The Destruction Of Vengeance In Shakespeare's Hamlet

Revenge is not always the answer and can turn into a bunch of people getting hurt or killed if handled the wrong way. Destruction is the result of revenge in the wrong hands. In the play, Hamlet, we see one of the motifs, revenge, result in tragedy and death. In the beginning of the play Hamlet sees a ghost of his father who has passed away. The ghost tells him to avenge his death by stating, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.4.29). This demonstrates that the ghost wants Hamlet to kill the one who has taken his life. The ghost not only tells Hamlet that he was murdered but gives information of who the killer is by saying, “ The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown” (1.4. 44-45). This shows that the ghost wants Hamlet to take the life of Claudius and get revenge for what he did to Hamlet’s father. This …show more content…
Laertes is very angry and reacts by wanting to kill Hamlet for taking the life of his father. Laertes says, “ Let come what comes, only I’ll be revenged Most thoroughly for my father” (4.4.148-149). This is proof as he is mad over Hamlet taking his father’s life. He seeks revenge for his father’s death and gets that but also gets killed as well. Both Hamlet and Laertes wanting to kill and get revenge for their father’s death sets up the destructive ending. Although they succeed in their mission of getting revenge they also cancel the point by killing each other. In the end result we see that revenge during the Hamlet is the cause of a lot of deaths and tragedies. Not only that but it has no point because the people seeking revenge die. Revenge is shown throughout Hamlet to only cause problems and pointless deaths. Slaughter, pain, and grief are the answers for revenge when both Hamlet and Laertes were seeking it. In the play Hamlet, the motif we see is revenge only causing tragedies and a lot of bad