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Jackson Wright

Dr. Holt

Senior Seminar

4 April 2023

How Revenge Has Consequences

Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, presents the story of a prince named Hamlet who seeks

vengeance against his uncle, King Claudius, after learning that he has killed Hamlet’s father. As

the story plays out, we see Hamlet attempt to exact his revenge, which often leads to those

around him being physically or emotionally hurt, and sometimes even to their death. From this, I

have come to the conclusion that Hamlet is a play about how revenge and ones enacting of it can

have devastating consequences.

One example is Ophelia, a character who is often read as someone with an intimate

relationship with Hamlet. While one might think that Hamlet would not hurt her, he most

certainly does on his quest. In act 3 scene 1, Hamlet emotionally abuses her as he rejects her

love, so that he can keep her away from him while on his quest for revenge: “You should not

have believed me…I loved you not” (Lines 126-129). Later on, in act 3 scene 4, while talking to

his mother, Hamlet kills Ophelia’s father, Polonius, who is hiding behind the arras. Although

Hamlet thought this was King Claudius, his rash action lead to Ophelia becoming grief stricken

and she ends up drowning in a lake, in a manner which was hinted to be suicide. As is shown,

even though Hamlet means to keep her safe from his vengeance, his actions bring about

consequences that lead to Ophelia’s sadness and eventual death.

The greatest example of the consequences of revenge is how a multitude of people die

either directly or indirectly due to Hamlet’s actions. Aside from Polonius, there are many other
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people who die as consequences to Hamlet’s journey for the death of King Claudius’. On top of

Ophelia’s death, there is also the death of her brother, Laertes, who is rightfully angry about the

death of his father. Because of this anger, he tries to kill Hamlet and, in turn, is killed himself by

Hamlet directly. And although Laertes did strike to kill first, none of this would have occurred if

Hamlet had not killed Polonius, which led to Laertes becoming angered. An anger that was only

fueled further when his sister died. Hamlet also caused the death of two of his childhood friends,

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Although they were his friends before, they spy on Hamlet upon

the King’s orders. Hamlet figures this out and begins to resent them for it, which is not

completely fair as they are being ordered by their King to spy on him, since he seems to be off

his rocker. So, when the three former friends are sent to England, Hamlet changes the letter for

England’s king to say that the two delivering this message, meaning Rosencrantz and

Guildenstern, should be put to death immediately. Even Hamlet’s own mother his not spared

from death. In the final scene of the play, King Claudius gives a poisoned drink to Hamlet so that

he can kill him and be done with the fiasco Hamlet has caused. However, Gertrude drinks the

poison instead and dies. While this may not have been Hamlet’s doing, this again only happened

because of the previous actions of Hamlet, which forced the hands of others.

While this story shows the dedication and loyalty of Hamlet to kill his father, it also

shows the devastation caused by him. In his pursuit for revenge, we can see the devastating

repercussions as many people are mentally or physically hurt and even end up dead or murdered.
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Description:

For this adaptation Hamlet while still having good intentions will act in a way that is short sided

and foolish. The reason for this is so that it becomes apparent to the audience that Hamlet’s

actions in his quest for revenge have devastating consequences. Because of this, I have picked

key scenes that come from the essay above but have been modified to show different emotions or

add extra dialogue to show why a character is acting the way they are and how it shows the

revenge as horrific consequences. The first key scene is Act 3 Scene 1. In this scene, Ophelia,

while trying to come to reason with Hamlet’s “break up,” will act confused and upset, crying

throughout the entire scene. On the other hand, Hamlet will have more anger in his voice and

will wave his hands around aggressively as to try and scare Ophelia off from him. And as he

walks off stage he will mutter to himself that he is sorry he has to do this showing that he only

does this because he cares. However, the end of the scene will see her running of stage in a fit of

tears showing while Hamlet’s intentions are good he is hurting Ophelia emotionally. The next

key scene will Act 4 Scene 5. This scene will further show Ophelia downfall, as in this

adaptation she will break down in front of her brother. Her state of depression will fuel Laertes

anger with him cursing Hamlet for having killed his father and having mentally damaged his

sister. This way the scene will show the impact that it is having on this innocent family. For the

last scene, Act 5, Scene 2, there will be two sections, the one in the corridor and the one in the

King’s court. The hall scene will have Hamlet talking about how he switched the letters for the

English king resulting in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s death. Unlike the original though,

Horatio will express concern with Hamlet’s actions questioning why he would do that to people

who were only acting on the orders of their king. He will also continue to say that the reason they

might have been spying on him might have been to just check in on him since he was mad, at
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least to all those who didn’t actually know. This first section will plant doubt into the audience

on Hamlet’s casual actions that are resulting in two people’s death. The second part of the scene

during the duel will primarily focus on Laertes and Hamlet talking after both have been stabbed.

In this adaptation, Hamlet will ask why someone who used to be his brother would kill him.

Laertes will in an angry yet solemn tone will reply that it was because Hamlet slaughtered his

family, first by killing is harmless and rather dad which, secondly, lead to his sister committing

suicide in such an excruciating way such as drowning. Hopefully with the culmination of these

scene, the audience will see that Hamlet’s intention of avenging his father while noble destroyed

another family and killed two people who were relatively or completely innocent.
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CAST LIST:

Laertes:

- Actor: Adam Driver

- Description: This version of Laertes is very expressive of his love for his sister and his

father especially seen in his outbursts after their death. He his driven similar to the Ghost

of King Hamlet in his desire for revenge. This version of Laertes after his family’s death

and when talking to others expresses is hatred toward Hamlet specifically saying how it is

wrong he killed and caused the death of two kind and innocent people. At the beginning

of the play his disposition is friendly but near the end he is full of sadness or anger

depending on the situation.

Ophelia:

- Actor: Anya Taylor-Joy

- Description: This Ophelia is very joyful in the beginning but grows sadder as Hamlet

hurts her feelings and kills her father. Originally motivated by her love for Hamlet she

begins to become depressed due to her father’s death. While she doesn’t exactly commit

suicide like other characters mention she instead simply gives up the will to live when

she accidentally falls in.

King Claudius:

- Actor: Ralph Fiennes

- Description: This version of King Claudius is smart but also very weasel-like as he is

constantly plotting on what to do with Hamlet. He is driven by a desire to be powerful but

convinces himself that he killed his brother as to stop Denmark from participating in war
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any further. He is often seen being calm but occasionally loses his demeanor when in

difficult or dangerous situations.

Gertrudue:

- Actor: Nicole Kidman

- Description: This version of Gertrude is fairly oblivious for first half of the play.

However, after her Hamlet lectures her after he kills Polonius she begins to suspect her

new husband. She deeply loves her son which is why when she comes to the realization

the drink his poisoned she purposefully chooses to sacrifice herself for her son. Gertrude

is often calm although can become flustered and confused when put under pressure.

Hamlet:

- Actor: Christian Bale (as a younger man)

- Description: This Hamlet is of course motivated, but also pushed by his dead father, to

kill Claudius because of what he has done. This Hamlet while not actually mad is not

always in his right mind as his paranoia leads him to think everyone his working with

Claudius and was on the plot to kill his father. He is generally kind to those he thinks are

on his side but often does not see how he hurts them due to how he is blinded by his

father’s need for justice.

Ghost of King Hamlet:

- Actor: Sylvester Stallone (specifically from Rambo: Last Blood)

- Description: This King Hamlet is an old yet strong man due to his many years fighting in

various wars before his death. He is a man who is hell-bent on revenge after being killed

by his brother which makes quite angry at times even when speaking to his son. The

Ghost of King Hamlet will often yell at his son to continue and get revenge for him due
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to his strong desire for it. While he does care for his son and wife he is not that nice of a

man due to how cold he is after how much blood he has spilled.

Polonius:

- Actor: Wilem Dafoe

- Description: This version of Polonius is an older man who is smart but is also somewhat

arrogant as he doesn’t believe he can be wrong. He is a kind man who just wants to help

the royal family, the country, and his family. He is motivated to help Claudius and spy on

Hamlet because he is worried about Hamlet and wants to see what is wrong with him so

that he can help.

Horatio:

- Actor: Don Cheadle

- Description: This Horatio is fiercely loyal, calm, and collected even in difficult situations.

He is motivated by is desire to help Hamlet but more strongly desires to keep him safe

from harm which is why it hurts him to see Hamlet do something so dangerous.