Having A Strong Desire For Revenge In Hamlet By William Shakespeare

The play Hamlet by William Shakespeare illustrates how having a strong desire for revenge, changes a person. This message is expressed through the protagonist of the play, Hamlet, who is driven by the murder of his father, to take vengeance on the king. Throughout the story, Hamlet's character transforms from being hesitant to kill the king, to being a cold-blooded killer. Hamlet’s strong desire for revenge is ultimately the thing that ends up changing him for the worst. The main conflict in this play revolves around Hamlet and the antagonist, King Claudius. At the beginning of the book, Hamlet is approached by his father’s ghost who informs Hamlet that his death was not natural instead, he was murdered. Hamlet is shocked by this revelation and is very eager to revenge his father’s death, replying “Haste me to know 't, that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge” (1:5:29). This quote reveals that Hamlet is willing to act on his father’s death, without knowing who the murderer is.
The ghost replies “the serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown” (1:5:39), which reveals that Claudius murdered him so he could claim the throne. Hamlet becomes devastated by this and is uncertain whether to act since he
He is thinking about how the soldiers are willing to fight and lose their lives over a tiny piece of territory when he cannot bring himself to kill even though his reason is more valid. He states “how stand I, then, that have a father killed, a mother stained, excitements of my reason and my blood, and let all sleep” (4:5:56) which means that he is ashamed that these men will fight and he will not, even though his uncle had killed his father and ruined his mother. This is the moment when Hamlet completely changes and is now driven by vengeance to kill the king. From this point on, Hamlet is no longer hesitant to