Douglas Horton once said, "While seeking revenge, dig two graves - one for yourself." These words mesh with Shakespeare 's play Hamlet, as the titular protagonist is seeking revenge for the murder of his father, whose killer is Hamlet 's uncle, Claudius. Hamlet dons a new persona to carry out this deed, by faking insanity. But this act ends up hurting more than helping, as Hamlet keeps sidestepping and not acting upon his will to kill Claudius, and instead plots, plans, and hurts the wrong people. Then in the end, Hamlet 's escapade of revenge ends up ending the lives of those he loves, those who are his friends or acquaintances, the one he meant to kill all along, and even his own. Revenge ends up causing chaos and ruins the character 's lives.
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First to boot, there is Polonius. As mentioned before, Polonius is a poor soul accidentally ended by Hamlet, and this time ended of Hamlet 's own accord. As Hamlet and Gertrude were starting to struggle in Act 3 Scene 4, Polonius cries for help as Gertrude does, prompting Hamlet to think that he is Claudius, and hastily shoves a rapier through a curtain into Polonius ' hiding place and into Polonius himself. After that, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were killed next. They were not killed by Hamlet himself, but Hamlet’s devilish trickery made their deaths so. The duo was tasked by Claudius to deliver a message to the king of England to execute Hamlet upon arrival to England. Hamlet deduced this plan and was able to alter the message to get England to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern instead of himself and Hamlet would jump their ship and escape back to Denmark (V.ii.262-263). More people dead from Hamlet 's actions. Lastly, there is Laertes. Laertes had every intention of ending Hamlet 's life after the death of his father and sister and coated his flail in poison for their fencing match. But in the fencing match between the two men, Laertes sees the error in his ways after Hamlet apologizes for everything he 's done, but is then resigned to his fate when Hamlet gets Laertes ' rapier out of his hands and (not knowing it had been coated with poison ) strikes him with it thus ending Laertes ' life, but not before he begs of forgiveness from Hamlet (V.ii.280-281). These deaths, whether accidental or intentional, are all wrought from Hamlet 's revenge, and that just furthers the evidence that only suffering and death came from it.
Finally, there is the one man who Hamlet truly intended to kill, Claudius. After the deaths of all aforementioned characters except Laertes, Hamlet finally kills Claudius by stabbing him with
First to boot, there is Polonius. As mentioned before, Polonius is a poor soul accidentally ended by Hamlet, and this time ended of Hamlet 's own accord. As Hamlet and Gertrude were starting to struggle in Act 3 Scene 4, Polonius cries for help as Gertrude does, prompting Hamlet to think that he is Claudius, and hastily shoves a rapier through a curtain into Polonius ' hiding place and into Polonius himself. After that, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were killed next. They were not killed by Hamlet himself, but Hamlet’s devilish trickery made their deaths so. The duo was tasked by Claudius to deliver a message to the king of England to execute Hamlet upon arrival to England. Hamlet deduced this plan and was able to alter the message to get England to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern instead of himself and Hamlet would jump their ship and escape back to Denmark (V.ii.262-263). More people dead from Hamlet 's actions. Lastly, there is Laertes. Laertes had every intention of ending Hamlet 's life after the death of his father and sister and coated his flail in poison for their fencing match. But in the fencing match between the two men, Laertes sees the error in his ways after Hamlet apologizes for everything he 's done, but is then resigned to his fate when Hamlet gets Laertes ' rapier out of his hands and (not knowing it had been coated with poison ) strikes him with it thus ending Laertes ' life, but not before he begs of forgiveness from Hamlet (V.ii.280-281). These deaths, whether accidental or intentional, are all wrought from Hamlet 's revenge, and that just furthers the evidence that only suffering and death came from it.
Finally, there is the one man who Hamlet truly intended to kill, Claudius. After the deaths of all aforementioned characters except Laertes, Hamlet finally kills Claudius by stabbing him with