Toan Cao

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Mandi Gerland
ENG4U1.32
24 Feb 2016

The Revenge is a Destruction

William Shakepear is a famous playwright, actor and poet. Hamlet is a play
which talk about a problem in Kings Family in Denmark. At the beginning of the
story, Hamlet is sad, and madness because of the quickly marry of his mother after
his noble fathers dead in not even two months. After that, he met a ghost, it
encourages Hamlet taking the revenge for his father. In the feeling of sadness of his
father dead, there are a lot of changes after Old Hamlet dead, those changes hurts
Hamlet more. Therefore, Hamlets motion creates the illusion in Hamlets mind, and
Hamlet is constantly misled by that illusion. the illusion makes Hamlet lost the
ability to distinguish form reality. As a result, the illusion destroys his family, his
love, and his life.
The family of Hamlet was destroyed gradually in the relationship between
Hamlet and his mother by illusion. Hamlet thinks he also lost his mother as well,
due to the quickly married wedding of his mother. Hamlet tells himself:
By what it fed on, and yet, within a month-Let me not hink ont .
Frailty, thy name is woman!- Alittle month, or ere those shoes were
old.
With which she followed my poor fathers body, Like Niobe, all
tears.
Why she , even she o god, a beast that wants discourse of reason.
Would have mounrned longer!-married with my uncle,
My father;s brother, nut no more like my father
Than I to Hercules. Within a month, (1.2.145-150)
By using the method of contraction, Shakespeare demonstrates how quick change
of Gertude after a month of her husband dead. Moreover, Hamlet has to see that his
mother is quickly married with Hamlets uncle. In Hamlets mind, one month is not
a long time, so he thinks the wedding of his mother is obviously a betray to his
father. The sadness which Hamlet is suffering from the lost of father is now more
deeper when he sees his mother wedding. This emotion leads Hamlet to become
angry, and hate his mother. Therefore, the relationship between his mother and
Hamlet starts fading or destroying gradually under the misleading of sad Hamlets

emotion which is created by illusion. The reason is that Hamlet did not recognize
that after one month, everything will go back to its position in reality, but he still
keeps his sadness of his father dead last longer. Moreover, Hamlet attacks his
mother by offensive words, after he finally identifies who the murder of his father is
Claudius by using the play as the same
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as what his father ghost said. It makes him feel very extremely angry with his
mother, because she does not realize the true. Hamlet told Gertrude:
A murderer and a villain,
A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe
Of your precedent lord, a vice of kings,
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule,
That from a shelf the precious diadem stole,
And put it in his pocket. (3.4.97-102)
Hamlet uses all the offensive words to describe how bad Claudius is to his mother
and he wants his mother be awake about that. In Hamlets mind, the ghost creates
an image that Gertrude is a victim of Claudius, Hamlet has to help her out.
Nevertheless, Gertrude does not believe what Hamlet say and react untruthfully,
because she thinks he is still being madness. Moreover, Hamlet does not definitely
believe the ghost of his father in the beginning, but after using the play to detect
Claudius, Hamlet completely trusts in the ghost father. As the result of Gertrudes
reaction, Hamlet believed in ghost that Gertrude is sedated person, so he used the
offensive word to wake up her. However, he does not realize that what he is doing is
breaking down the family relationship. The internal emotion of Hamlet destroys his
family in isolating Hamlet from his mother, and disturbing his mother. Moreover,
illusion does not stop in destroying Hamlets family, it also affect to his love.

Hamlets love is affected after his father dead by through his changing
behaviors by illusion. Illusion makes him act more crazy after he knows Ophelia is
not going to married him because he knows the advises from her father, and
brother to Ophelia. Therefore, he went to Ophelias room, and do some bad
behaviors. For example, Ophelia said
He took me by the wrist and held me hard
Then goes he to the length of all his arm,
And, with his other hand thus oer his brow,
He falls to such perusal of my face

As he would draw it. Long stayed he so.

At last, a little shaking of mine arm
And thrice his head thus waving up and down,
He raised a sigh so piteous and profound
As it did seem to shatter all his bulk
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And end his being. That done, he lets me go, (2.1.87-94)
Hamlet gets more crazy, as Ophelia returned his letter, and will not let him visit,
because she has to obey to what her father told her. However, those violence shows
that Hamlet loves Ophelia, because Hamlet wants to hold that love, and to keep it
longer. Nevertheless, the illusion from his father s dead make Hamlet concentrates
on finding a way to take revenge, and forget about his lover. It also makes Hamlet
not realize that what he is doing is not used for treating a lover, and those
behaviors are animal nature which wants to reserve what it has by violence.
Therefore, good images about Hamlet in Ophelia are destroyed by his strong
emotion inside him, and replaced by a very rude person. The relationship between
Ophelia and Hamlet becomes worse. Moreover, the love of Hamlet for Ophelia is
weaker in the second time. Hamlet tries to react with them by refusing everything
which Ophelia returns, he says: No, it wasnt me. I never gave you anything.
(3.1.94). Hamlet refuses receiving back his gift from Ophelia. Moreover, his refusing
action is a way to avoid getting more painful, but Ophelia does not know that what
she is doing to Hamlet is hurting, and stimulating the pain from loss of his father,
and betraying mother. As a result, Hamlet rejects the love between him and Ophelia
by saying: I never gave you anything (3.1.94). Due to illusion leading to revenge,
he is not insight as he used to be and not calm down to resolve the facing problem.
There are a lot of change of behaviors in Hamlet. Therefore, his illusion leads him to
the loss of his love after the loss of family relationship. The end of the way which
Hamlet is led by illusion is the destruction of his life.
Hamlet is a good person, he wants to take revenge for his fathers dead, but
he is misled by illusion. Therefore, illusion destroys his life. His emotion taking
revenge from illusion is out control of him, so it leads him to dangerous situation
because the illusion lead Hamlet kills Polonius unintentionally. He said Whats this,
a rat? Ill et a buck hes a dead rat now(3.4.34). Hamlet killed Polonius
unconsciously in a quick response because he is scare of revealing his secret of
taking revenge. Therefore, he reacts quickly to kill Polonius right away and he
intends that he is killing a dirty animal, a rat, in uncontrollable emotion. Because he
cannot control his emotion inside him, he losses the ability to recognize the person
behind tapestry. The misleading by illusion makes Hamlet think the person behind
tapestry is Claudius, and stimulate him to revenge for his father dead. Therefore, he
uses his sword to stabs through the tapestry. However, the misleading of his illusion
is wrong, so Hamlet now is under revenge of Polonius s son. Furthermore, his life is

under the thread of Poloniuss scheme. In Claudiuss scheme due to the Polonius
deaths raise him the alert of Hamlets revenge, and Hamlet cannot escape from
dead. For instant, Claudius said: Let further think of this,
Weigh what convenience both of time and means
May fit us to our shape. If this should fail,
And that our drift look through our bad performance,
Twere better not assayed.Therefore this project
Should have a back or second that might hold
If this should blast in proof. -Soft, let me seeWell make a solemn wager on your cunnings
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Ihat! When in your motion you are hot and dry,
As make your bouts more violent to that end,
And that he calls for drink, Ill have prepared him
A chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping
If he by chance escape your venomed stuck,
Our purpose may hold there.-But stay, whats that noise?
(3.7.147-158)
Claudius made his scheme very carefully, and he does not want any mistake
happened. Therefore, he also makes a backup plan. In case, the first plan does not
work. He did it because the madness, insanity of Hamlet from illusion is harming
him, and there is no way to stop it, except the dead of Hamlet. However, illusion
from Hamlet fades the danger of Claudius in Hamlets mind, so Hamlet is not scare
of Claudius and becomes arrogance. Therefore, he is trapped in agreeing to take the
fence without doubting. As a result, in the end of story, familys Hamlet is dead.
In summary, Hamlet is a good person, but illusion of taking revenge makes
him not distinguish with the danger of reality. Therefore, it leads Hamlet gradually to
the destruction of his family, his love, and life in a same formulation. Illusion of
taking revenge is destruction of everything having.

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Works Cited
Shakespeare,Villiam.Hamlet.Ed.Barbara A.Mowat and Paul werstine.New York:
Washington Square-Pocket,1992.