While the people in the play believe the veil of lies that the king has spread, the audience knows that in reality, Claudius was the one to kill Old Hamlet. We learn this when the Ghost appears before Hamlet and tells him, “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown.” This ignites Hamlet’s desire for revenge which in turn fuels the play. The main theme can be seen here as well, “How strange or
Desperation in The Nibelungenlied Many people act in desperation once they have realized they have made a mistake. It is human nature to second guess yourself and to wonder if you have made this right decision. This case is true in The Nibelungenlied with Hagen’s decision to assassinate Siegfried. His actions immediately following the murder and when he is on his way to meet Kriemhild show that he acted in desperation after Siegfried’s murder. Through Hagen’s actions of sinking Kriemhild’s treasure in the Rhine River and attempting to kill the monk to void the Nixes prophecy are both examples of Hagen’s desperation after killing Siegfried.
Claudius purposefully set out to murder his own flesh and blood, which proves his selfishness, similar to the biblical reference of the serpent. The ghost goes on to say, “With witchcraft of his wits, with traitorous gifts… So to seduce! -- won to his shameful lust.” This further emphasizes the reference to Adam and Eve because Claudius acted as the serpent that tempted Eve with the poisonous fruits in the Garden of Eden, the “orchard,” to “win his shameful lust.” By expressing diction to metaphorically relate Claudius to the serpent, it helps align the reader with Hamlet and the Ghost in their contempt for Claudius and the Queen and heightens the reader’s sense of vengeance. Furthermore, in the passage, Shakespeare applies imagery to show Hamlet and the ghost's abhorrence towards Claudius and the Queen's corrupt nature. By presenting Claudius as the unfaithful serpent, it gives readers the connotation that he is evil, betraying and loathsome, correlating to the ghost’s and Hamlet’s feelings.
At first glance Grendel’s moms actions seem very monster-like, but looking back into Beowulf it is clear that this is not the case. On page 71 when a party is being held for Beowulf’s victory over Grendel, Beowulf must provide wergild for the man in which Beowulf let die in the fight. “And compensation, / a price in gold, was settled for the Geat / Grendel had cruelly killed earlier” (1052-1054). The art of wergild in Beowulf is heroic code for compensation reguarding the life of someone else. The bereaved party is awarded either a person or money and treasure in agreement that no vengeance will be taken.
I believe Romeo killed Tybalt because Tybalt was the killer of his best friend Mercutio. I bet if thou were in the same situation as Romeo, thou would have revenged your beloved friend. It was all out of self defense Prince. Another reason to forget your prosecution on Romeo is because Tybalt was the one to start the fight when he drew his sword requesting
49). Macbeth knows the ethics behind the murder of the King, and he knows that not only is his conscience going to suffer, but should he get caught he would lose everything. His family’s honor, his title as thane, everything he had worked so hard to accomplish gone blank at the instant his hand in the crime would be revealed. “Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires” (I. iv. 57-58).
Fight your way out, / or run for it, if you think you can escape death. / I doubt one man of you skins by…” (705). By destroying the suitors, Odysseus used violence once again as a way to satisfy his need for vengeance, despite the fact that the suitors offered alternate ways to pay him back. Since the suitors betrayed him, pursued his beloved wife Penelope, and threatened to take his place as king, Odysseus felt the need to slaughter the suitors as the most sufficient way to retaliate. “Death at the Palace” suggests Ancient Greeks considered violent revenge adequate.
From the short story "Spanish Roulette" by Ed Vega the poet Sixto vows revenge against a local gang member who raped his sister and battles with himself to make the right choice. Although revenge may be the momentary satisfaction in times of despair, no man extracts revenge for the sake of evil, without the intent of profiting from it, and will be punished for it, regardless of reason, in this life or the next. The theme of these stories is the ability to let go of ones hate, to allow themselves the chance to heal without making the dreaded mistake of taking revenge which will ultimately destroy themselves. The message is clear through all three texts that revenge achieves nothing but gambles everything worth losing for the momentary satisfaction of vengeance. Although the three texts go about different ways, reasons, and potential gain by exacting revenge it is very clear through each story that it is never the best answer.
The motion picture Beowulf directed by Robert Zemeckis has some significant alterations in plot events compared to the epic poem. The film does an excellent job showing the terror that Grendel imposes on the Danes with his monstrous raids on Herot. It also supports the epic poems famous battle between Grendel and Beowulf with the epic hero killing the monster. But following this battle, major plot events has some key changes contrary to the epic poem Beowulf translated by Burton Raffel. Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother in the epic poem but in the movie he makes a deal with demon leading to his downfall.
Brutus compares Caesar, whom was soon to be crowned, to "a serpent’s egg which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous" who must be killed while still in its shell. The fallacy in this comparison is that a serpent is life-threatening, and Caesar only threatens Brutus’ social position. On balance, the preservation of human life should outweigh political status. In view of this, it is manifest that while Brutus may have been "an honorable man," his logic was inherently unrigorous. Another example of his imperfect syllogization is when he opposes the conspirators taking an oath on their resolution to assassinate Caesar.