Hamlet

Throughout the play of hamlet, of all the themes that are evident, revenge is the most dominate. From this all other themes flow. This essay will examine the theme of revenge in order to establish how this theme is present throughout the play in its entirety in two distinct ways; firstly, how the use of the supernatural facilitates revenge and how it helps Hamlet to realise his heart for vengeance; and, secondly, how revenge brings about intrigue and deception in Hamlet. In order to do this content and language techniques will be examined.   Once this has been completed, it will become clear that revenge is the cause of all of Hamlets intense feelings of hatred as well as his resulting madness. Essentially, it is the key catalyst for the events of the play.
A prominent and overarching thread that unites many of the themes evident in hamlet is the lust and thirst for revenge. Shakespeare utilises distinct language to demonstrate the crisis that hamlet is enduring. “Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous kindles villain! O, vengeance”, encapsulates hamlets yearning to right the wrongs of his father’s death. A yearning that saw him vow revenge. The use of alliteration in this particular phrase, lecherous and treacherous, further adds to the emphasis Shakespeare is attempting to achieve. This, in turn, advises the audience that Hamlet is focused solely on vengeance as it is controlling his every thought and action. Along with this, he “vows to the blackest devil”, here stark visual imagery is used to emphasise the evil and love, where “conscience and grace to the profoundest pit”, further evidence of alliteration, are displayed as a deep moral consequence to Hamlets decisions. The use of these techniques throughout this section cements in the mind of the audience of what Hamlet is attempting to achieve. These techniques show us without a doubt that lust and thirst for revenge is a thread that unites all of the themes throughout the play.
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