Sweet, Sweet Revenge, Or Is It?
Revenge. Getting even. An eye for an eye. This is what Hamlet thinks about vengeance. He believes that if someone does a wrong, then the way to make them pay is to do the same to them. Satisfaction of bereavement is only achieved by the destruction of the life responsible for the death. Revenge is useless, leaving more damage than contentment. The futility of revenge leaves Hamlet to believe that he’s avenged his mother’s death, though he achieves nothing in the process.
“Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (I. v. 25). Hamlet’s father appears to him saying that his uncle, who now wears the crown, murdered him. Hamlet tells the ghost of his father, “Haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge,” (I. v. 29-32). He tells the spirit that he will avenge his death. He asks about what to do with his mother, because she has remarried, to the same man who killed his father. The ghost tells him, “taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven, and to those thorns that in her boson lodge to prick and sting her,” (I. v. 85-88). He wants Hamlet to leave her alone because she has done nothing wrong. However, Hamlet puts off killing the man responsible for his father’s death. He has many chances to kill, and then he backs out. He doesn’t want to kill his uncle, unless it is at the perfect moment, when the murderer will suffer for his sins. He wants to get even. If his father suffers, then the fiend who put him in that place will suffer with him.
Hamlet had a chance to kill his uncle when he was praying. No one was around, no one could see it happen, no one would know. But, it wasn’t perfect. He says, “And so I am revenged. That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and for that, I, his sole son, do the same villain send to heaven,” (III. iii. 75-78). He can’t kill the man while he prays for forgiveness for his sins. It wouldn’t be a punishment. Like chess, all the players have to be in the right position for the king to be taken. If he is going to die, he must be killed while he is guilty and uncleansed of his sins, and so everyone else knows of his sins. Hamlet wants the king to experience the same pain that his father felt. It must be the same payment, or its not revenge.
At the end of the play, Hamlet kills the king. However, he acts out for his mother who was poisoned by his uncle. After he kills the king, Hamlet says, “Horatio, I am dead: Thou livest; report me and my cause aright to the unsatisfied,” (V. ii. 317-319). Then, Hamlet drinks the poison and dies. His dying words were, “on Fortinbras. He has my dying voice. So tell him, with th’ occurrents, more or less, which have solicited—the rest is silence,” (V. ii. 335-337). The silence means that he has finished what he was supposed to do, and he can rest knowing that he has done what was right. He has killed the murderous king, and avenged his parents’ death. Yet, he dies, his parents are dead, he achieves nothing. He’s dead, he has achieved nothing from revenge, therefore, he hasn’t achieved revenge at all. He can’t save his father or his mother by killing the man responsible for their deaths. It’s one life for three. His father’s, mother’s, and his, Hamlet doesn’t get even. He avenges no one.
Revenge solves nothing. It doesn’t help anyone, and it introduces more problems than it concludes. In Hamlet, he believed that he avenged his parent’s death, but they were both dead. There was no eye for an eye. It was a life for three. Hamlet killed himself thinking that he took vengeance, but he resolved nil. If he won, why was everyone dead? He waited for the right chance to kill his uncle, but he waited until his mother, too, was murdered. It wasn’t a fair trade. The king was one life, but Hamlet’s parents were two, plus Hamlet’s life as well because he believes that it was an even payment. However, nothing was gained by anyone in this battle, because Hamlet’s parents were dead forever, along with him, as well as the king. Nothing was an even punishment. Revenge, useless and absurd, wasn’t achieved by Hamlet.
“Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (I. v. 25). Hamlet’s father appears to him saying that his uncle, who now wears the crown, murdered him. Hamlet tells the ghost of his father, “Haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge,” (I. v. 29-32). He tells the spirit that he will avenge his death. He asks about what to do with his mother, because she has remarried, to the same man who killed his father. The ghost tells him, “taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven, and to those thorns that in her boson lodge to prick and sting her,” (I. v. 85-88). He wants Hamlet to leave her alone because she has done nothing wrong. However, Hamlet puts off killing the man responsible for his father’s death. He has many chances to kill, and then he backs out. He doesn’t want to kill his uncle, unless it is at the perfect moment, when the murderer will suffer for his sins. He wants to get even. If his father suffers, then the fiend who put him in that place will suffer with him.
Hamlet had a chance to kill his uncle when he was praying. No one was around, no one could see it happen, no one would know. But, it wasn’t perfect. He says, “And so I am revenged. That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and for that, I, his sole son, do the same villain send to heaven,” (III. iii. 75-78). He can’t kill the man while he prays for forgiveness for his sins. It wouldn’t be a punishment. Like chess, all the players have to be in the right position for the king to be taken. If he is going to die, he must be killed while he is guilty and uncleansed of his sins, and so everyone else knows of his sins. Hamlet wants the king to experience the same pain that his father felt. It must be the same payment, or its not revenge.
At the end of the play, Hamlet kills the king. However, he acts out for his mother who was poisoned by his uncle. After he kills the king, Hamlet says, “Horatio, I am dead: Thou livest; report me and my cause aright to the unsatisfied,” (V. ii. 317-319). Then, Hamlet drinks the poison and dies. His dying words were, “on Fortinbras. He has my dying voice. So tell him, with th’ occurrents, more or less, which have solicited—the rest is silence,” (V. ii. 335-337). The silence means that he has finished what he was supposed to do, and he can rest knowing that he has done what was right. He has killed the murderous king, and avenged his parents’ death. Yet, he dies, his parents are dead, he achieves nothing. He’s dead, he has achieved nothing from revenge, therefore, he hasn’t achieved revenge at all. He can’t save his father or his mother by killing the man responsible for their deaths. It’s one life for three. His father’s, mother’s, and his, Hamlet doesn’t get even. He avenges no one.
Revenge solves nothing. It doesn’t help anyone, and it introduces more problems than it concludes. In Hamlet, he believed that he avenged his parent’s death, but they were both dead. There was no eye for an eye. It was a life for three. Hamlet killed himself thinking that he took vengeance, but he resolved nil. If he won, why was everyone dead? He waited for the right chance to kill his uncle, but he waited until his mother, too, was murdered. It wasn’t a fair trade. The king was one life, but Hamlet’s parents were two, plus Hamlet’s life as well because he believes that it was an even payment. However, nothing was gained by anyone in this battle, because Hamlet’s parents were dead forever, along with him, as well as the king. Nothing was an even punishment. Revenge, useless and absurd, wasn’t achieved by Hamlet.