The world is constantly destroyed externally by environmental factors, yet it is also destroyed internally by acts of evil. While there are only so many ways humans can mend what those external factors inflict on the world, there are concrete measures humans can take to restore what evil does to this world. One of those measure is that of revenge; explored in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Hamlet is, a play, about how a Prince Hamlet’s life that becomes distorted after the death of his father which leads his mother to marry his Uncle Claudius.
Shakespeare uses Hamlet in order to highlight the true power nd righteousness behind revenge. evil, is evil when done unlawfully. Hamlet’s father the King’s death was said to be by the bite of a snake but brought into question when the Ghost informs Hamlet otherwise. As the Ghost spoke to Hamlet he said, “Murder most foul, as in the best it is/ But this most foul, strange and unnatural” (I. v. 33-34). Death most often not The Ghost informs Hamlet that his father’s death was indeed a murder. That this murder was more complex and grotesque than any other.
The evil created in this murder was so great that the Ghost said, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (I. v. 31). The Ghost pinpoints that this murder was so evil it had to be revenged. Since the murder was committed, “by a brother’s hand” (I. v. 81). Thus illustrating that Claudius, Hamlet’s then uncle and now King and step-father killed his father. The act was so evil indeed for the fact that a brother killed his own brother in order to obtain the crown and his wife. His crime is two-fold that of murder and adultery.
If the Ghost tells us anything, it tells us that the crimes of Claudius are so insupportable that Nature itself has broken form, thrusting itself “unnaturally” into the human order to insure that the crimes will not go npunished” (Hallett 189). In order for the world to go back to the way it was before this evil was committed Hamlet must obtain revenge. In obtaining revenge he would be putting everything back in order. Although Hamlet must revenge the death of his father it is not as simple as the Ghost made it out to be.
Hamlet equipped with the truth must take the right course of action in order to obtain revenge. The Ghost made it clear to Hamlet who killed his father and how he is supposed to go about acquiring revenge. The Ghost says, “If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not/ Let not the royal bed of Denmark be/ A couch or luxury and damned incest/ But howsoever thou pursuest this act/ Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive/ Against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven/And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge/ To prick and sting her (I. . 88-95).
The Ghost denotes that Hamlet in being the good human being he is must get revenge and not although for the crown of Denmark to be that of adultery. However, Hamlet goes about obtaining this revenge do it without hurting his mother or his mind. Also that his mother will one day pay for her sins to just not at the hand of Hamlet. It is this continued manifestation of illustrating the mportance of revenge. Hamlet must not stand by while such evil prevailed in the palace that if he is a good person he will do something about it.
Furthermore his mother clearly has sinned as well like Claudius yet Hamlet must not do anything about that. The revenge his mother deserves and one day will obtain will be in hell in the form of something that Hamlet can not deliver. The concept of revenge at this point highlights how for every evil there is something out there to undo it. In the case of Hamlet’s mother’s evil versus Claudius’ his is worse and is truly doing something to the world which is why Hamlet must kill him. It is the true evils of this world in which Claudius did that have to be undone at the hand of another person through revenge.
Revenge proves to be more powerful than Hamlet realizes. Hamlet wanted proof for himself that his uncle killed his dad, and once he received that he was given a prime opportunity to kill Claudius. Hamlet sees Claudius alone and says, “Now might I do it Now he is a-praying/ And now l’ll do ‘t/ And so he goes to heaven/ And so am I That would be scanned/ A villain kills my father, and, for that/ I, his sole son, do this same villain send/To heaven” (III. iii. 77-83). In seeing Claudius his initial reaction was this is the perfect time to seek his revenge.
After deliberation Hamlet realizes that if he kills him while he is praying than that gives him no true punishment but a ticket to Heaven. Hamlet believes that this is finally his moment for revenge yet he realizes that if he kills Claudius while he is praying than it is not true revenge. That Claudius would surely go to Heaven and not suffer like Hamlet’s father did if he was killed in that situation. Hamlet failed to realize that revenge is revenge. That regardless of what Claudius is doing when he is killed, Hamlet would still be ndoing the evil of Claudius’ initial actions.
We are shown, however, that if Hamlet had killed Claudius at this point, order in the rotten state of Denmark, as in the invisible realm, might well have been restored.. In any case, Claudius’s death here (as we realize later) would have prevented that of Polonius, and therefore those of Laertes, Ophelia, and Gertrude, not to mention Rosencranz and Guildenstern, even if Hamlet himself did not escape death. And, in the other realm, Claudius would probably have been consigned to the very perdition Hamlet wishes for him” (Rappaport 86).
Revenge whether done in the most ideal plan or not still serves its purpose as a justifiable act in order to right society. in order to highlight the true power and righteousness of revenge. Shakespeare is able to do this through the role of the Ghost, Claudius’ evil versus that of Hamlet’s mom, and Hamlet’s William Shakespeare utilizes Hamlet attempt at killing Claudius. The Ghost points out to Hamlet that revenge was necessary for the fact that Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, killed his dad and married his mom. Those such evils then unhinged the balance of Denmark now needed revenge to be settle.
Claudius’ evil versus that of Hamlet’s mom are different due to the fact Claudius unsettled the balance and his mom committed adultery. Ultimately if Hamlet had killed Claudius instead of attempting that would have settled the balance. Murder is just one example how evil destroys this world from the inside out. The way to balance out that evil is to seek revenge for it puts the world back on kilter. Revenge not alway in the sene of an eye for an eye, but understanding that every time evil in this world is committed it affects something else the only way to fix that is by undoing the evils of this world.