Revenge on Claudius

Analytical Essay # 54285

Drama and Theater > English
English > Analysis
Literature

Revenge on Claudius

Examines the main protagonist's desire for revenge in William Shakespeare's "Hamlet".

2,845 words () | 10 sources | APA | 2004 United States

Paper Summary:

Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is a play about revenge and indecision. Because Hamlet's father is wronged, Hamlet himself spends most of the play deliberating on the subject of his revenge against his uncle Claudius, who has killed his father, married his mother, and assumed the throne. This paper examines Hamlet's quest for vengeance by examining the text itself, as well as secondary sources, and concludes that Hamlet's delay in taking vengeance is primarily based on his indecision, his self-interest, and his desire to protect Gertrude.

From the Paper:

"In putting on the play to mock Claudius, Hamlet takes a step towards making his vengeance complete, but he loses something of his own nature in the process. "Forced to master his opponent's craft of smiling villainy, he becomes not merely an actor but also a dramatist, ingeniously using a troupe of traveling players, with their 'murder in jest', to unmask the king's own hypocritical show" (Neill, p. 314). This is just playing at real revenge, though. Hamlet does eventually kill Claudius and rid the throne of this usurper, and it is tragic that he dies in the process of doing this. Vengeance could have been carried out with less of a tragic risk to his own personal safety if it had been less personalized and brooded over for a lesser period of time."