Essay On Loyalty In Hamlet

Does Loyalty make people trust more or believe in them more than usual? Loyalty is a key to trust, because you to have someone's word for something and someone that will stick by your side. In Hamlet, loyalty has a major effect on the way the plot unravels and displays the true nature of the characters. It is through their actions and the things they say where the audience discovers whether a character is loyal or disloyal. Some of the characters that display a sense of loyalty and faithfulness include Hamlet, Fortinbras, Laertes, and Horatio. Although loyalty is considered to be good, it has a negative impact which leads to conflict. Hamlet is a very loyal man. After his father's murder, Hamlet wanted revenge without knowing who did it yet. …show more content…
Horatio is very loyal to Hamlet and Hamlet trusts him by explaining to him that he is “acting” mad. Hamlet becomes angered when he finds Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are disloyal to him and is irritated when he finds a letter in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s room saying “no, not to stay the grinding of the axe, my head should be struck off” (V.II.23-24). At first, he believes that the two of them are long time friends of his. But he realizes that they are loyal to Claudius and Hamlet begins to act more upset. So as that being said Horatio is more of a loyal friend to hamlet because he sticks by him all the way towards the end. In the play Horatio agrees to help Hamlet with his plan to determine if Claudius actually killed his father. Horatio is the only true friend that Hamlet has. This relates to the theme of friendship and loyalty because Horatio shows he is loyal to Hamlet by helping him with the plan and not reporting him. Horatio would have reported Hamlet for his accusations against Claudius if they were not friends. He takes on a lot of risk to help his friend Hamlet, proving that he is not loyal to Hamlet for selfish purposes. The quote regarding the action is “Well, my