Revenge
Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, is a tragic
play consisting of numerous deaths. The
deaths that took place played a very important role in the unfolding of the
play. In reading this play the reader
can almost guess who was going to die.
A prince named Hamlet is the main
character. Hamlet is a college student
who one day planned to take over the throne in Denmark, but treachery would
spoil all of Hamlet¹s plans. The King,
Hamlet¹s father, was found dead in an orchard where he spent much of his
time. All of the King¹s subjects,
including Hamlet, thought his majesty died because of a snake bite. Hamlet was devastated when he learned of his
father¹s death, but what made him more uneasy was the fact that Gertrude,
Hamlet¹s mother, remarried so quickly to the brother of the dead King. The brother would be the one who would betray
Hamlet.
Horatio, a loyal friend to Hamlet, was on night
watch outside the castle, he told the prince of an incident when they saw an
apparition who resembled King
Hamlet. Hamlet came out the next night
hoping to see the ghost. Sure enough,
the ghost appeared and called to Hamlet, wanting to speak with him. The spirit talked about how Claudius poisoned
the King while he was sleeping, ³Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,/ a
serpent stung me² (1.5, 36) but it was not a snake that the ghost is referring
to. The spirit wanted the prince to
avenge his murder.
All was quiet in the kingdom until the start of
Hamlet¹s supposed insanity. The Prince
was with his mother talking when the prince noticed someone in the room. Hamlet thought it was Claudius, ³How
now? A rat? Dead for a ducat, dead! ³ (3.4,25) Indeed
Hamlet killed someone; but it was not Claudius, twas Polonius who was slain.
Time had gone by and supposedly Hamlet was
getting worse, so Claudius decided to send Hamlet to an asylum in England. Hamlet escaped and returned to Denmark and
hid. While Hamlet was away, Ophelia,
Hamlet¹s girlfriend, was acting
strangely.
Although it was
never admitted, Ophelia had become insane.
It was her insanity that
made
her drown in a stream.
As Hamlet was hiding in the graveyard, a
funeral procession approached him, but he did not know whose funeral it
was. Hamlet finally found that it was
Ophelia who had died. Even though Hamlet
was hurt emotionally, Laertes was the one who was hurt the worst. Laertes had these worlds to say, ³O treble
woe/ Fall ten times treble on that cursed head/ Whose wicked deed thy most
ingenious sense/ Deprived thee of.²(5.1, 246-248) Laertes blamed Hamlet for the
deaths of Polonius and Ophelia and challenged Hamlet to a fencing dual which
would be rigged by Claudius and Laertes.
The end of Laerte¹s sword would be poisoned; as a backup plan, if Hamlet
would happen to win, the King would toast Hamlet¹s victory. Hamlet¹s drink would be poisoned, though.
During the fight, the queen drank the poisoned
wine and fell to her death. Laertes
landed a deadly blow to Hamlet; but in a scuffle, the swords exchanged hands
and Hamlet also landed a vital blow.
Laertes died there after a moment, but just before Hamlet died with
Laertes, he stabbed the King with the cursed sword. Hamlet also made Claudius drink the poisoned
wine. Before Hamlet spoke his last word,
he asked Horatio to tell people what happened and give the throne to
Fortinbras, a neighboring leader.
Just after Hamlet died, Horatio had these words
to say of Hamlet, ³Now cracks a noble heart, good night sweet prince,/ And
flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.² (5.2, 361-362) These famous words
will be remembered for a long time.
Even though Hamlet dies he still accomplishes
his mission of bringing down Claudius.
Denmark now, will have a good King who will not commit any conspiracy
against the people.
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