2

Object 1
4

While the conventional revenge tragedy protagonist accepts their role as an avenger
early in the play and is determined in their mission to extract revenge, Hamlet is very

s introspective and spends a displays a large amount of moral consideration. In the

internal struggle of Hamlet, we see the conflict between the two views of revenge
prevalent in the period-the Roman view that people should stand up against secular
injustice and the Christian values of humility and acceptance, the belief that people

o
Object 3
2

should have faith in a higher power to administrate justice. Hamlet wonders whether
it is right to take revenge and cause further bloodshed or to not extract revenge and
allow the corrupt justice system lead by Claudius to continue to reign.

u
In the play, Shakespeare foregrounds the internal struggle of the protagonist.
Although there is an external conflict in the play (between Hamlet and Claudius), the
the conflict within Hamlet is the centre of attention. While most revenge tragedies
focus on the material obstacles that the revenger must overcome in order to extract

r revenge, in Hamlet it is the revenger’s conscience that is the main impediment.

Hamlet’s hesitation delays action greatly and eventually causes his downfall. From
the beginning of the play, Hamlet is in a position to quite easily murder Claudius, this

c
is made clear when Laetres returns to avenge his father and confronts Claudius in a
situation where he could have easily killed him. The fact that Hamlet is not hindered
by the material obstacles which dominate the plot of most revenge tragedies shift’s
the audience’s attention to the characters.

e In many Elizabethan revenge tragedies, the revenger’s sense of right and wrong is
obscured, however, they are rarely depicted as being completely uncertain, as
Hamlet’s is. For example, in “The Spanish Tragedy”, though Hieronimo, the
revenger, sometimes questions the nature of justice, a supernatural chorus repeatedly
gives him clear moral guidance. By contrast, whenever the supernatural is present in
Hamlet, no definite answers are provided for the revenger, there is never the sense
that the interference of the supernatural has removed Hamlet’s responsibility for

o
handling his problems as in the aforementioned play. As Hamlet is not given the
moral certainty that most revengers receive, he is much more in control of his own
destiny.

f Shakespeare’s Hamlet is complex and multifaceted play bringing together many themes. It
is evident that in writing Hamlet, Shakespeare, to some extent, adopted the dramatic
conventions of revenge tragedy. Revenge proved to be popular theme for Elizabethan
dramatists and the audience. Although it was a wild justice, Elizabethan audience
considered vengeance to be a pious duty laid upon the next of kin. The old law claimed an
eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; vengeance demanded both the eyes, a jaw full of teeth,

t
and above all the victim should go direct to hell there to live in everlasting torment. A
perfect revenge therefore needed great artistry.

Hamlet is a play that very closely follows the dramatic conventions of revenge tragedy. All
revenge tragedies originally stemmed from the Greeks, who wrote and performed the first
plays. After the Greeks came Seneca who was particularly influential to all Elizabethan
playwrights including William Shakespeare. The two most famous English revenge
tragedies written in the Elizabethan era were Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare and
The Spanish Tragedy, written by Thomas Kyd. These two plays used almost all of the
conventions for revenge tragedies in one way or the other. Hamlet especially incorporated
all revenge conventions which truly made Hamlet a typical revenge play.

During Elizabethan era revenge plays were well acclaimed. Most of them were a typical
revenge tragedy, a melodrama with so many turns and twists to keep the audience spell-
bound. “Hamlet” as well as “The Spanish Tragedy” tackled almost all those areas that were
essential for the consummation of a great revenge tragedy.

Shakespeare in Hamlet employs the framework of Senecan Tragedy to convey the revenge
theme. But underneath the outer framework of Senecan Revenge Tragedy, lie key
Shakespearean themes of human condition, social indoctrination, the morality of the
ghost’s injunction, and the ethics of revenge.
The opening scene sets the tone of the play – a play shrouded in mystery and horror. The
ghost appears to the night guards, a shadowy figure resembling much in the dress and the
armour of the late king. The appearance of dead king’s ghost has a profound effect upon the
night guards as Marcellus remarks: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”.
Although Horatio will not believe in the ghost until witness of his eyes; it
appearance “harrows him with fear and wonder”. It is not made to speak rather “stalks
away majestically”. The ghost appears twice in the opening scene but does not vouchsafe a
reply to Horatio’s questions. Hamlet is amazed at the idea of his father’s apparition:
“My father’s spirit in arms! All is not well/ I doubt some foul play.”
Hamlet himself is dumbfounded at the sight the ghost. The ghost makes the shocking
revelation of its murder to Hamlet. It further enjoins on Hamlet the sacred duty of avenging
his “foul and the most un-natural murder”. The ghost’s injunctions are very clear:
“Let not the royal bed of Denmark be/A couch for luxury and damned incest”.

The awful revelation of the ghost forms the soul of the tragedy and drives the entire action.
Verity points out:
“Without the ghost’s initial revelation of truth to Hamlet, there would be no occasion
for revenge; in other words no tragedy of Hamlet.”
Hamlet’s mind is assailed with doubt whether or not this apparition is a demon sent from
hell, or if it is truly his father’s spirit which has come from purgatory, to divulge the horrors
of his murder, in the hope of revenge:
“The spirit that I have seen/ May be the devil and the devil hath power/To assume a
pleasing shape.”

To verify the truth of the ghost’s statement, Hamlet first feigns madness, and then gets
enacted mousetrap play to “catch the conscience of the king”. During the play Hamlet
closely watches Claudius’ reaction when the actors perform the murder scene. Hamlet's plan
works and his uncle in a fit of discomfort runs out the room, where Hamlet goes after him.
Now, Hamlet knows that Claudius is guilty.
Afterwards Hamlet finds Claudius at prayer, confessing his sins:“O, my offence is rank it
smells to heaven/It hath primal eldest curse upon it/A brother’s murder.”
He pulls out his sword and gets ready to kill Claudius. But suddenly Hamlet changes his
mind because if he kills his uncle while he is praying he will go to heaven, and Hamlet
wants him to go to hell. So Hamlet postpones the execution of his uncle at this point in the
play.

The next confrontation between Hamlet and Claudius does not happen till the end of the
book. Claudius hatches a plan according to which Hamlet and Laertes will have a mock
sword fight, but Laertes will be using a real poisoned sword. Laertes stabs him with the
poisoned sword then Hamlet takes hold of the poisoned sword, and stabs Laertes with it.
Meanwhile Queen Gertrude dies from the poisoned drink intended for Hamlet. As Laertes
lays down dying he reveals to Hamlet that his uncle King Claudius was behind it all. Hamlet
then in a fit of rage runs his uncle through with the poisoned sword. Hamlet has now finally
revenged his father but too late and at the cost of so many lives.

Hamlet fulfills all the conventions of typical revenge tragedy: there is murder, adultery,
insanity, incestuous marriage and faithfulness. Besides these, there is a melodramatic
element also – violence and bloodshed, terrible and blood-chilling scenes – which is in line
with the revenge tragedy conventions.

Hamlet is not a simple revenge tragedy. Shakespeare has woven complex threads of the
contrasting characters. Shakespeare has introduced characters like Laertes and Fortinbras
that are obviously foils to Hamlet. Fortinbras, the son of the slain king of Norway, is all hot
for action. He finds “quarrel in a straw” and intends to risk his life even for an “egg-
shell”. He travels many miles to take his revenge and ultimately succeeds in conquering
Denmark. When Hamlet murders Polonius, another revenge is ready to begin. Laertes is a
typical revenger who is capable of direct and headstrong revenge even at the cost of
damnation.
“To hell, allegiance! Vows to the blackest devil.” , he declares.
If Hamlet feels “Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all”, Laertes consigns
conscience to the devil, and will “cut his throat in the church”. Hamlet, on the other
hand, has to convert the external action of revenge into one that is internal, free and truly
moral.
Summing up, to say Hamlet merely a revenge tragedy would be to do a great injustice. It
would ignore play’s artistic superiority over other plays of this genre. It is only befitting that
its hero falls to the beautiful heavenly benediction of Horatio: “And flights of angels sing
thee to thy rest.”