ANALYSIS OF HAMLET’S REVENGE IN
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S DRAMA
“The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark ”
A PAPER
BY:
LOLYTA CLAUDIA
12130022
DARMA
PERSADA UNIVERSITY
FACULTY
OF LETTERS
STRATA-1
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
JAKARTA
2013/2014
CHAPTER
I
A.
BACKGROUND
The play is considered as Renaissance.
The play tells us a lot about treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption.
It also tells us much about the sadness of most moving characters, Prince
Hamlet.
Set
in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatizes the revenge Prince Hamlet exacts
on his uncle Claudius for murdering King Hamlet, Claudius's brother and Prince
Hamlet's father, and then succeeding to the throne and taking as his wife
Gertrude, the old king's widow and Prince Hamlet's mother.
CHAPTER II
B.
ANALYSIS
The
plays begin with ghost of King Hamlet, Prince Hamlet’s father. On that moment,
Prince Hamlet is still mourn with the death of his father. His sadness
increases again when his uncle succeeding to the throne and married with Gertrude,
Prince Hamlet’s mother, within a month of Prince Hamlet father’s death. But he
can’t express his feelings to anyone.
“….Within a month, ere yet the salt
of most unrighteous tears had left the flushing in her gallèd eyes, she
married. O most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not nor it cannot come to good, but break, my heart, for I must hold my
tongue. (….Less
than a month after my father’s death, even before the tears on her cheeks had
dried, she remarried. Oh, so quick to jump into a bed of incest! That’s not
good, and no good can come of it either. But my heart must break in silence,
since I can’t mention my feelings aloud.)” – Prince Hamlet
Act
1, Scene 2
The
Hamlet’s revenge begins when Horatio and Marcellus tells him about his father’s
ghost. Hamlet becomes curious and want to see his father’s ghost. When his
father appeared, Hamlet tried to chasing the ghost. Finally he meets with his
father’s ghost. The ghost asks Hamlet to avenge the killers, that is Claudius,
his brother and Hamlet’s uncle. On that moment, Hamlet make a promises to the
ghost to kill Claudius.
So
art thou to revenge when thou shalt hear. (You must be ready for revenge, too,
when you hear me out.) – Ghost
Act 1 Scene 5
Haste me to know ’t, that I, with
wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge.
(Hurry
and tell me about it, so I can take revenge right away, faster than a person
falls in love.) – Hamlet
Act
1 Scene 5
Hamlet’s revenge begin with pretends to be insane.
He makes a drama for King about a brother who kill his brother to becomes a
King. Hamlet must first establish
Claudius’ guilt, which he does in Act 3, Scene 2 by presenting the murder of his father in a play.
When Claudius storms out during the performance, Hamlet becomes convinced of
his guilt.
Thoughts
black, hands apt, drugs fit, and time agreeing, Confederate season, else no creature seeing, Thou mixture rank, of midnight weeds
collected, With Hecate’s ban
thrice blasted, thrice infected, Thy
natural magic and dire property On
wholesome life usurp immediately. (pours
poison into PLAYER KING ’s
ears) (Evil thoughts, ready hands, the right
poison, and the time is right too. The dark night is on my side, for no one can
see me. You deadly mixture of weeds and plants, which Hecate, goddess of
witchcraft, has put a spell on, use your magic to steal this healthy person’s
life away. (pours the poison into the PLAYER KING ’s
ears)) – Lucianus (play become king’s nephew)
Act 3
Scene 2
Then Polonius talk with Gertrude. When Hamlet want
to meet Gertrude, Polonius hides behind the tapestry. When Gertrude debate with Hamlet,
Gertrude think Hamlet want to kill her. So Gertrude scream help. Polonius
afraid and scream help too. Then Hamlet stabs
his sword through the tapestry and kills Polonius.
What
wilt thou do? Thou wilt not murder me? Help, help, ho! (
What are you going to do? You won’t kill me, will you? Help!) – Gertrude
(from
behind the arras) What, ho? Help, help, help! ((from behind the tapestry) Hey!
Help, help, help!) – Polonius
How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat,
dead! (What’s this, a
rat? I’ll bet a buck he’s a dead rat now. ) – Hamlet
(stabs his sword through the arras
and kills Polonius) (he stabs
his sword through the tapestry and kills Polonius)
(from behind the arras) Oh, I am slain. ((from behind the tapestry) Oh, I’ve been killed!) – Polonius
Act 3 Scene 4
After
killing Polonius, Hamlet is sent to England making it impossible for him to
gain access to Claudius and carry out his revenge. During his trip, he decides
to become more headstrong in his desire for revenge. And daughter
of Polonius, Ophelia, becomes crazy knowing who killed his father was someone
she loved, Hamlet. Then Laertes, Polonius's oldest son, who continued his
studies in France back home. He want to revenge to Hamlet on his father's
death. He hate Hamlet more when his beloved sister Ophelia drowned in to lake.
The chance was not wasted by King Claudius.
And so have I a noble father lost, a
sister driven into desperate terms, Whose worth, if praises may go back again,
Stood challenger on mount of all the age For her perfections. But my revenge
will come. (And
so I’ve lost my noble father, had my sister driven insane—my sister who once
was (if I can praise her for what she once was, not what she is now) the most
perfect girl who ever lived. But I’ll get my revenge.) – Laertes
Act 4 Scene 7
Hamlet
who escaped from the ship that took him to England, still wants to avenge his
father’s death. Hamlet finally back home, while Laertes had conspired with King
Claudius to kill Hamlet. When Hamlet home, Hamlet and Laertes sword duel. King
Claudius prepares been poisoned wine to drink Hamlet when Hamlet wins. And
applying the same poison on the tip of Laertes sword.
Stay, give me drink.—Hamlet, this
pearl is thine. Here’s to thy health. (Give
me a goblet.—Hamlet, this pearl’s yours. Here’s to your health.) – Claudius
CLAUDIUS drops
a pearl into a cup.
Act
5 Scene 2
But
the wine that should be drunk by Hamlet taken by the Queen. Laertes poisoned
the blade and blade and attack to scraping Hamlet’s body. Hamlet and Laertes
duel again, then Laertes’s sword being exchange with Hamet’s sword. Hamlet was
scraping it to Laertes When the queen dies, Laertes said that he collaborate
with Claudius to kill Hamlet. Hamlet hate Claudius more. Hamlet then kills
Claudius with poison. And Hamlet and Laertes death the same by poison.
It is here, Hamlet. Hamlet, thou art
slain. No medicine in the world can do thee good. In thee there is not half an
hour of life. The treacherous instrument is in thy hand, Unbated and envenomed.
The foul practice Hath turned itself on me. Lo, here I lie, Never to rise
again. Thy mother’s poisoned. I can no more. The king, the king’s to blame. (I’m the one, Hamlet. Hamlet, you’re
dead. No medicine in the world can cure you. You don’t have more than half an
hour to live. The treacherous weapon is right in your hand, sharp and dipped in
poison. The foul plan backfired on me. Here I lie and will never get up again.
Your mother’s been poisoned. I can’t speak anymore. The king, the king’s to
blame.) – Laertes
Act 5 Scene 2
Here, thou incestuous, murderous,
damnèd Dane, Drink off this potion. Is thy union here? Follow my mother. (Here, you goddamn incest-breeding
Danish murderer, drink this. Is your little pearl in there? Follow my mother.)
– Hamlet
HAMLET forces CLAUDIUS to drink. CLAUDIUS dies.
Act 5 Scene 2
Before
death of Hamlet, Horatio want to kill himself because Hamlet, his best friend,
die. But Hamlet stopped Horatio and asks him to tell his story.
Never believe it. I am more an
antique Roman than a Dane. Here’s yet some liquor left. (lifts the poisoned cup) (Not
for a second. I’m more like an ancient Roman than a corrupt modern Dane. Some
of this liquor’s still left in the goblet. (he picks up the poisoned cup to drink)) – Horatio
As thou'rt a man, Give me the cup.
Let go! By heaven, I’ll have ’t. (takes
cup from HORATIO) O
God, Horatio, what a wounded name, Things standing thus unknown, shall live
behind me! If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart Absent thee from felicity a
while, And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain To tell my story. (Please, give me that goblet, if you
love me. Let go of it! I’ll get it from you, I swear. Oh God, Horatio, what a
damaged reputation I’m leaving behind me, as no one knows the truth. If you
ever loved me, then please postpone the sweet relief of death awhile, and stay
in this harsh world long enough to tell my story.) – Hamlet
Act 5 Scene 2
And
Prince Norway, Fortinbras, give Hamlet a honor because his story. Then
Fortinbras take kingdom of Denmark.
Let four captains Bear Hamlet like a
soldier to the stage, For he was likely, had he been put on, To have proved
most royally. And, for his passage, The soldiers' music and the rites of war
Speak loudly for him. Take up the bodies. Such a sight as this Becomes the
field, but here shows much amiss. Go, bid the soldiers shoot. (Let four captains carry Hamlet like
a soldier onto the stage. He would have been a great king if he had had the
chance to prove himself. Military music and military rites will speak for his
heroic qualities. Pick up the corpses. A sight like this suits a battlefield,
but here at court it shows that much went wrong. Go outside and tell the
soldiers to fire their guns in honor of Hamlet.) – Fortinbras
Act 5 Scene 2
CHAPTER III
C.
CONCLUSION
In Shakespeare’s novel “The Tragedy of
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” because Hamlet saw ghost of his father, so he want
to revenge. So the death of all it’s
because Hamlet’s inability to take action. Hamlet’s revenge is ineffectual.
Once he decides to take action, he delays any action until the end of the play.
Hamlet is revealed as overly analytical and indecisive through his attempts to
avenge his father’s death. Throughout the play, Hamlet is overwhelmed by his
feeling of revenge but hesitates in the murder of Claudius due to his fear of
making the wrong decision. One hindrance to Hamlet’s ability to execute actions
is his religious reasoning. He often thinks about the afterlife and the quality
of a person’s afterlife according to his situation at the moment of death.
Hamlet’s intent to uphold his father’s
request becomes questionable with his delay in the murder of Claudius. Hamlet
is given the perfect opportunity to kill Claudius, but he feels that Claudius
is not in an appropriate state for his death. Claudius seems to be praying for
forgiveness when Hamlet finds this opportunity, and Hamlet feels that if he
murdered him during prayer, he would dishonor his father by sending Claudius to
heaven. Hamlet says, “A villain kills my father, and for that,/ I, his sole
son, do this same villain send/ To heaven (Act III/Scene III). He lacks focus
on the primary goal presented to him by his father’s spirit and tends to over
think, showing a weakness in Hamlet.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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