Hamlet as a Revenge Tragedy:
Shakespeare s Hamlet is complex and multifaceted play bringing together many theme
s. It is evident that in writing Hamlet, Shakespeare, to some extent, adopted th
e dramatic conventions of revenge tragedy. Revenge proved to be popular theme fo
r Elizabethan dramatists and the audience. Although it was a wild justice, Eliza
bethan audience considered vengeance to be a pious duty laid upon the next of ki
n. The old law claimed an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; vengeance demande
d both the eyes, a jaw full of teeth, and above all the victim should go direct
to hell there to live in everlasting torment. A perfect revenge therefore needed
great artistry.
Hamlet is a play that very closely follows the dramatic conventions of revenge t
ragedy. All revenge tragedies originally stemmed from the Greeks, who wrote and
performed the first plays. After the Greeks came Seneca who was particularly inf
luential to all Elizabethan playwrights including William Shakespeare. The two
most famous English revenge tragedies written in the Elizabethan era were Hamlet
, written by William Shakespeare and The Spanish Tragedy, written by Thomas Kyd.
These two plays used almost all of the conventions for revenge tragedies in one
way or the other. Hamlet especially incorporated all revenge conventions which
truly made Hamlet a typical revenge play.
During Elizabethan era revenge plays were well acclaimed. Most of them were a ty
pical revenge tragedy, a melodrama with so many turns and twists to keep the aud
ience spell-bound. Hamlet as well as The Spanish Tragedy tackled almost all those ar
eas that were essential for the consummation of a great revenge tragedy.
Shakespeare in Hamlet employs the framework of Senecan Tragedy to convey the rev
enge theme. But underneath the outer framework of Senecan Revenge Tragedy, lie k
ey Shakespearean themes of human condition, social indoctrination, the moralit
y of the ghost s injunction, and the ethics of revenge.
The opening scene sets the tone of the play
a play shrouded in mystery and horro
r. The ghost appears to the night guards, a shadowy figure resembling much in th
e dress and the armour of the late king. The appearance of dead king s ghost has a
profound effect upon the night guards as Marcellus remarks: Something is rotten
in the state of Denmark . Although Horatio will not believe in the ghost until wit
ness of his eyes; it appearance harrows him with fear and wonder . It is not made t
o speak rather stalks away majestically . The ghost appears twice in the opening sc
ene but does not vouchsafe a reply to Horatio s questions. Hamlet is amazed at the
idea of his father s apparition:
My father s spirit in arms! All is not well/ I doubt some foul play.
Hamlet himself is dumbfounded at the sight the ghost. The ghost makes the shocki
ng revelation of its murder to Hamlet. It further enjoins on Hamlet the sacred d
uty of avenging his foul and the most un-natural murder . The ghost s injunctions are
very clear:
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be/A couch for luxury and damned incest .
The awful revelation of the ghost forms the soul of the tragedy and drives the e
ntire action.
Verity points out:
Without the ghost s initial revelation of truth to Hamlet, there would be no occasi
on for revenge; in other words no tragedy of Hamlet.
Hamlet s mind is assailed with doubt whether or not this apparition is a demon sen
t from hell, or if it is truly his father s spirit which has come from purgatory,
to divulge the horrors of his murder, in the hope of revenge:
The spirit that I have seen/ May be the devil and the devil hath power/To assume
a pleasing shape.
To verify the truth of the ghost s statement, Hamlet first feigns madness, and the
n gets enacted mousetrap play to catch the conscience of the king . During the play
Hamlet closely watches Claudius reaction when the actors perform the murder scen
e. Hamlet's plan works and his uncle in a fit of discomfort runs out the room, w
here Hamlet goes after him. Now, Hamlet knows that Claudius is guilty.
Afterwards Hamlet finds Claudius at prayer, confessing his sins:
O, my offence is rank it smells to heaven/It hath primal eldest curse upon it/A b
rother s murder.
He pulls out his sword and gets ready to kill Claudius. But suddenly Hamlet chan
ges his mind because if he kills his uncle while he is praying he will go to hea
ven, and Hamlet wants him to go to hell. So Hamlet postpones the execution of hi
s uncle at this point in the play.
The next confrontation between Hamlet and Claudius does not happen till the end
of the book. Claudius hatches a plan according to which Hamlet and Laertes will
have a mock sword fight, but Laertes will be using a real poisoned sword. Laerte
s stabs him with the poisoned sword then Hamlet takes hold of the poisoned sword
, and stabs Laertes with it. Meanwhile Queen Gertrude dies from the poisoned dri
nk intended for Hamlet. As Laertes lays down dying he reveals to Hamlet that his
uncle King Claudius was behind it all. Hamlet then in a fit of rage runs his un
cle through with the poisoned sword. Hamlet has now finally revenged his father
but too late and at the cost of so many lives.
Hamlet fulfills all the conventions of typical revenge tragedy: there is murder,
adultery, insanity, incestuous marriage and faithfulness. Besides these, there
is a melodramatic element also violence and bloodshed, terrible and blood-chilli
ng scenes
which is in line with the revenge tragedy conventions.
Hamlet is not a simple revenge tragedy. Shakespeare has woven complex threads of
the contrasting characters. Shakespeare has introduced characters like Laertes
and Fortinbras that are obviously foils to Hamlet. Fortinbras, the son of the
slain king of Norway, is all hot for action. He finds quarrel in a straw and inten
ds to risk his life even for an egg-shell . He travels many miles to take his reven
ge and ultimately succeeds in conquering Denmark. When Hamlet murders Polonius,
another revenge is ready to begin. Laertes is a typical revenger who is capable
of direct and headstrong revenge even at the cost of damnation.
To hell, allegiance! Vows to the blackest devil. , he declares.
If Hamlet feels Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all , Laertes consigns cons
cience to the devil, and will cut his throat in the church . Hamlet, on the other h
and, has to convert the external action of revenge into one that is internal, f
ree and truly moral.
Summing up, to say Hamlet merely a revenge tragedy would be to do a great injust
ice. It would ignore play s artistic superiority over other plays of this genre. I
t is only befitting that its hero falls to the beautiful heavenly benediction of
Horatio:
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
