Theme of Revenge in Hamlet - Book Report/Review Example

Laertes embarks upon the simple crusade of killing the person responsible for killing Polonius. This is revenge in its purest form and, as such, contains a certain kind of nobility, perverted as that nobility may be. At first glance, Laertes may appear to be nothing more than a mirror version of Hamlet, but the revenge upon which Hamlet bases his entire being cuts deeper; Hamlet does not merely wish to kill Claudius and let it be, he wants to make certain that Claudius' soul is eternally damned.

Hamlet's indecision and unabiding loathing to simply confront and kill Claudius in cold blood stands in marked contrast to the white-hot lust for quick and depraved violence that Laertes seeks. Laertes may be said to hearken back to the ancient traditions of an eye for an eye, while Hamlet represents a more enlightened state of mind relative to revenge. Unlike Hamlet, Laertes' need for revenge is not tempered with thoughts of eternal retribution: " To this point I stand, 3005 / That both the world, I give to negligence, / Let come what comes; only I'll be  Most thoroughly for my father.

That both the worlds I give to negligence," (IV, 5:132-136). Laertes represents the thematic point that revenge is a cycle that never ends; somebody would certainly arise to kill Laertes if he'd succeeded in killing Hamlet and living. Fortinbras seeks revenge for his father's death in the manner of recapturing the lands lost by his father to Hamlet's father. This particular act of vengeance is designed to add a political dimension to the theme of revenge. Fortinbras is, after all, merely seeking to retain "a little patch of ground / That hath in it no profit but the name" (IV, 4: 18-19).

The larger significance of the type of revenge to which Fortinbras is dedicated is the history of land wars and other battles that existed for no other reason than to right real or perceived personal wrongs. Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras seek retribution for the violent deaths of their fathers in different ways and for different reasons, but all three acts of revenge contribute to the theme that revenge is ultimately a pointless endeavor. Hamlet's brooding over the morality of the act of revenge stands apart from that of the other two men because he represents the coming of a more enlightened age.

The cold-blooded murder of the type that Laertes seeks is not acceptable to Hamlet; indeed he also seeks everlasting punishment. The revenge of Fortinbras is engendered by the desire to regain a lost land of little consequence, pointing to the theme of how revenge can be enacted for the most illogical of reasons. Ultimately, one of the themes that Shakespeare employs in Hamlet is how revenge serves to create an endless and unceasing cycle of vengeance.