On one level it helps develop the reader’s understanding of some of the play’s key themes. The first of these is revenge. At this point in the play, after Hamlet has earlier been told by his father’s ghost that he was murdered by his brother, Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, Hamlet has taken no significant action to claim that revenge the ghost has demanded. He believes he has established grounds for taking the appropriate revenge, yet
"I am satisfied in nature, / Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most / To my revenge: but in my terms of honour / I stand aloof" Act V sc. ii. What Laertes calls honor is actually the desired vengeance, which he needs as a way to seal the death of his father and carry on with his life. Hamlet, on the other hand, acts, or better said, refrains from acting because of the conclusions he draws from his reflections and speculations. A great example of Hamlet’s complicated and elaborate ways of obtaining what he wants is the plot of the “Mouse Trap” for catching the King’s conscience.
Hamlet’s Three Men of Action Revenge is defined as inflicting hurt or harm on someone for an injury. Often when one is seeking revenge, revenge is the one thing that matters. In Hamlet, Hamlet and Laertes are motivated by the need to avenge their father’s death. However, Hamlet and Laertes sacrifice their lives to achieve revenge due to their impulsive actions. By letting revenge be their top priority, Hamlet and Laertes were blinded by their emotions.
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.
Next, the threats Tybalt sends Romeo also lead up to the suicides and the cause of death. Tybalt approaches Romeo and tries to start a fight by saying, “Romeo the love I bear thee can afford no better term than this: thou art a villain” (119). The constant threats Tybalt sends Romeo endanger his own family. Romeo was told if a family member of his or himself gets in Tybalt swore to himself that he would seek revenge on Romeo for crashing the party. Tybalt’s threats eventually become a full out issue for Romeo.
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.
Hamlet portrays falsity when using rage against Ophelia after discovering she has been apart of a plot of revenge. He uses this as an opportunity to deny his love for her and degrade her until she felt horrible about her self. “I did love you once but you should have not belived me; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not.”(3.1.114-119). It becomes clear that Hamlet did truly love Ophelia, yet hid it because he was a coward.
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.
Giles Fraser explains in his article that when Jo Berry wanted to seek revenge on Patrick Magee, the man who killed her father but reminds us that revenge is inflicting pain on others but only hurt ourselves. In King Lear Shakespeare makes it clear that Edmund is a Bastard, not just because the way he is born but the way he acts throughout the play. The audience understands the feeling you will get if you went to a party and your dad said “Oh, here is my son his mother is a harlot, but we had fun together so here he is” who would not be mad. Also with the bastard name that follows him, Edmund does retaliate with schemes states “Thou, Nature, art my goddess; to thy law, my service are bound. Wherefore should I, Stand in the plague of custom and permit, the curiosity of nations to deprive me,” (Shakespeare 1.2.1-4) so Edmund punish his father for the lack of respect he has gotten over the years.
He felt as if his mother had betrayed him and his dead father. His motivation was to act insane to take revenge on his uncle but he lost control of himself. He wanted his uncle to confess to killing his father so he wrote a play that explain how the murder took place and wanted to see how his uncle reacted to the play. If he showed any type of guiltiness then he knew for sure that the ghost was not dishonest