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Hamlet Critical Lens

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Hamlet Critical Lens
Ivan Gergi Hamlet Critical Lens L.M. Montgomery once wrote, “…we pay a price for everything we get or take in the world…” Everyone pays a price for any acts that they have committed, even if their intentions were good at heart. This quote is true because nothing in this world is gained without some type of sacrifice. In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet and in John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men the characters pay a price after they have completed their In the William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet the Prince of Denmark is plotting to kill his uncle, who is the king because he poisoned his father, the previous king. The theme of the play is revenge and the protagonist, Hamlet is characterized as being fully devoted to avenging his father, no matter the cost. After two months of mourning for his dead father, Hamlet encounters his father’s ghost, who tells him that it was his brother, King Claudius who killed him. Hamlet then promises his father that he will get revenge on Claudius however, his inability to act prolongs Claudius’s death. Hamlet must first find out if it was actually his father’s ghost and not Satan trying to trick him so he modifies a play that shows a similarity to the murder of Hamlet’s father at the hand of Claudius. Claudius leaves before the play before it ends and berates himself for the murder, “Oh, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven. It has the eldest primal curse on it, a brother’s murder.” Therefore, Claudius will pay the price for killing Hamlet’s father by losing his throne, his wife, and even his own life. Hamlet will also pay greatly for avenging his father. He will lose Ophelia, the woman he loves who drownes herself after her father, Polonius is killed by Hamlet who thought it was Claudius. He will lose his mother, Gertrude who drinks wine that was poisoned by Claudius and intended for Hamlet. Hamlet will also lose his own life after being stabbed with a poisoned sword by Larates in a fencing duel, who was seeking revenge for his dead father, Polonius. However, the loses aren’t for nothing because Hamlet manages to kill Claudius by forcing him to drink from the poisoned cup that killed his mother.

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