8ooLh !

PunLer 8ooLh
Mrs. CarLer
A LlLeraLure
6 lebruary 2014
lnLerpreLlng Lhe AspecL of 8evenge ln Shakespeare's !"#$%&
1hroughouL Shakespeare's PamleL, he creaLed dlfferenL varlaLlons of PamleL's
characLer, whlch added Lo Lhe sLory's overall meanlng. Cne parLlcular varlaLlon LhaL
conLlnues on durlng Lhe enLlre play ls revenge. Shakespeare lnLroduces Lhe characLer
varlaLlon of revenge Lhrough dlfferenL sollloqules. ln each sollloquy, PamleL's characLer
changes ln some way and usually lL changes PamleL's LhoughL process when he Lhlnks
abouL Lhe ldea of revenge. 1hls means LhaL ln some cases, PamleL ls all for geLLlng
revenge on hls uncle and kllllng hlm, buL oLher Llmes he ls skepLlcal and wanLs Lo walL
slLuaLlons ouL and see whaL wlll happen.
1he second sollloquy of AcL l comes [usL afLer PamleL has spoken Lo Lhe ghosL of
hls faLher. 1he conversaLlons beLween PamleL and hls faLher's ghosL are deLalled ln a
way Lo make lL acLually seem as Lhough PamleL's faLher ls parL of Lhe play. ln Lhls
sollloquy, PamleL says, So, uncle, Lhere you are. now Lo my word"(PamleL, l, lv, 111).
1hese llnes represenL Lhe earllesL lnsLance LhaL PamleL began Lo seek revenge for hls
faLher's deaLh. lL also ls a polnL where PamleL ls noL Lhlnklng abouL whaL ls ln Lhe fuLure.
LvenLually he wlll reallze LhaL he cannoL base hls acLlons on whaL a ghosL ls Lelllng hlm.
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8ooLh E
8ecause hls encounLer wlLh hls faLher's ghosL occurs so early ln Lhe serles of evenLs LhaL
led Lo hls deaLh, PamleL acLs ouL of anger and dlsgusL. Pe wanLs revenge noL only for
Lhe deaLh of hls faLher,buL also for hls moLher. She marrled her husband's broLher afLer
Claudlus kllled Lhe klng. LvenLually PamleL wlll begln Lo Lhlnk abouL hls acLlons and he
wlll be heslLanL ln hls declslons Lo seek revenge.
PamleL's sollloqules revealed dlfferenL aspecLs of hls characLer, as Shakespeare
goL deeper lnLo Lhe sLory. ln Lhe mlddle acLs of Lhe play, PamleL was no longer
convlnced LhaL he was supposed Lo seek revenge agalnsL hls uncle. Pe had no ldea
wheLher he had acLually kllled hls faLher or lf lL was someone else. 1he mlddle acLs of
Lhe play seL ouL Lo prove Lo PamleL LhaL lL was hls uncle who kllled hls faLher.
PamleL uses several LacLlcs ln order Lo show Claudlus' gullL, one way belng
Lhrough a speech/play performed by one of Lhe acLors. 8efore mlne uncle. l'll observe
hls looks,\l'll LenL hlm Lo Lhe qulck. lf he buL blench, \l know my course" (PamleL, ll, ll,
339-361). 1hls speclflc sollloquy showed LhaL PamleL was noL as confldenL ln whaL hls
faLher's ghosL had Lold hlm. unllke ln hls flrsL sollloquy, PamleL was noL golng crazy
abouL geLLlng revenge, he wanLed Lo be sure LhaL he needed Lo klll hls uncle. AfLer
seelng Claudlus sLorm ouL afLer waLchlng Lhe speech wlLh PamleL's speech lnserLed,
PamleL was almosL sure he had kllled hls faLher. PamleL responds Lo seelng hls uncle by
saylng, A vlllaln kllls my faLher, and for LhaL, \l, hls sole son, do Lhls same vlllaln send Lo
heaven" (PamleL, lll, lll, 77-79). 8eLween AcL ll scene ll and AcL lll scene lll, PamleL
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8ooLh K
changed drasLlcally. Pe was no longer skepLlcal abouL wheLher he was supposed Lo klll
hls uncle for revenge.
8efore PamleL flnally carrles ouL hls promlse Lo geL revenge for hls faLher's deaLh,
he beglns Lo Lhlnk agaln and expresses hls LhoughLs ln hls flnal sollloquy of Lhe play.
PamleL becomes heslLanL agaln and ls unsure as Lo why he hasn'L kllled hls uncle yeL.
Pow all occaslons do lnform agalnsL me\And spur my dull revenge?"(PamleL, lv, lv, 31-
32). 1hls parLlcular excerpL from hls flnal sollloquy focuses on how he ls quesLlonlng
hlmself. Pe knew LhaL he should have kllled hls uncle already buL he hasn'L. Pe wanLs Lo
know why he hasn'L done lL. As Lhe reader goes furLher and deeper lnLo Lhls sollloquy,
PamleL sLaLes LhaL he has no cholce buL Lo klll hls uncle and LhaL hls LhoughLs musL be
bloody, or be noLhlng worLh!" lollowlng Lhls sollloquy, PamleL proceeds Lo seek
revenge and succeeds ln dolng so, whlch makes lL apparenL LhaL hls LhoughLs are bloody
for Lhe remalnder of Lhe play.
Shakespeare creaLed an lnLeresLlng characLer ln PamleL. lor mosL of Lhe play he
ls a revenge seeker, buL ls Laken off Lrack aL Llmes. Pe always seems Lo quesLlon hls
moLlves for wanLlng Lo klll hls uncle, wheLher he ls quesLlonlng Lhe ghosL of hls faLher he
sees or [usL quesLlonlng hlmself. ln hls flnal sollloquy ln acL lv, he quesLloned why he
was dolng whaL he was dolng because he was almosL sure he wouldn'L come ouL allve.
1he ouLcome was noL changed by all of Lhe quesLlonlng LhaL PamleL dld of hlmself. Pe
conLlnued Lo seek revenge and evenLually goL whaL he wanLed ln Lhe end, whlch was
Lhe deaLh of hls uncle.
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