who always used to think much but act too little,” meaning that the conversation with the ghost telling him to get revenge would not be the only time Hamlet was indecisive, which delayed his revenge process. The readers see that Hamlet is eager planning the revenge on Claudius, but when the time comes, Hamlet is unable to