UNIVERSITÉ DE CAEN-NORMANDIE

U.F.R. DE LANGUES VIVANTES

ÉTRANGÈRES
MASTER LLCER ANGLAIS
ÉTUDES CULTURELLES

Hamlet, Vengeance and The Last Of Us Part II

MAHELELAINE ANIS
 The early modern drama and culture period (16th – 18th century) was seen as a highpoint of
the English literature “A Golden Age” in terms of creativity and imagination including a larger
vocabulary in the theatrical performances and plays. The English drama served a recreational
function for the purpose of being performed in front of an audience as an entertaining story
written in the form of a script and played by actors in theatres. Nowadays, in terms of
“modernity” Shakespeare’s work is frequently used by critics due to its ability to support
constantly renewed interpretations. Each generation contemplates and reinterprets the pieces of
the canon by shaping them from a new modern perspective and yet Shakespeare’s works can
always be relevant. Shakespeare’s play included various artistic forms alongside with theatre
such as cinema, comics, music and visual arts that decades later became even more evident in
screen based media ( movies and video games).

This piece of research aims at studying modern video games under the scope of Shakespeare’s
works in terms of adaptation, quotation and reference to shape and assert themselves as forms
of art. So what is Shakespeare’s influence on Video Games today and can we even make a
Video Game adaptation of his works?

Before getting into any possible answers, I believe we should consider how unique these
questions are for the medium of interactive entertainment, particularly within the context of
adaptation. Since his plays were first introduced nearly 400 years ago, writers across the world
have undergone the process of adapting his writings, to the point where many state that
adaptation is one major factor towards Shakespeare’s longevity that has later given us ballets,
plays, operas and now Video Games. We will be focusing on the narrative content, storytelling
and complex characters in relation to Shakespeare’s work in one major popular game: The Last
of Us Part II (2020).

Videogames industry has greatly developed over the years and managed to be a very
powerful medium not only for gaming but also for entertaining and educational purposes. The
works of English writers are not only limited to films or books anymore and Shakespeare’s
plays have been adapted to gaming as a new media as they rose with the passage of time. The
proliferation of Shakespeare’s works and plays can be set as an example of how actors and
directors interpret stories differently by drawing comparisons to the production culture of stage
plays and doing different versions with different visions of plays such as Macbeth, Hamlet and
Richard III. Revenge story driven plays as The Tragedy of Hamlet and Prince of Denmark
(1623) are very well known that any new story that is written and produced with a similar theme
tends to be compared to Hamlet.

The Last of Us Part II is the sequel to a very popular videogame, in a narrative set in a post-
apocalyptic world infected by a dangerous disease. Similar to Hamlet, revenge is the main
theme that drives the characters’ action and motivations, as well as the primary narrative force
that moves forward the plotline of the videogame. TLOU Part II is not a re-telling of Hamlet
but a modern adaptation of the former in the light of major similarities, literary and narrative
elements that support this idea. Both protagonist of the stories embark on a revenge quest after
the loss of a father and a father-figure, their stories become united and unified by vengeance in
a way that surpass time and medium. Ellie, the protagonist of TLOU is not quite Prince Hamlet
but they are very comparable young characters who went through trauma at the beginning of
each story, driven by rage and hate over the loss of a loved one. In both stories, we notice how
revenge has a destructive nature over their actions and character development, and in doing so,
the game did attain a high level of artistry and obtained the social validation of art according to
critics. 1

A lot has been said and written on Shakespeare’s play Hamlet (1623), in terms of interesting
and significant themes that a single piece of research will not be sufficient to cover it all. As a
result, this thesis will be limited mostly to the vengeance theme in the narratives. “Haste me to
know’t, that I with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love may sweep to my
revenge” (Greenblatt 1781). Hamlet in this scene meets his father’s ghost who tells him that his
uncle Claudius, along with Hamlet’s mother conspired against his father and murdered him.
The ghost then command Hamlet to avenge him in which Hamlet responds “and thy
commandment alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain” (1782). From that
point, Hamlet carried out the ghost’s commandment to avenge his father with many doubts in
his mind whether to enforce justice onto the murderers himself or leave it to God to judge and

1
Bogost, Ian. Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. MIT Press, 2007.
Chevalier, Tracy. New Boy. Hogarth, 2017.
punish them, a conflict between mercy and revenge and a dilemma of “ to be or not to be”
(Greenblatt 1802). As Hamlet was still virtuous and in following the quest of revenge he ought
to abandon the teachings of Christianity and follow a path to blood and villainy. In the course
of the plot, Hamlet suffers an identity crisis, asking who he is and what he is while reflecting
on the doubts and concerns that he experiences. William F. Zak in his book Hamlet’s
Problematic Revenge: Forging a Royal Mandate explains that Hamlet never fully examined
the task he was commanded to do, as clever as he was, he remained blind to the wrongs he was
committing to himself and others. 2

In The Last of Us Part II, the videogame allows the players to embody the characters Ellie and
Abby, two young women driven by hate and vengeful rivalry between them, after the latter had
killed Joel, Ellie’s father-figure in a bid of revenge after the events of the first game The Last
of Us Part I where Joel killed Abby’s father to protect Ellie. In the game, Ellie is the more
prominent protagonist of the narrative and Abby’s considered the antagonist, yet we get to
control both of the characters as a way to experience both of their stories simultaneously and
how both of them suffered at the hands of the other. Ellie witnessed Abby murdering Joel early
in the game and swore vengeance at that very moment that she became obsessed with the idea
of vengeance, her character developed from a loving, kind hearted to a cold unforgiving
attitude, which was illustrated in one of the scenes in the gameplay when a member of the group
that killed Joel got bitten by one of the infected and therefore is considered dead, Ellie still
refused to let him go as she said: “ I wouldn’t call that justice” 3. Unlike Hamlet, Ellie witnessed
the death of her father-figure and was unable to do anything to stop it instead begging for it, a
scene that painted a vivid image of her nightmares and gave her more powerful sentiments of
revenge and hate towards Abby and her companions. As the story goes on, Ellie managed to
kill every single individual that was present during Joel’s murder leaving no one behind in her
attempt to find Abby as a retribution for Joel, which eventually lead to the death of her friend
Jesse, a young man who decided to help her in her quest.

2
Zak, W. F. (2019). Hamlet’s Problematic Revenge: Forging a Royal Mandate. Lexington Books.
3
Ellie, The Last of Us Part II, 2020.
 Jesse’s death did not withhold Ellie’s quest of vengeance but instead fuels it. “Revenge
drives the plot since it becomes the primal motivator for many of its characters, both
protagonists and supporting ones” 4. Critics argues that The Last of Us Part II is indeed a revenge
story but also a plot shaped by the characters’ inability to forgive and forget and therefore,
destroy their lives and that of those around them as Ellie prioritizes her vengeance over her
friends, home, desires and her life as Dave Trumbore from collider noted “When You Seek
Revenge, Dig Two Graves”.

Another major difference between Ellie and Hamlet is that Ellie was fully determined over
the idea of her revenge, whereas, Hamlet had always doubts and seconds thoughts whether to
enforce justice onto the murderers himself or leave it to God to judge and punish them. A
conflict in his mind between mercy and revenge which can possibly make Hamlet a more
complex character. However, in the final scene of The Last of Us Part II, both Ellie and Abby
came to realize that revenge had only brought death and destruction to themselves and others
around them, who either suffered or were killed – in a form of deterioration of their mental
states – “Only after forgiving can both start their own self-redemption and build back what was
once their life, or at least something resembling to a new and peaceful normality” 5. At the end
of the game, the two finally confronts, and as Ellie was about to drown Abby with her hands
around her throat, a flashback of Joel crosses her mind when he was telling Ellie that he only
wished for her happiness. Ellie suddenly stops and spare Abby’s life, as she speaks with tears
in her eyes: “Just take him and go”, Ellie here was actually referring to Joel and her obsession
to avenge him, telling Abby to take all those haunting thoughts with her and just leave. As a
result, the depiction of revenge as a theme in The Last of Us Part II is a primarily a moral lesson
of its futility, and how poor a substitute it is for justice. 6

The quest of revenge initiated by the loss of a father-figure was the most evident similarity
between Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1623) and The Last of Us Part II. Hamlet did not witness the
act of murder but was notified by the metaphysical manifestation of his father’s ghost speaking
of his own death unlike Ellie that witnessed Joel’s death at the hands of Abby. Yet both
characters of the narratives did not question their desire and quest of revenge and embarked on
a mission of vengeance without considering the consequences. Hamlet’s focus on revenge leads
to Polonius’ death at his hands as he mistakes him for the king and stabs him, and secondly his

4
Not A Revenge Story – An Analysis
5
Ibid
6
Trumbore, Dave. “The Last of Us: Part II’ Ending Explained: When You Seek Revenge, Dig
Two Graves.” Collider, 19 June 2020.
focus on revenge and rejecting Ophelia’s love leads to her implied suicide after losing her
sanity: “ you should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we
shall relish of it. I loved you not” 7. Ultimately, Hamlet seeking his revenge forced several
innocent people into death and in the end lost his own life. 8 This mirrors Ellie’s story in TLOU
Part II, as Abby took Joel’s life in front of her, Ellie swore on killing her and clarified later in
the following scene that nothing would change her mind. This consequently lead to Jesse’s
death by the hands of Abby who had actually intended to kill Ellie but Jesse had the misfortune
of running through the door first and thus being shot in the head, in the same way that Polonius’
death was unintentional.

The final scenes of Hamlet (1623) and TLOU Part II (2020) happens to be quite different,
yet illustrates the same idea and conclusion about revenge. Hamlet as he was dying of poison
inside his body, he finally become conscious of the loss, pain and death his vengeance had
caused to him and others around him. In comparison, when Ellie was drowning Abby she
realized she lost two of her fingers during the fight, death of her friends, relationships that were
broken because of her desire of revenge and finally Joel’s flashback that made her realize none
of those acts would actually bring her father-figure back to life and it reminds her that she is
still capable of showing mercy at the very end. 9

In conclusion, the evolution of the gaming industry over the years was fascinating with
extremely realistic graphics and facial expressions that shows the technological development
and how the filmmaking industry has changed over the years. But, what truly makes a good
game is when the studio knows how to put the story first before the gameplay, delivering stories
so compelling and immersive that actually compete with movies. The Last of Us Part II is a
vivid example of Shakespeare’s influence on videogames and it is possible to make a
videogame adaptation of his works.

7
William, Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1.
8
England, Eugene. “Hamlet Against Revenge.” Literature and Belief, vol. 7, no. 1, 1987, pp.
49-62.
9
Avard, Alex. “The Last of Us 2 Ending Explained: A Spoiler Filled Look At What It All
Means.