The struggle to act upon his father’s murder is a key factor in Hamlet’s disillusionment with the world. The Elizabethan period was a time that demanded revenge and this is even true in our present time to some extent. An eye for an eye approach was considered socially correct which Hamlet initially suggests ‘May sweep to my revenge’. Since Claudius has become the new king, he is considered a false king and imposter to the throne by Hamlet and this leads to the collapse of the natural hierachy that was in place. He states ‘tis an unweeded garden’ alluding to the fact that a false king leads to corruption which finally leads to the collapse of the hierarchy.
While they argue that Hamlet's problems cannot be simply reduced to the Oedipus complex, Barber and Wheeler state that an understanding of Hamlet "must be consistent with the presence of that complex, for the Freudian explanation clearly works." Emphasizing Hamlet's guilt, which is focused on his father, not his mother, the critics argue that this guilt refers to Hamlet's wish to kill his father, which he cannot do since Hamlet's father is already dead. The wish, Barber and Wheeler explain, is diverted from Hamlet's father to his uncle. Taking another approach to Hamlet's oedipal issues, Janet Adelman (1992) centers on the role of the mother. Adelman illustrates that
Revenge must begin with a motive. In the play Hamlet, Fortinbras and Hamlet both seek revenge for the death of their fathers. Hamlet desires revenge because he is ordered to do so. Also he develops a hated for the new marriage of his mother and Claudius. Old Hamlet informs his son that he was murdered by his brother.
Claudius on the other hand has decided to take his position on the throne by marrying Gertrude in the short time span since the king’s death which is seen as a dishonourable act by Hamlet. We can see that Hamlet does not just want to kill Claudius for his own satisfaction but also for the sake of honour. He wants to redeem his father as he has been told that Claudius has killed him using a cowardly method, the poison in the ear, and during the time in that era it was seen as a cowardly tactic and therefore dishonourable. Laertes also seeks vengeance on Hamlet for his own father as well going as far as doing a dishonourable act of poisoning his sword in what is supposedly a friendly fencing match. Even today honour still matters a great deal, being honest, doing what you believe is right and
Laertes’ father- Polonius is mistakenly killed by Hamlet. Therefore, at this point, Laertes has a similar situation as Hamlet. Laertes resolves to avenge his father’s death on Hamlet as Hamlet decides to avenge his father’s death on Claudius. However, the way they each avenge for their fathers’ death is opposite to one another. While Hamlet is self-conflicting with plans, Laertes is taking action immediately after he knows of his father’s murder.
On the hand, there lies Claudius. The reader has just learned that he was willing to kill his own brother to become king. Murder is a horrible thing, but killing your own brother for your own selfish needs is far beyond horrible. When learning this, in combination with feel bad for Hamlet, the reader is left hating Claudius for what he has done. Additionally, this is a very important scene in the play.
Hamlet: Justice or Revenge In the era portrayed in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, justice is mostly carried out by oneself and not the court of law, and it is a thing of honor to avenge the death of a loved one. However, Hamlet’s quest for justice over his father’s murder does at some point turn into personal revenge, as he wants to have vengeance on his uncle in ways that become more personal. Hamlet loses track of the main reason for wanting his uncle dead and hatred grows for Claudius, his uncle, such that he wants to make sure that Claudius does not go to heaven when he dies. His uncontrollable emotions show when he kills Polonius and does not care about his actions. Hamlet even seems to have forgotten the main reason why he is avenging his father’s death.
Hamlet thinks it’s the king who is doing the spying and therefore ends up killing Polonius. This foil of Hamlet gives him a violent image and makes him look like he doesn’t know how to control his emotions. Polonius’s problem is the same, yet the results are less severe. Polonius makes himself sound like a fool by not thinking through things thoroughly Another foil in Hamlet is young Fortinbras, the nephew to the king of Norway. Like Hamlet, Fortinbras’ father was also killed, and his uncle took over the throne.
From the outset of the play, and the first appearance of the ghost, Hamlet knows what he must do; however, his moral obligations get in the way. Since murder is a mortal sin and Hamlet as been commanded not to “taint” his soul, he finds it difficult to justify the death of another man, yet, he also knows it is disrespectful to disobey his filial duty to his father, thus, he must find a way to avenge his father’s death without tainting his soul and without being held accountable for the death of a King. To do this, Hamlet organises the “Mousetrap”, a play wherein he’ll “catch the conscience of the king”. If throughout the play, Claudius shows any sign of guilt Hamlet will be certain that he did indeed kill his father and the accusations of the ghosts were true, giving him permission to “drink hot blood” and kill the king. Hamlet finds it difficult to carry out his revenge before he realises that there is a “divinity which shapes us all”, as he is caught up with the concept of death and troubled by his own inability to act.
Furthermore, Shakespeare exhibits how Hamlet chose to devise a plan of acting mad, rather than avenging his father’s death immediately, progressing to his demise. On the other hand, Hamlet questions the appearance of his father: “The spirit that I have seen may be the devil”(II.ii.610,611). Consequently, Shakespeare conveys that Hamlet’s indecisiveness about his father’s murderer necessitates him to procrastinate more, and lead further to his death. However, Hamlet accomplishes the opportunity to murder Claudius, yet believes it is not the right time: “Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent”(III.iii.91). In fact, he desires that “...his soul may be damned and black as hell”(III.iii.97).