"Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."
- St. Matthew 26:52
Revenge! Everybody likes a good story of revenge, from Hamlet to The Count of Monte Cristo to the Odyssey to The Cask of Amontillado. The great majority of us enjoy seeing the "bad guys" get their just desserts (I am very much in this camp, by the way. This is not a self-righteous finger-pointing session), no matter how brutally it is handed out to them (example: the movie Taken).
The major difference between Hamlet and all the other stories mentioned above is that Hamlet does not get away with his revenge, unlike many of the main characters in these kinds of tales. Instead, both Hamlet and Laertes, who are revenge-obssessed, kill each other-although Claudius does get what he deserves too. Hamlet's revenge also leads to the deaths of two innocent people, Polonius and Ophelia, who suffer the consequences of Hamlet's tenuous grasp on reality.
Shakespeare doesn't seem to be an advocate of revenge in this play, which is a little surprising to most readers considering the sheer egregiousness of Claudius' crimes. Shakespeare instead demonstrates that revenge is not desirable, either in hot-bloodedness (Laertes) or cold and calculating (Claudius. Hamlet is a little bit of both). Those who lead lives guided by vengeance will not get away and enjoy their revenge.
Oh, this is really cool. I never had thought of how everyone who seeks revenge dies. At least, everyone who commits some moral sin dies. Shakespeare telling everyone not to sin, or else you will die.
ReplyDeleteThere is an intersting thought in your post. You are right, often in today's films and stories, the villian gets what's coming to him. It is expected. When it doesn't happen, often we here cries of discontent from the audience who expected this movie to end like every other one. But why doesn't Shakespeare feel pressure to do the same? Why doesn't Hamlet come out on top, the big hero and savior of Denmark? If you think of your average American movie-goer, what would they say to a movie where the main character and one of the baddies simply kill themselves near the end. To them, it would probably be pointless. Personally, I think it is less so. I think that every film ending exactly like the last one and likely the next one is lame. So what gives? Why is it like that today? And why doesn't Shakespeare feel the need to appease the crowd with happy endings? Or would it appeae them at all?
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