Santoyo 1

Cesar Santoyo
Dr. O’Meara
AP Lit
Period 4
29 April 2022
Analysis Rewrite
“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be

false to any man.”- William Shakespeare, honor, to hold in high respect or great esteem, this

definition doesn’t change much throughout the whole of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark. However,

what does change is the characters' actions and their own interpretation of honor and the

definition. Some examples that would highlight this shift would be Laertes and Horatio. While

their actions are completely different from each other, they both begin on honorable grounds,

following what they believe in, but the important thing here is if they continue to believe in the

idea. With the character of Horatio, he honors Hamlet and the friendship that he has with him.

He truly does believe in Hamlet, and he continues to hold onto this for the whole play. On the

other hand, Laertes shows care for his family, but he also cares for himself. After coming back

from France and becomes aware of the tragic news regarding his sister and his father. It puts him

on a path to avenge his father who was murdered, and his sister who drowned; This sets him on a

path to avenge his family, to honor them. The actions caused by Horatio and Laertes exemplify

and allude towards the theme that being fueled by honor is a great foundation to develop and

have values, however if this idea of honor is not based upon something noble; this idea of honor

will become corrupted and manipulated, eventually leading to dishonorable acts.

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Horatio is portrayed as the embodiment of perfection, shown to be as perfect as a person

can be. Throughout the entire play, it is obvious that he has a strong sense of loyalty and

friendship. While these are the most prominent values Horatio has displayed, he is also shown to

be wise as well as trustworthy, not exclusively to Hamlet but too many others. Specifically,

within the play, when they go to Horatio first for help, knowing he can take a rational approach

when talking with ghost. Horatio trusts Hamlet and he almost never does not question him about

his actions. He follows along with what he says. In the following dialogue scene, Hamlet,

Horatio, and Marcellus, are still within the forest and now Horatio and Marcellus must swear that

they have seen nothing of King Hamlets ghosts:

MARCELLUS. We have sworn, my lord, already.

HAMLET. Indeed, upon my sword, indeed.

HAMLET. Ha, ha, boy, sayst thou so? Art thou there, truepenny? Come on, you hear

this fellow in the cellarage. Consent to swear.

HORATIO. Propose the oath, my lord.

HAMLET. Never to speak of this that you have seen, Swear by my sword (1.5.167-175)

Horatio, whilst hesitant before, displays his values of loyalty and friendship towards Hamlet by

accepting this oath. Once Horatio finally swears to Hamlet's sword in the quote, that simple

action demonstrated how Horatio is willing to trust and have faith in Hamlet even when he

seemed to be mad. Horatio knows that this interaction that Hamlet had with the ghost of the king

was of importance. Within the quote, more specifically the 5th line, “HORATIO. Propose the

oath, my lord”, the action of Horatio of instantly wanting to accept another oath, displays his

loyalty towards Hamlet. Meanwhile, Marcellus was hesitant to accept another oath showing a
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difference in what these two characters value, setting up the values and principles of Horatio.

Horatio has the value of being selfless and being courageous, his principle of staying loyal and

being honorable towards his friends and ones he respects. Horatio could have simply not abided

by the oath; however, with this principle in mind he trusts and knows Hamlet will make the right

decision and finally goes along with oath. Throughout the book Horatio has proved his loyalty

towards Hamlet, and how he truly does believe in him. This scene also proves to Hamlet that he

can trust Horatio for anything else that he made need. Their friendship is genuine and not

something that exists for manipulation and using Hamlet for who he is, the prince. Up next, the

following scene has Hamlet speaking with Horatio about the recent events that have occurred

and he has been suffering:

Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice

And could of men distinguish, her election

Hath sealed thee for herself. For thou hast been

As one in suffering all that suffers nothing

A man that Fortune’s buffets and rewards

Hast ta’en with equal thanks; and blessed are those

Whose blood and judgment are so well commeddled (3.2.67-74)

With the conversation that Horatio and Hamlet have, their friendship is displayed throughout this

part of the conversation. To begin with the first line, it shows how Hamlet is closed off, only

trusts himself, as he knows others are going to use him for their own gain and own agenda,

instead of being an actual friend. Given that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern showed up recently

Hamlet may be on the edge on who he can trust, but he does know someone he can always trust.

Hamlet's feeling in this way makes this an important detail because by valuing the friendship he
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has with Horatio; it once again proves of how Horatio is trustworthy and loyal. Moving on now

with the rest of the scene, Hamlet continues to describe the kind of friendship he and Horatio

have, “As one in suffering all that suffers nothing, A man that fortune’s buffet and rewards/ Hast

ta’en with equal thanks” Hamlet begins to describe the kind of people he’s had to deal with

before, people who were only using him for his status. This line continues to hone on Horatio's

trustworthiness towards Hamlet. People who are suffering all, would be how some people do not

care about what is happening and only want information. That line would be in reference to the

many others who had only used Hamlet for information, status, and honor. This would continue

to display Horatio’s character and his values, his value towards friends, given that Hamlet seems

to trust him. Another important part of the quote would include the tone of the quote, that being

a sarcastic tone. Buffet and rewards would be a reference to how people only want to gain the

rewards of being friends with Hamlet and not actually wanting friendship. The next part of the

quote continues with the sarcastic tone, this reveals that he doesn’t like or trust people who are

just using him for personal gain. Meanwhile, on the other hand, Horatio does have Hamlet’s trust

and Hamlet does value the relationship they have together. Horatio is Hamlet’s friend because he

truly values this friendship and will almost stop at nothing to make sure he continues to value

and honor their friendship.

HORATIO. Never believe it, I am more an antique Roman than a Dane. Here’s yet some
liquor left
HAMLET. As thou ’rt a man, Give me the cup. Let go! By heaven, I’ll ha ’t. O God,
Horatio, what a wounded name, Things standing thus unknown, shall I leave behind me!
If thou did idst ever hold me in thy heart, Absent thee from felicity awhile And in this
harsh world draw thy breath in pain To tell my story (5.2.175-184)
Trustworthy, loyal and honorable; Horatio would rather follow Hamlet into the next life, than see

him perish, however, he does not. Horatio this opportunity to go against Hamlet, to drink that

cup, however his honor is placed with his friends and family, and so he follows his own
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judgement and does not drink the cup. Horatio listens to Hamlet and continues his story,

honoring him and what he has accomplished, finally highlighting another area of Horatio's

values, honor. Horatio's first line in the quote, “Never believe it, I am more an antique Roman

than a Dane. Here’s yet some liquor left”, this line continues to display Horatio’s honor and

values towards Hamlet. Horatio had placed his honor into his friends up until the very end as this

line has Horatio contemplating about drinking the rest of the cup, as he could see it as noble to

die with the person he cared for the most. Throughout this entire play, Horatio's actions were

fueled by the honor he had for Hamlet, helping him along the way. Horatio was not only good to

Hamlet but to the people around him. A good example of this was at the very beginning of the

play when he was the first one the guards called upon to look at the ghost, they had witnessed

prior. As Horatio truly values his friends, it is displayed within the last line of the quote “And in

this harsh world draw thy breath in pain To tell my story", this final line displays how Horatio

will carry on the story of Hamlet, continuing to show his loyalty and nobility towards his friends.

The character of Horatio is based upon the foundations of values of loyalty, trustworthiness and

honor; this is what kept Horatio alive towards the end of the play. Horatio had not done anything

to break his values, he followed what he had believed in. Which cannot be said comparing

Horatio to many others that did not, for example, Claudius and him killing his brother, this action

caused his downfall and indirectly is what caused his death. Meanwhile, Horatio kept to his

values and who he was, and kept on persevering and continuing the story of Hamlet. Horatio, a

man of his word, not someone who is self-seeking, only someone who had kept his values in a

time where many didn’t.

Honor is one of many of the driving forces behind the actions of the characters

throughout the play, most characters honor a person in some way shape or form. Whether it's
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avenging someone, respecting one's wishes, or just simply believing in them, it’s the foundation

of most actions from the characters. Honor not only is an idea of its own but is connected to

other ideals within the play. Whether the definition is based on something noble or corrupt, it’s

what starts many of the conflicts that are seen within the play. For example, Laertes is about to

find out his father is dead:

That drop of blood that’s calm proclaims me

Bastard
Cries “cuckold” to my father, brands the harlot
Even here between the chaste unsmirchèd brow
Of my true mother (4.5. 130-134).
Here, Laertes has this idea of honor within his head, he needs to avenge his father by

killing his murderer. Within the first line Laertes displays his anger “That drop of blood that’s

calm proclaims me/Bastard”, this is an important moment in Laertes’ character, as this is the start

of his shift in values. Similarly, to Horatio, Laertes originally had his honor set onto his family

however once he learns about his father death, he becomes vengeful, and wants to avenge him,

which makes him to become vulnerable to be manipulated by the king later in the play. The tone

Laertes carries within these lines is of grief and anger, given how he learned about his father's

death, this tone that he carries has blinded him, he convinces himself that honor is the sole reason

for doing this, to protect his family. This idea of protecting his family is seen within the next line

“Cries “cuckold” to my father, brands the harlot”, in this moment Laertes believes that without

killing the person who killed his father, would bring shame to his family. As stated, before this is

a part of Laertes convincing himself that he’s doing this for his family, a cover up for how he

truly feels. However, Laertes is doing this for revenge not of honor, this path sets himself for his

death later, using action to cover his tracks. Honor is based upon a person’s values and their
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principles. Laerte’s principle is to protect his family, however, this principle is manipulated and

corrupted, to get what he wants, to kill whoever killed his father. With the tool of tone, it

continues to show Laertes’ anger and how this led him to a path of revenge by be blinded by

honor, he believes this is the honorable thing to do. Laertes does not use the value and definition

of honor correctly; one must be careful before wrapping themselves with honor as it ties closely

to revenge. However, others in the play correctly use this value of honor in the play:

HAMLET: As Vulcan’s stithy. Give him heedful note, For I mine eyes will rivet to his

face, And, after, we will both our judgments join In censure of his seeming.

HORATIO: Well, my lord. If he steal aught the whilst this play is playing And ’scape

detecting , I will pay the theft(3.2.89-95)

Honor can take many forms throughout the play, and with the allusion to mythology the

“Vulcan's stithy” it sets ups the way Horatio honors Hamlet in his own, that does not misuse the

idea. To start off a “Vulcan's stithy” is something that is associated with volcanoes and armor

forges, something powerful that can create and destroy. This would connect back to Horatio’s

loyalty towards Hamlet and him honoring his wishes, he would be part of his plan to see if the

king would react to what he saw during the play. Hamlet and Horatio are creating and destroying

during this moment, destroying the king mentally by proving the guilt he still has for the murder

of his father. Horatio's loyalty is what makes this possible in the first place. He would take the

blame if this plan were to go south, making him someone who honors his friend no matter what.

Horatio's uses this idea of honor to show his loyalty towards Hamlet, Horatio was able to have

his idea of honor towards and friends and was able to stay noble. Now the one thing both Horatio

and Laertes had in common was this idea of honor, their definitions of it may have differed but it

was still honor that they valued. Many characters throughout the play do not have this value of
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honor or if they do, they base it upon something unnoble. In that case, at some point their own

actions will have caught up with them, leading this to backfire on them later. For example, with

king Hamlet, as he gets called out for what he has done, to poison Hamlet:

LAERTES: The foul practice Hath turned itself on me. Lo, here I lie, Never to rise again.

Thy mother’s poisoned. I can no more. The King, the King’s to blame.

HAMLET: The point envenomed too! Then, venom, to thy work.

ALL: Treason, treason!

KING: O, yet defend me, friends! I am but hurt.

HAMLET: Here, thou incestuous, murd’rous, damnèd Dane, Drink off this potion. Is thy

union here? Follow my mother (5.2.352-358)

The death of king, the kings' actions, would have been changed if he had valued something noble

if he had honor, he wouldn’t have murdered his brother or manipulated Laertes. The king had

gone down an dishonorable path and he caused many devastating actions in the process. Laertes

finally has had enough and is now clearly able to see his wrong doings, “Never to rise again./Thy

mother’s poisoned. I can no more. The King, the King’s to blame.” Laertes was able to align

himself back to his original values and turned on the king and showed who the king really was, a

liar. This act of Laertes is displaying his true honor that he has towards his family, he only

wanted to kill Hamlet for killing his father and sister, but once the queen was poison, he realized

what he had done. This can show how by placing honor towards something noble like family is a

powerful thing to have as one's value. The tool of tone helps emphasize the gravity of the

situation, the revenge, justice being done during his final scene. Unlike before, the king didn’t

have values, he only ever looked out for himself, so much that he never really admitted to killing
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his brother. Claudius never had an ounce of honor, any sense of value or principle; he almost

caused everything, which is shown even in the second to last line of the quote “O, yet defend me,

friends! I am but hurt.” even when the truth had been revealed, Claudius still denied everything,

not being able to accept the truth and continued to lie. This only continues to prove how Claudius

had no honor, he only worried about himself, he wanted more. This gave him reason to kill his

brother and take the throne, indirectly causing so much more, Hamlet wouldn’t have gone mad if

his father was still here, Polonius and Ophelia wouldn't have suffered. King Claudius is a perfect

example of why values such as honor are important and the tone and dialogue of the scene

explains why; There is a sense of revenge that is happening, during these last moments, and as

everyone begins to die. Honor is important to one's character as every action has its

consequences, and King Claudius had his.

Laertes is respected by many for his strong set of morals as well as his belief in justice

and honor. Laertes values his own thoughts and beliefs over his own emotions. He admits that as

vengeful as his action is, he had valued his honor and his own name over that of the feelings of

his father dying. Later, Laertes had let his interpretation of honor become corrupted by Claudius.

Laertes letting his honor become corrupted directly leads him to act dishonorably, by attempting

the plan to assassinate prince Hamlet. Laertes accepting the king's proposition to assassinate

Hamlet is what gets Laertes killed. Laertes is a man who care for his family which is why he

warns Ophelia:

Fear it, Ophelia; fear it, my dear sister, And keep you in the rear of your affection, Out of

the shot and danger of desire. Out of the shot and danger of desire. The chariest maid is

prodigal enough If she unmask her beauty to the moon (1.3.37-41)

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Laertes believes he should always honor his family and take care of it. During the beginning of

the play, Laertes displays these beliefs towards his family; he believes that Hamlet is not worthy

of truly honoring Ophelia, which is why he warns her in the first place. This scene sets the

foundation of taking care of family within the character of Laertes, which temporarily changes

towards the end of the play. This is a prime example of how Laertes not only cared for his father,

which was already an idea that was already established, but also his sister. Laertes, showing

interest in his family gives a look at what he would do in the future. Laertes believes that Hamlet

wasn’t someone to truly honor Ophelia, this is an idea that is displayed within the quote, “Fear it,

Ophelia; fear it, my dear sister, And keep you in the rear of your affection”, Laertes is only

trying to protect Ophelia, as Laertes would think this would save her from future pain and

suffering, she would go through later, only Laertes didn’t know this. Laertes tries to explain the

dangers of Hamlet, as he repeatedly says to Ophelia “fear it, fear it”. Laertes trusted Ophelia and

this would be a piece of evidence that would show how Laertes feels responsible for her death.

Laertes knows he didn’t have the power to stop Ophelia as he was leaving to France. Laertes

would feel guilty as this all happened while he was away, giving him the chance to avenge his

family. This scene sets up Laertes’ foundation for his grief later, when he returns to hear the

tragic news. Laertes now knows that he will prove that he is worthy of his family, showing that

he can honor his family. This path, however, leaves him on track for revenge, later. This is the

moment where Laertes messes up, he uses the idea of honor to fuel his revenge, and corrupts it

with what he wants to achieve, indirectly leading towards his death later. Even though Laertes

has said he wanted to avenge both of his family members. After the death of his father, Laertes

shifts his goals to avenge his father by killing Hamlet. They still exist but do not have as much of

an impact as his beliefs:

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"I dare damnation. To this point I stand, That both the worlds I give to negligence, Let

come what comes, only I'll be revenged Most thoroughly for my father."(4.5.151-154)

Laertes is saying that he wants to avenge his father by killing whoever caused his murder. By

him saying this it sets up his values and principles, Laertes valuing honor help and shows why he

is going to avenge his father in the first place. With the first half of the quote, “I dare damnation.

To this point I stand, that both the worlds I give to negligence”, is this direct moment that Laertes

interpretation of honor shifts. Laertes begins his path toward dishonorable actions here at this

very moment. The deaths of Ophelia and his father leave Laertes at a moment of weakness,

leaving him to become more easily corrupted. Both the worlds, the afterlife and real world, this

part of the quote calls attention to how Laertes will now stop at nothing to avenge his loved ones,

which directly connects to the second half of the quote. Laertes has now let his honor become

corrupted and manipulated, putting him on path to these dishonorable acts, within the second half

of the quote “Let come what comes, only I'll be revenged Most thoroughly for my father.", this

moment displays Laertes attitude now, he will stop at nothing from avenging his father. This

moment not only shifts his interpretation of honor, but it slightly shifts his reasoning for this

revenge. Before he wanted to avenge his father and sister, but now his reasoning has been altered

to kill hamlet. This quote highlights a main shift within the character of Laertes, he had let his

value of honor become corrupted and manipulated by the king. This connects back to the theme

because now with Laertes' interpretation of honor corrupted, his true goals and values were

shifted. Laertes tells himself that he’s doing this for his family, his father and sister however,

Laertes’ goal is to kill Hamlet, which is not something honorable to do, even if Hamlet were to

blame. This essentially means that Laertes has his value of honor, to be originally set towards his

family, meaning his principle is that he is to be protective of his family. Laertes being protective
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in the first place is what makes the king use him for his plan to kill Hamlet. Since Laertes is so

willing to avenge his father and sister, the king exploits Laertes’ feeling of grief into making him

join his plan. Laertes honors his family and cares for them, a few examples would be with him

avenging his father. With Ophelia, Laertes also warns her to stay away from Hamlet, showing he

did care for Ophelia before he knew what happened. Laertes, however, can become blinded with

honor as within this next quote the play shows how Laertes defines his loyalty with revenge:

“I am satisfied in nature, Whose motive in this case should stir me most To my revenge;

but in my terms of honor I stand aloof and will no reconcilement Till by some elder

masters of known honor I have a voice and precedent of peace To keep my name

ungored.”(5.2.259-265)

Throughout the play the use of Laertes’s thoughts and feelings play a part in how he keeps his

honor throughout the play. His thoughts and feelings connect to how he would respond, and his

thought process with his actions. At this point Laertes has lost his father and his sister, Laertes

will stop at nothing to kill Hamlet, in order to avenge the deaths of his father and sister. With the

first line of the scene, “I am satisfied in nature, Whose motive in this case should stir me most To

my revenge;” within this line comes the realization of what Laertes has done. His shift to

wanting to assassinate Hamlet is over; he is satisfied. Laertes reflects on how he got to this point,

his motives and how they fueled him towards this path of revenge, which had started out as an

act of honor then morphed and corrupted into something else, an act of dishonor. Within the next

line of the quote, “but in my terms of honor I stand aloof and will no reconcilement", Laertes

understands what he has done. Laertes knows his idea of honor was corrupted and manipulated

and he knows that he will pay the price for his dishonorable actions. However, within that part of

the quote he does recall his original terms of honor, within that line Laertes uses his original
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view of honor to judge his actions. The last thing that is important to note is within the last few

words of the scene, Laertes knows he was blinded by manipulation and wishes his name not to

be destroyed by his actions, “I have a voice and precedent of peace To keep my name ungored.”.

This last part ties back to how Laertes finds honor in his name; he doesn’t want to ruin the name

of his family, or what's left of it, has been through enough. Laertes only wanted to kill hamlet; he

was blinded to what really was going on with the king; his true motives and reasoning. Lastly,

this entire scene highlights how Laertes was set on the path to revenge, which had made him

blind to what he had originally wanted. The only thing on Laertes’ mind is revenge, the feeling

of avenging his father’s death has transformed into revenge. As Laertes' foundation of honor

changed and shifted, it was manipulated and corrupted, he had lost who he was and what he truly

stood for. Eventually he regains his honor and will make sure this time it is held in great respect.

Every character throughout the play had the base of honor, however, the characters who

had twisted the value of honor, came to their demise. Corrupting and abusing this idea of honor

leads one down the wrong path, a path of anger and revenge. Going back to the examples of

Horatio and Laertes, Horatio stayed on the correct path of honor and honored Hamlet’s

friendship and who he was as a person, Horatio's actions continued to prove this point. Laertes,

letting the value of honor become tainted by his ideas of revenge and wanting to avenge his

family has caused this value to become corrupted and turned into something that blinded his

judgement, causing him to agree with the king to kill Hamlet and indirectly causing his death.

Honor has its own definition that many of the characters do follow, at first, however, later with

almost every character later, their definition begins to change, and they change it to fit with what

they’re trying to accomplish. Today the idea of honor takes different shapes, inclusion of the

internet and everything being more connected than ever before, it gets easy to lose track of what
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one’s values and principles. The idea of honor can help in staying on the right track, honoring

one's own principles but also being able to honor everyone else and what they stand for. Honor is

an idea that will mean the same thing but what people will do with this idea will be different

each time, whether a person truly follows it or not is up to them.

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Research paper

Justice, the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: Even

when Shakespeare had written Hamlet during the Elizabethan era, this concept of justice and

political corruption was woven into the ideals of the play of Hamlet. Justice was a part of

something bigger for the play, it wasn’t on its own, however, ideas of political corruption helped

to work with the idea of justice. For justice the examples of the characters of Claudius and

Laertes show the issue of justice within the play. Both characters are connected by this idea of

justice; however, the difference is how they are viewed. With the character of Claudius, his

actions of killing were of jealousy, Claudius wanted power on the throne; however, this is not a

great reason for murder, thus, he needed to pay for his consequences. Meanwhile, Laertes wanted

to see justice for the person who had killed his father. Shakespeare is indirectly saying that

justice does not just come in the form of law, but it comes in many ways; most of the time it’s

something unexpected or wanted.

Francisco Franco, general and the leader of the Nationalist forces that overthrew the

Spanish democratic republic in the Spanish Civil War. After he overthrew the government, he

was the head of the government of Spain until 1973 and the head of state until 1975. While

Franco’s rule was long it surely wasn’t anything to talk about; many people were killed on streets

paved over for roads. After the terror of Francos ruling was “supposedly” over, there was a law

put into place that would have people forget to ever mention these crimes. It was not up until

recently that the children of these people stood up for their parents and anyone else who was

affected during Francos's ruling.

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These people are trying to bring the people who committed these crimes to justice, and it

has been a difficult process so far as they first need to abolish the law that silences this. Many

people simply do not forget what happened to their loved ones, and they will continue to fight

until something has changed. From article “Franco’s ghosts” by Mira Galanova, “How can you

forget your mother and father? Until I have no voice left, I will keep speaking about them”

(Galanova, 2) this quote comes from Hilda Farfante a person who was being interviewed for the

article. Hilda’s parents were murdered when she was at the age of five. Justice is not a simple

idea that cannot be over with one thing, justice is something that needs to be crafted out, in the

context of this text, it is something that sticks with someone until justice is met. Eighty years

have passed since the events that occurred and people continue to want these people to feel the

justice that they deserve. These people will continue the fight no matter what happens, they will

continue to speak up for what is right. Justice is different for all, to some this case justice is

seeing the people responsible dead, to others some see it as legal justice, being behind bars and

truly paying for their crimes. The idea behind their actions is like what Laertes wanted to do.

These people want to bring the people that murdered their parents to justice such as Laertes and

what Shakespeare had written. Shakespeare had used this idea of justice to highlight how justice

isn't always what is expected. For instance, Laertes assumed he would bring justice to the man

who had killed his father, Hamlet, Laertes almost did bring his father justice, but he failed to do

so. However, even after the death of Laertes he eventually got the justice he deserved, Hamlet

died bringing justice to his father without him ever knowing, all of this because of the actions of

Claudius. With this idea of justice not always being expected comes in addition, the issue of

political corruption as both are connected, justice can fix political corruption; this corruption can

make sure justice is twisted and abused. The Czech Republic is a place where government
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corruption is running rampant. Within an article by Michel Perottino, “High level of distrust in

political elites accompanied with a strong perception of corruption in Czech Republic has led to

an increase of several anti-corruption nongovernmental organizations' activities” with this

information, the distrust within the republic connects with all the distrust in Denmark and the

play. Shakespeare uses Hamlet to highlight the distrust within Claudius since he knows the truth.

Claudius’ actions are a major part of the corruption within the play, as his corruption spreads.

His corruption spreads to Laertes and uses him to go kill Hamlet and continue to let the

corruption of Denmark continue. Shakespeare used the character of Claudius to highlight the

issues of political corruptness, one main thing is the murder of his brother in order to become

king.

Society has made some progress when writing about the ideas of justice and political

corruption. In comparison to the Elizabethan era, it is much of an improvement. However, there

are still issues, people are going to want power, with that want for power comes corruption. With

corruption people in power will handle the idea of justice with bias, if it affects their power, no

justice will be served. The play still does serve a purpose when talking about justice and political

justice as these two issues are something that will stick around as people are not perfect and can

be corrupted and people want justice for whatever they experience that requires it. Although

there is something to learn from, the idea of political corruption wasn’t at the forefront of the

play, it still played a major role in the play. Political corruption started the whole play, the killing

of the king. Claudius may have had power for some time, but he did not keep it for long, which

brings it to the next idea, justice. Justice did have a major part in the play, and in many of the

examples shown before. Within the play, Hamlet’s main goal was to bring Claudius to justice

and to show the crimes he had committed to gain the power of the king. Justice was the basis for
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the people within the research, fighting against a corrupt government and its laws. The play,

Hamlet: Prince of Denmark still stands as a great example to show these certain ideas, however,

the way they are presented are different from today. People aren’t trying to gain power to be

king, many people want to become rich and famous. These ideas are still present; however, the

process and end goal are way different compared to the culture of before. People want power

without having to do the work themselves.

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Works Cited

Galanova, Mira. “Franco’s Ghosts.” New Internationalist, no. 494, July 2016, pp. 30–31.

EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=pwh&AN=116254313&site=ehost-live. Date accessed 22 February 2022

Perottino, Michel, et al. “Reconstruction of the State: Lobbying against Political Corruption in

the Czech Republic.” Journal of Public Affairs (14723891), vol. 20, no. 1, Feb. 2020, pp.

1–10. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2054. Date accessed 21st February 2022

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. New Folger's ed.

Washington Square Press/Pocket Books, 1992.

“William Shakespeare Quotes about Honor: A-Z Quotes.” Date accessed March 2nd, 2022
https://www.azquotes.com/author/13382-William_Shakespeare/tag/honor.
 Santoyo 20

Annotated bibliography

Galanova, Mira. “Franco’s Ghosts.” New Internationalist, no. 494, July 2016, pp. 30–31.

EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=pwh&AN=116254313&site=ehost-live. Date accessed 22 February 2022

Citation paragraph 1:

Within the article it contains an interview about a woman whose mother experiences the cruelty

and suffering of Franco’s rule. The person being interviewed and them talking about their

experiences lays the foundation for the reasoning behind her desire for justice. This need for

justice connects back to the social issue because justice can take many perspectives, and this is

one way that justice can be viewed and wanted.

Citation paragraph 2:

This article helps defend and prove the main idea of this paper; justice comes in different ways.

Looking at the interview throughout this article, it defends the claim because even after 80 years

of these horrific experiences people still have this passion to put the people behind bars and serve

legal justice. However, it wasn’t an easy battle to have, many thought otherwise but eventually

some of the people behind it were given the justice they deserved. Although it wasn’t all of them

it was a step in the right direction, showing how this article helped defend the main claim.
 Santoyo 21

Perottino, Michel, et al. “Reconstruction of the State: Lobbying against Political Corruption in

the Czech Republic.” Journal of Public Affairs (14723891), vol. 20, no. 1, Feb. 2020, pp.

1–10. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2054. Date accessed 21st February 2022

Citation paragraph 1:

This article directly talks about political corruption, this issue of political corruption is something

that works in tandem with justice, as justice can take down political corruption however political

corruption can shift the idea of justice and essentially get rid of it. This article highlights the first

part, justice taking down political corruption, this addresses how justice and politics are

connected to one another.

Citation paragraph 2:

This article was used within the paper, to defend my claim, the paper shows how people use

justice in order to end political corruption. The article helps defend as the use of political

corruption is to help prove that justice is needed for the republic. The rest of the article talks

about how political corruption is a tool for politicians to talk about change and requiring justice

for everything to change.

Rosenmüller, Christoph. “‘Corrupted by Ambition’: Justice and Patronage in Imperial New

Spain and Spain, 1650-1755.” Hispanic American Historical Review, vol. 96, no. 1, Feb.

2016, pp. 1–37. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1215/00182168-3423868. 24 February

2022
 Santoyo 22

Citation Paragraph 1:

Similarly, to the previous article, this one had also dived into the issue of political corruption.

This article goes into the detail about the issue of corruption within the government of Spain.

Talking about how the idea of corruption was used for own personal gain, similarly to Hamlet

with the Claudius killing the king to gain power.

Citation paragraph 2:

This article was used, because it continues to use the issue of corruption and more specifically

political corruption. By using this article, it would help in highlighting political corruption within

different politics. This article also provides a different perspective into the issue of political

corruption and corruption itself.

Sangster, Joan. “Criminalizing the Colonized: Ontario Native Women Confront the Criminal

Justice System, 1920–60.” Canadian Historical Review, vol. 102, July 2021, pp. s387–

410. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.3138/chr-102-s2-004. 23 February 2022

Citation Paragraph 1:

This article contained an example of people coming together to fight against specific laws related

to children's welfare. This article may not be dealing with corruption directly, but it may be able

to provide details of what people do in fighting back political corruption. People have the right to

protest and fight against something they don’t believe in, freedom of speech.

Citation Paragraph 2:
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The main reason this article was chosen was because it highlights how people are protesting

these child welfare laws. They are paying attention to this and helping out their cause in the

process. The thing that stood out was this example of people coming together and fighting for

what they believed in, this connects back to political corruption, because people who live in

places where corruption runs rampant will also do the same.

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