The second difference that can be contrasted is the purpose of their acts of murder. The reason Claudius murders King Hamlet is because he longs for the throne of Denmark. On the other hand, Hamlet kills Claudius because he wishes to avenge for his father’s death. Therefore, the royalty and honesty within Hamlet’s personality can be brought out through these comparisons between him and
Secondly, this scene presents the plays main conflict. The conflict will be a person vs. person conflict that includes Hamlet and Claudius. Hamlet is seeking revenge for his father’s murder, while Claudius does his best to hide what he has done and to get rid of
Use of Deception in Hamlet Hamlet is a play by William Shakespeare about a prince named Hamlet who was spoken to by the ghost of his dead father telling Hamlet to kill his uncle Claudius (the new king) because Claudius killed him. The story revolves around Hamlet's dillema of how to kill his uncle while being deceptive enough so that no one finds out about the ghost. This essay will prove how deception is often used in Hamlet for many reasons. Claudius uses deception to protect himself from being prosecuted for his crime of killing the King. No one knows what the deal is with Gertrude because she deceives everybody by keeping to herself all the time keeping everyone from knowing anything.
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.
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).
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
Fate is commonly overlooked as being the sole cause of their deaths, but in my opinion it is what brought the two lovers to their end. Throughout the play it reveals that their lives will end by their influences and actions, "A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life". This unavoidable aspect may have made Romeo and Juliet fall in love just to end the feud between the two houses. An important act of fate to consider would be the masquerade ball, if Romeo wasn’t wearing a mask Juliet would have realised who he was and may have not fallen in love with him. Romeo was too young to realise that he should have waited until he got over Rosaline before he became involved with Juliet.
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.
Nevertheless one murder didn't comfort him, he thinks he needs to secure his position. So he goes off and hires hit men to kill who he thinks is his enemy, the one who can take his power, Banqo. Soon enough he finds himself ordering the slaughter of a traitors family, which is when remorse never enters his thoughts. Macbeth’s greed and ambitions are the sheer motivators of his killings and that is evident throughout the journey of the play. As Shakespeare once wrote , “Fair is foul and foul is fair” (Act I, Sc.I, Line
Jonathan Trujillo June1, 2011 Cp English Mrs. Fernandez Macbeth: “Pawn of Fate or of Free Will?” In the tragic play “Macbeth”, written by Sir William Shakespeare, we see how a man by the name of Macbeth begins as a noble and loyal thane who would do anything for the king’s sake. But when the chance comes he kills the king and becomes king. Then finally after all that they found out he did it and kill him in battle. But was this because of his choosings or was it because he was to become like this because of fate? Possibly he can be a little of both.