Hamlet or Don Quixote

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Hamlet
Hamlet is a tragedy authored by William Shakespeare probably, between the year 1599 and 1602. In this play, Shakespeare centers on the rapidly changing events in the family of King Hamlet who is murdered by his brother, Claudius who goes ahead to hurriedly marry his wife, Gertrude. All these annoy Hamlet, the apparent heir of the throne, who avenges on his uncle Claudio because he can now not assume leadership role as anticipated. This paper interprets the play and discusses revenge as a prominent theme in the tragedy.
In my opinion, Hamlet is simply about revenge. It discusses how the evils in the society can be destructive to the perpetrators. After killing his brother King Hamlet, Claudius hurries to marry his wife Gertrude before seizing the leadership position from Prince Hamlet who is permitted by the culture and traditions of Denmark to be the next king. Although no one is sure about who exactly killed the king, Price Hamlet is committed to using all his tricks to unearth the murderer. After getting a revelation from the Ghost (his father’s ghost), he launches a vengeful attack on his uncle.
By failing to disclose this information to anyone, Prince Hamlet prevents anyone from knowing about. In his opinion, it is better to do so because it would give him an ample opportunity to hunt for his uncle and kill him. The other strategy he uses is that he pretends to be mad. Here, he behaves so weirdly because by doing so, no one would compel him to take responsibility for his actions.

A part from roaming around like an idle mad man, the prince writes well-calculated, but wild speeches that he delivers to the people in the kingdom (Wofford 189). Although no one understands his conducts, he prince knows that he should not reveal the truth to anyone including his selfish mother whose only intention is to retain her title as a queen even if it means sleeping with a man who had killed her loving husband.
From this scenario, it is evidenced that Prince Hamlet is not mad as perceived. He is in his right senses because he knows what he is doing. Even if other characters do not understand him, the truth is that he is just pretending to be mad. His strange behaviors began immediately after getting assurance from the Ghost that his late father was murdered by King Claudius. Everything he does is in line with his frustrations. For example, his hatred for women was caused by the betrayals he got from his mother Gertrude and his lover Ophelia. At one point, he says to her, “I have words to speak in thine ear will make thee dumb” (IV.vi.21). During his speeches, he kept on addressing the evil acts of people like King Claudio. Although he was rubbishing him for his mad talks, Prince Hamlet appeared to be saying the truth that could, of course, not be sad by a mad person as he was claimed to be (Edwards 117).
In conclusion, Hamlet is purely about revenge. The agonies experiences by Prince Hamlet could not go unpunished. He is portrayed as a vengeful character who cannot forgive the wrongs unfairly done to him by evil minds like his uncle. Even though no one knows his real intentions, it can be assumed that he was a just a pretentious character who hid in madness to accomplish his main goal of eliminating his father’s killer.
Works Cited
Edwards, Phillip (Ed.) Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. New Cambridge Shakespeare ser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print.
Wofford, Susanne. “A Critical History of Hamlet”. In Hamlet: Complete, Authoritative Text with Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from Five Contemporary Critical Perspectives: 181–207. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martins Press, 2001. Print.