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Hamlet: The Mender of a Broken Family

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Hamlet: The Mender of a Broken Family
Katie Markey
LACR 210 05
October 30th, 2012

Hamlet; The Mender of a Broken Family

In Shakespeare’s famous Hamlet, Hamlet is driven by a singular goal; to exact revenge on his uncle for his father’s murder, and by achieving this goal, to set his broken world right again. His revenge is slow, meticulous, and well thought through. If his revenge is not done at the right moment, Hamlet will not be able to achieve his goal: Not only wants to make Claudius pay for his father’s murder, but he wants to punish him in the worst way he knows: eternal damnation. He wants Claudius to suffer in the worst way he knows, and in the same way his father was forced to suffer. Hamlet’s extravagant plan on vengeance is an attempt to right the wrong that Claudius has set on him.
The single act of Claudius murdering the King sets a world of wrongs on Hamlet, his family, and his God. It is Hamlet’s self-claimed duty to dispel the wrongs that have been set upon him. Each of these aspects that has been broken is what motivates Hamlet to act in the manner that he does. He acts to fix a broken family, a broken self, a broken promise, and a broken God. It’s not about how he lives in this broken world of his. In fact, it’s quite the opposite; Hamlet is about his effort to correct his world so he won’t have to live in a broken world. Exacting revenge on Claudius in the meticulous way that he does is his attempt at avenging everything that is important to him, and everything that is broken.
The need to fix a broken family is one of the most powerful forms of motivation that moves Hamlet to seek vengeance. The problems of his family come in the relationships between Hamlet and his mother, his uncle, and the ghost of his father. The motivation behind Hamlet’s need for Claudius’ suffering is extremely personal. It is well deserved; Claudius has completely ravaged Hamlet’s family. In an attempt to grab at power, Claudius has murdered Hamlet’s father and stolen his mother. His family is
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