Hamlet - Loyalty

Through its portrayal of human experience, Shakespeare’s Hamlet explores many issues and themes. Although loyalty is an issue that is evident throughout the play, it is not the most significant. The issue of loyalty acts as a catalyst in developing the other major issues in Hamlet such as revenge, appearance and reality, mortality and fate. Loyalty creates the drama in the play and is the driving force behind the play.

Loyalty is apparent in most of the main relationships in Hamlet including Hamlet’s loyalty to Old Hamlet, Fortinbras’ loyalty to his father, Laertes’ loyalty to Polonius, Gertrude’s loyalty to Hamlet and Claudius, Ophelia’s loyalty to her father and Hamlet and the court’s loyalty to Old Hamlet and Claudius. Betrayal is also present in Hamlet and acts as a counterpoint to the idea of loyalty. Hamlet is given the task of righting a betrayal, of being loyal in a disloyal world. There also some shifting loyalties apparent in Hamlet, including Gertrude’s shifting loyalty from Claudius to Hamlet and Laertes’ shift of loyalty to Claudius later on in the play. The loyalty between the characters in Hamlet sparks many of the other issues evident in Hamlet.

Loyalty is a catalyst to the issue of revenge. Revenge is one of the major issues in Hamlet since Hamlet is in actual fact, a revenge tragedy. Because of Hamlet’s loyalty to Old Hamlet, he is obligated to avenge his father’s death. When the Ghost is talking to him, Hamlet uses the word ‘bound’. This gives us a sense of obligation, that he has no choice and has to avenge his father’s death because of his loyalty to him. Alongside the main plot of Hamlet avenging his father, Shakespeare also sets up several other revenges to parallel what’s happening in the main plot. Fortinbras is trying to avenge his father and later on in the play, Laertes’ wants to take revenge for Polonius’ death. Fortinbras and Laertes are both driven by the loyalty to their fathers. There is also a play near the beginning of Hamlet about Pyrrhus, who is also trying to avenge his father, which Shakespeare uses to double up on the plot. The way Hamlet, Fortinbras and Laertes go about getting revenge are different and Shakespeare contrasts and compares the different revenges against each other to show their differences. For example, Hamlet often compares Fortinbras’ revenge to his own. “Now whether it be/Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple/Of thinking too precisely on th’event…” Hamlet is more of an intellectual and spends most of the play contemplating and over-thinking. Fortinbras, on the other hand, is more active, like Old Hamlet. This also provides a distinction between the ‘Old world’ and the ‘New world’. In his fourth soliloquy, Hamlet mentions that his is a “dull revenge” compared to Fortinbras’. Laertes is also similar to Fortinbras, as they are both active in getting their revenge, unlike Hamlet.

Hamlet’s loyalty to his mother is also part of the reason for him getting revenge on Claudius. He believes that lust has pushed his mother towards Claudius and considers it incest (“incestuous love”) even though they are not related by blood. Hamlet, Fortinbras and Laertes’ loyalty to their fathers push them to avenge their fathers’ deaths, which creates the drama and identifies Hamlet as a revenge tragedy. All three characters end up avenging their fathers (i.e. Hamlet kills Claudius, Laertes kills Hamlet, Fortinbras takes over Denmark), but interestingly, Fortinbras is the only survivor out of the three.

Loyalty also brings up the issue of Appearance and Reality. Hamlet’s loyalty to his father and his revenge plot leads him to act like he’s ‘crazy’. Hamlet decides “To put an antic disposition on” and pretends to be mad. Pretending is a big theme in Hamlet. Hamlet pretends to be crazy, Claudius is pretending to be the king, Gertrude is pretending to be moral and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are pretending to be Hamlet’s friend. The first time Claudius is introduced, he is making a speech that is filled with flowery, poetic language. Shakespeare uses this kind of language to hint that Claudius is illegitimate and over the top with his exaggerated language. “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death/The memory be green, and that it us befitted/To bear our hearts in grief.” It also depicts a typical political speech. Claudius also tries to assert his legitimacy by using words like ‘our’ and the royal ‘we’. This scene also suggests that the court might be suspicious but is turning a blind eye and going along with it anyway which is another example of the ‘appearance and reality’ in Hamlet. However, we can see that there are still some who are loyal to Old Hamlet. E.g. at the beginning of the play, when one of the guards says “Is it not like the king?” when they see the ghost of Old Hamlet, they talk about the king in present tense as if he’s still alive. This brings up the idea of loyalty and rightfulness.

Ophelia is also presented as being dishonest in front of Hamlet because of her loyalty to her father. She obeys her father and deceives Hamlet and in turn he asks her “Are you honest?”, “Are you fair?” Gertrude also puts on a show of being a loving mother when her loyalty clearly lies with Claudius but later on in the play, she shifts her loyalty to Hamlet. In ‘the famous closet scene’, Gertrude says to Hamlet “Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended” to which Hamlet replies “Mother, you have my father much offended”. She is clearly loyal to Claudius but she later sides with Hamlet. Hamlet tries to find the truth behind his mother façade(whether she knew about the plot to kill Old Hamlet or not). “You go not till I set you up a glass/Where you may see the inmost part of you.”

Mortality is another issue of great significance in Hamlet. Hamlet’s loyalty to his father and his revenge plot leads him to his philosophical musings about life and death. In between his contemplation and indecision, Hamlet also considers suicide (“…self slaughter”) and the meaning of life, especially during his soliloquies. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet doesn’t really value his life. “I do not set my life at a pin’s fee.” Mortality is also often mentioned throughout the play. “You cannot sir take from me anything that I will more willingly part withal; except my life, except my life, except my life.” Through each soliloquy, Hamlet presents a new idea on death. For example, in the 3rd soliloquy, Hamlet is unemotional and more analytical, unlike his last soliloquy which was more about berating himself for his inaction. Hamlet sees life as a hardship to endure, using words like phrases like “long life” and hard words like “whips”, “scorns”, “bear”, “grunt”, “sweat” and “weary”. The start of his 3rd soliloquy, the famous line “To be or not to be, that is the question.” is an antithesis which expresses his indecision about whether life or death is better. Hamlet sees life as a negative form. This is shown when Hamlet describes man as god-like then immediately undercuts that by saying “The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals – and yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust?”

Later on in the play, he talks about the pointlessness of life and the fact the nature of life is cyclical. “A man may fish with the worm that heath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.” He also expresses existentialist views at times, e.g. in the graveyard scene, he decides that death is an inevitable end. The graveyard scene become a turning point for Hamlet, as after the graveyard scene he decides that there is a greater power at play and he becomes more sure of himself. His mannerisms are less reluctant and hesitant and he is more decisive and ‘active’.
Fate is a slightly less significant but still prominent part of the play. Fate is shown mostly near the end of the play when Hamlet decides that it doesn’t matter what he does in life since there is a divinity which controls everything. However, throughout the play there are small mentions of fate and the unknown. For example, after seeing the ghost, Hamlet feels himself to be wiser on the subject of the unknown. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio/Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” After the graveyard scene, Hamlet’s view changes and his contemplation surrounding whether to kill Claudius or not ceases and he leaves everything up to fate. “There’s a divinity that shaped our ends”. “There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.” Hamlet’s reluctance to kill Claudius ends when he decides that there is a divinity controlling his destiny and he leaves everything up to fate.

The issue of fate is also explored through Claudius. Claudius has a soliloquy in which he realises he can’t escape his fate in front of God and will be punished in the next world even if he is not punished in this world. This shows he has a conscience. “But tis’ not so above…In his true nature, and we ourselves compelled/Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults/To give in evidence. What then? What rests?...”

In conclusion, Shakespeare’s Hamlet explores many issues through its portrayal of human experience. It explores the significance of loyalty, which also sparks the other major issues of as revenge, appearance and reality, mortality and fate.