In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, revenge is one of the most prominent themes throughout the play. Prince Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is driven to avenge his father, the late King Hamlet’s death after speaking to him from beyond the grave. Two other plots of revenge are Prince Fortinbras wanting to reclaim his father’s land and Laertes wanting to avenge his father, Polonius, by killing Hamlet. As soon as the play starts revenge is spoken about; this is a conversation between the Ghost of the late King Hamlet and Hamlet, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. Murder? Murder most foul, as in the best it is, But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. Haste me to know ‘t, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge.
” (Lines 1.5.31-37) The people were told that King Hamlet died from a snake bite, but in the conversation, he tells Hamlet that it was murder.
Murder by his brother, and now King Claudius and then after he died, Claudius seduced his wife, Hamlet’s mother, G. So, not only is King Claudius guilty of murder but also insist and adultery. Hamlet did not know for sure if the Ghost is really his father or the devil to trick him into killing the king. He decides to wait and come up with a plan.
When he sees a group of actors, he knows that this is the perfect chance for him to find out the truth. Prince Hamlet’s plan is to have the actors act out the murder as told by the Ghost. If King Claudius reacts to the scene, then Hamlet knows he is the murderer. According to Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by Foster, Edward E., “Hamlet’s plan works. Claudius becomes so unnerved during the performance that he walks out before the end of the scene. Convinced by the king’s actions that the ghost was right, Hamlet no longer has a reason to delay carrying out the wishes of his dead father. Even so, he fails to take advantage of his first chance to kill Claudius.
Hamlet comes upon the king alone and unguarded in an attitude of prayer. He refrains from killing him, however, because he does not want the king to die in a state of grace: He wants to send him to hell, not to heaven.” which shows that Hamlet being convinced of Claudius’s guilt. Hamlet makes the decision that Claudius must pay for his father’s death and now he has nothing to hold him back.
Regardless, Hamlet does not kill Claudius at the first chance he gets. He did not kill Claudius at his first chance because he was in the presence of grace and wanted him to be sent to hell. Before the Prince gets another chance to kill the King, he is summoned by his mother to come into her chambers.
During the heated discussion between the Queen and her son, she screamed for help when Hamlet realized there was a spy eavesdropping. There was a small noise being a curtain, and without a second thought, he plunged the sword through the tapestry, stabbing whoever was behind it. Which turns out to be Polonius the Chamberlin.
Soon after, the King fears for his own life, knowing that Hamlet is a viable threat. After Polonius is killed by Prince Hamlet, his son returns from France to avenge his father’s death. At first, he thought that King Claudius killed his father but he soon learned that it was actually the Prince.
