Tyler Cluff

12/03/2014
ENG101
Mrs. Williams
Literary Analysis of Hamlet

Revenge. Deceit. Blood. Family. These words encompass only a few of the themes
woven into the twisted, gripping, tumultuous tale of Hamlet as told by Shakespeare himself.
Shakespeare hides numerous twists and hidden messages under a thick blanket of bloodlust, lies
and inner-conflict. As an audience, there is plenty of action and death to satisfy even the most
extreme. But if you look deeper, youll find that Shakespeare has done so much more than create
a Renaissance-era thriller. The characters in Hamlet also tell a story in themselves too. Between
the psychological roller-coaster that is Hamlet to the creepy, deceitful uncle that is Claudius, the
story has plenty of interesting characters. The plot takes all these factors and mashes it all
together to form a pure masterpiece. Following along through the plot of the story and seeing the
breakdown of the characters, Shakespeare, yet again, had us all eating out of the palm of his hand
for 5 exciting acts.
Throughout the play, Hamlet is clearly the center of attention. The play circles around his
inner-conflict and need to exact his revenge. He struggles with these problems continually and
they bear on his ability to make decisions. His mantra in the play is he wants people to be honest
to him, yet he lies to find out if his uncle really did kill his dad. This shows that in the worst of

circumstances, everyone will sacrifice their morals. I have of late,but wherefore I know
not,lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed, it goes so heavily with my
disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave oerhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire,why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of
vapours. What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! In form
and moving, how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension, how like
a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this
quintessence of dust? (Shakespeare 287.) In this quote Hamlet states that his fathers death has
left him deeply saddened and explains why he has waited to exact his revenge on Claudius.
Claudius on the other hand, is clearly the antagonist. He sparks the conflict in the play
and leads the whole Kingdom on a royal downward spiral. His need for power leads him to kill
his own brother and assume his role as king. He takes a perverse twist and ends up marrying the
late Kings wife to top it off! The whole conflict and the reason Hamlet struggles so much in the
play is centered on Claudiuss every action. He struggles with guilt of his actions but enjoys the
benefits of his evil plans as it shows here, My fault is past. But O, what form of prayer can
serve my turn? Forgive me my foul murder? That cannot be, since I am still possess'd of those
effects for which I did the murder, my crown, mine own ambition, and my queen. (Shakespeare
52.)
The plot of the story involves quite a few twists and turns. The road is paved with the
initial murder of the King. This action sets off the ensuing chain of events that eventually lead to
the demise of 98% of the cast. After Hamlet learns of his fathers murder he sets off to plan his
revenge by staging a play within a play, designed to judge his Uncles guilt. This serves as the

plays rising action. The play builds during this time and ultimately peaks just after Hamlet
accidentally kills Polonius, who was listening in on his conversation with his mother.
The climax of the play is unarguably the duel between Hamlet and Laertes, the son of
Polonius. The theme of revenge is prevalent yet again, solely because Laertes wants revenge for
his fathers death. The duel is a result of a plan set in place by Claudius, who has become aware
that Hamlet has found the truth about the Kings murder. He knows he needs to kill Hamlet to
retain his power and keep his secret quiet. He uses Laertes need for revenge to stage a duel
between Hamlet and Laertes in the hopes that Hamlet will be killed. Claudius took Laertes sword
and had the tip poisoned so even if Hamlet was only injured, he would die eventually. When
Hamlet learns of the poisoned blade he stabs Claudius with it, basically killing him. Both Hamlet
and Laertes were struck by the poison blade, so they know they both will die. Hamlet enlists the
help of his good friend Horatio to tell his story and make sure people know the truth.
As a falling action, Horatio tells the story to a returning Fortinbras, the new heir to the
throne. Fortinbras declares Hamlet to be a hero and declares him to get a heros burial. In the
end, 98% of the cast are dead but Hamlets truth is finally known.
Without any one of these crazed characters or intense twists in the plot, this story would
not be the same. Shakespeare really had a knack for doing a lot and not too much all at the same
time. Hamlet really provides an insight to the true depth of Shakespeares work and his ability to
create a story behind every little detail in his plays, its truly marvelous.