In the play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, there were three characters all in a struggle to avenge a loved one. For one, Hamlet was the son of a murdered father. The current king, Claudius, was the one who killed King Hamlet. Hamlet swore to avenge his father’s untimely murder. Also, Laertes felt the need to avenge his murdered father, Polonius, as well. Hamlet murdered Polonius by accident when he thought it was the King during a discussion with his mother, Gertrude. Finally, there is Fortinbras. His father was killed in battle by King Hamlet. Fortinbras wanted to avenge his father’s death by taking the land of Denmark in battle.
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First and foremost, Fortinbras makes only two small appearances in Hamlet. However he is referred to many times. The king makes an attempt to stop the pursuit of Fortinbras taking over Denmark and Fortinbras responds with the news that he will attack Poland and leave Denmark be. At the very end, when everyone except for Horatio stands in a room of dead bodies, Fortinbras enters with his army, accompanied by ambassadors from England who have come to inform Claudius that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been executed. With the throne of Denmark now in need of a King, Fortinbras is to be crowned ruler. Fortinbras also compares to Hamlet in many ways. Like Hamlet, he is extremely motivated by the death of his father, who, just like Hamlet and his father, share a name. On the other hand, Fortinbras also serves as a foil for Hamlet. While the Danish prince is hesitant, Fortinbras is quick-tempered and impulsive. His mind is set on avenging his father at any cost. Fortinbras, unlike Hamlet, has been taking action even before the play begins. Denmark is in a state of alert as soon as the play opens. The audience learns that Denmark needs to be prepared for an attack; the audience also learns that Fortinbras is getting ready his “lawless resolutes” for an attack against Denmark for the killing of his father and for the return of lands previously owned by Norway, (Hamlet I.i.79-107).
In addition to Fortinbras, Laertes, brother of Ophelia and son of Polonius, is another man with the goal and mind-set of vengeance. During Laertes’s absence, Hamlet kills Polonius in Gertrude’s room. Laertes finds out about this dreadful murder and returns with only one thing on his mind. Vengeance. Laertes blames the King, with thoughts that he was the real killer. The King explains to him that Hamlet was the one to blame and that he should pursue to kill Hamlet and avenge Polonius’ death.
When Ophelia went crazy, Laertes worried more and become increasingly angry. Then, when Ophelia drowns, the urge to kill Hamlet becomes uncontrollable and he strongly pursues this goal at all costs. King Claudius arranges a fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes. Laertes, in his pursuit to kill Hamlet, uses a sharpened sword instead of the usual dull sword used in fencing. The King decides to deduce a backup plan. He uses a poisoned drink. Before the match begins, Hamlet apologizes in front of the huge crowd to Laertes for the wrongs he has dealt him. Laertes accepts this repentance but continues his plan of vengeance. Hamlet is cut with the poisoned sword but the fight continues. Then, Hamlet manages to obtain the poisoned sword. Hamlet strategically wounds Laertes with the poisoned sword and he falls. He dies.
Finally, Hamlet is weird about his vengeance. Hamlet, after learning that Claudius kills his father he swears to have his revenge but waits and makes sure that what he knows that it is an absolute fact that Claudius killed King Hamlet. Even after every doubt leaves his head, Hamlet still hesitates and still fails to follow through.
“How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more” (Hamlet IV.iv.32-35).
Fortinbras plan to attack sparks a thought in Hamlet’s mind. The fact that Hamlet lacks the will to carry out his revenge haunts poor Hamlet’s mind. Hamlet is thinking about the immense amount of time wasted when he could have been acting upon his thoughts. He sees that everyone around his are acting on their goals when he, himself, is hesitating and wasting time. Next Hamlet describes Fortinbras. He addresses the audience to:
“Witness this army of such mass and charge
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puf’d
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death and danger dare,
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honour’s at the stake” (Hamlet IV.iv.47-56).
These lines describe Fortinbras very well. These lines show us, as the audience, that he is an ambitious and young prince who will risk it all for the things he needs to accomplish, even if it is not the greatest thing.
A major aspect of the play, Hamlet, is definitely vengeance. Throughout the entire play there are numerous characters out to get their revenge on someone else. These three discussed in this essay all had some things in common but also a few differences. All three wanted to get revenge due to the untimely murder of their fathers. Hamlet killing Polonius caused Laertes to want and pursue revenge on Hamlet. King Hamlet, Hamlet’s father, killed King Fortinbras, father of young Fortinbras, in battle and cause young Fortinbras to seek revenge on Denmark for the death of his father and to take back land that he believes is rightfully his. Claudius killed Hamlet’s father and causes Hamlet to want to kill Claudius for revenge. Revenge is the main driving force in the play Hamlet, and is also one reason why it is categorized as a tragedy. Hamlet makes revenge everything in his entire life. This consumes his thoughts and makes him a little crazy. It is this rage and thirst for vengeance that eventually leads him down a path to madness and murder. Revenge was the driving force behind three of the main characters of the play, for two it led to downfall, and for the other it led to greatness.
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