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A great chain of events in " Hamlet" , Shakespeare's great revenge tragedy, leads to Hamlets own demise. His necessity for subterfuge allows him to inadvertently neglect is main objective, revenge. So much so that the ghost of his dead father appears to stipulate Hamlets reserved behavior towards his fathers revenge. " Do not forget. This visitation is to whet thy almost blunted purpose, " (83 - 84) says the ghost in a motivational manner which almost suggests a lack of faith on Hamlets behalf.
Nevertheless, Hamlet is overflowing with faith. Faith in god, faith in himself, even faith in his dead fathers ghost a faith that will cost him his life. The untimely " Death" of King Hamlet, Hamlets father, has sparked a disturbance in the regularity of Denmark. Hamlets mother has waited " Not so much, not two" (12) months after the Kings death to remarry and her new husband, who coincidentally is King Hamlets brother, has swiftly embraced the throne. As the plot unfolds, King Hamlets ghost appears to young Hamlet. He explains the current dilemma and elicits a vengeful feeling from Hamlet, providing young Hamlet with purpose, to " Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder" . (25) At first, Hamlet is weary of this appearance, but he compromises his thoughts and put his faith in the ghost.
In addition, the ghost even evokes a vow of allegiance from Hamlet. However, at this juncture in time, Hamlet finds himself in a state of disbelief. " And shall I couple hell? " (26) speaks Hamlet once the ghost has departed, suggesting that Hamlet is very doubtful. However, his doubts are subsequently invalidated at the performance of The More! r of Gonzago where he requests a group of players to enact a similar murder to that of King Hamlets. " Ill have these players play something like the murder of my father before mine uncle. The plays the thing wherein Ill catch the conscience of the King" . (55) Towards the end of the play, Claudius hastily removes himself from the crowd, verifying Hamlets suspicions. Now, Hamlet not only possesses every reason to believe the ghost, but entrusts his faith in the ghost as well.
However, Hamlets faith does not lie solely in the ghost. He has another kind of faith faith in himself. Hamlets belief that he can see through his revenge blatantly exemplifies his faith in himself. In several instances, Hamlet requires himself to act mad " To put an Antic disposition on" (30) if you will.
His real life performance is so convincing, that it arises concern in several characters such as Claudius, Gertrude (Hamlets mother), and Polonius. Regardless of whether or not these individuals involve themselves for their own purposes this dramatization performed by Hamlet requires the highest degree of faith. Hamlet himself professes " That ever [he] was born to set it right" (30) referring to his very existence as a device, a device which will " Set it right" conclusively demonstrating his faith in himself. Moving forward, in a subsequent scene to Claudius dramatic exit, Hamlet is offered an opportunity to exact his revenge upon Claudius, who is seeking atonement for his misdeeds. In one foolish moment, Hamlet spares his uncles life. His belief is that if Claudius were to die during confession, Claudius spirit would ascend to heaven and Hamlet will not accept this.
Hamlet figures he will wait until " He is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in th incestuous pleasure of his bed, at game a-swearing, or about some act that has no relish of salvation int, then trip him" . (80) Hamlets obvious plan is to wait until Claudius sins, and then avenge his father. This move cost Hamlet his life. Hamlets previous decision was based upon his belief in divine purposes. Since he was avenging his father for a decent, moral purpose god will be on his side. Hamlet himself speaks, " My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go" , (80) indirectly suggesting that words or actions, combined with thought, will find their way to heaven.
Hamlets evocations point towards a belief in divinity. This belief leads to the death of Polonius, and furthermore to the death of Hamlet. In the next scene, Hamlets fate is sealed. Polonius, the " Wretched, rash, intruding fool" , (81) was up to his old tricks, while Hamlet accidentally slays Polonius mistaking Polonius for Claudius.
Later on, Laertes returns to avenge his father. " How came he dead? " (99) asked Laertes. Upon his discovery of Hamlets actions, Laertes becomes embodied with grief. Claudius quickly takes advantage of this by manipulating Laertes to duel Hamlet. Laertes, under the influence of Claudius takes his fury one step further and poisons his sword, a poison so lethal that one cut will end Hamlet. During their duel, Laertes wounds Hamlet then " In scuffing" , they exchange swords. Hamlet wounds Laertes and they are both poisoned.
In the remaining moments, Hamlet learns of the Poison, " The point envenomed too! Then, venom, to thy work. " (134) exclaims Hamlet as he strikes Claudius down, and they all parish. Hamlet gets his revenge. But to do so, he must sacrifice the lives of Gertrude, Polonius, Laertes and himself.
He consequently entrusted his " Faith" into both the right place, and the wrong place because got what he wanted, however died during the process. Hamlet displays his faith in himself when he was willing to sacrifice his own life to avenge his father. He proves this by proclaiming his understanding, and compassionate feelings towards Laertes plight, " For by the image of my cause I see the portraiture of his" , (124) Hamlet says, suggesting he understood that he was destined to die. We furthermore see that Hamlet does not lose faith in his fathers ghost. The ghosts second visit demonstrates this when he inspires Hamlet to finally finish what he has started. And as for faith in divinity, Hamlet himself remarks that a divine power controls our purposes when he says, " Theres a divinity that shapes our ends" (121)
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Research essay sample on Avenge His Father Fathers Ghost
