In Hamlet, Fortinbras, Laertes and Hamlet were all looking to avenge the deaths of their fathers. They all acted on emotion, and this led to the downfall of two, and eventually the rise to power of Fortinbras. Since the heads of the three major families were each murdered, the eldest sons of these families swore vengeance, two dying in their pursuit of this. When King Hamlet killed King Fortinbras of Norway (“…our valiant Hamlet-for so this side of out known world esteem’d him-did slay this Fortinbras.”) he gained control of an area of land – this would later irritate Fortinbras the Younger and as a matter of family honour he later sought to regain control of his former territory (“…Now sir, young Fortinbras…as it doth well appear unto our state-but to recover of us, by strong hand and terms compulsative, those foresaid lands so by his father lost….”
After Claudius’ murder of King Hamlet, and his swift incestuous marriage to Gertrude, Hamlet was bitter and resentful and throughout the play the concept of getting revenge through the murder of his uncle Claudius builds on his character. Hamlet is given the opportunity of killing Claudius when he is at prayer but decides against his actions, as this would, according to religious beliefs at the time, cause him to ascend directly to heaven whereas Hamlet wanted Claudius to go to hell where he felt he deserved to be (“Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;…A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven.”). Instead, Hamlet waits until he is talking with his mother in her chamber and he thinks that Claudius is hiding behind a tapestry (in fact it is Polonius, father of Laertes and Ophelia). When Hamlet is talking to his mother, Polonius believes he hears that Hamlet is about to kill Gertrude and so shouts for help; Hamlet misinterprets these cries as those of Claudius and thrusts his sword through the tapestry, slaying Polonius.
Understandably, after this mistake, Laertes is vengeful towards Hamlet for killing his father, albeit by accident and so he aims to kill Hamlet. Laertes and Claudius form a plot to kill Hamlet in a fencing match with a poisoned sword. Laertes cuts Hamlet and he is doomed (“…Hamlet, thou art slain…The treacherous instrument is in thy, unbated and envenom’d…”). As a back-up plan, Claudius had prepared a poisoned drink that he intended Hamlet to drink in case something went wrong with the sword fight; however Hamlet refused to drink it and instead Gertrude drank it. After Hamlet realised that both the sword and the drink were poisoned, he forced Claudius to drink it with his last breaths (“The point envenomed too! Then venom to thy work…Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, drink of this potion,-is thy union here? Follow my mother.”).
Clearly Hamlet is dominated by the idea of revenge. The whole movement of the play and the characters actions are based around the influences of their desire for revenge. Hamlet is a very powerful play and it continues to be popular today because of the tragic events it contains. In each case where revenge is sought out, a death ultimately results. Hamlet is certainly highly involved with the idea of revenge and it plays a major role throughout the play.
