Hamlet And McBeth, A Comparative Essay

In the beginning of the play Hamlet, the main character’s father has been killed. His father’s ghost appears to him and tells him that is was his uncle, Claudius, who poisoned him. At this point, he cannot trust any one, not even his own family. It goes even further with the fact that Claudius will be marring his mother, Gertrude. “He cannot be sure whether he can even trust his own mother in the struggle for power that takes place later in the play” (Watt 160).

Killing for revenge is a theme exhibited throughout this play. “As events continue, the reader comes to realize that by the end of the play the characters of Hamlet, Fortinbras and Laertes have all had their fathers killed, the main reason being revenge” (Camp

Lady MacBeth’s death causes Macbeth to kill Siward. He is only acting out of rage, but his rash decision-making is what will lead to his death. He wants revenge and acts irrationally. “The character of Macbeth appears to be a mean and ruthless killer. The real reason Macbeth is killing is because of fear and his need for self-protection”(Campbell 213). He thinks everyone is out to get him and against him.

Revenge killing also plays a role in the death of MacBeth himself. The duel between him and MacDuff is a direct result of MacDuff wanting revenge after the death of his wife and children. Since he feels MacBeth is responsible, he wants MacBeth dead, and Macbeth dies from a revenge killing for his own past evil deeds.

Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship gives other examples of deceit and revenge that eventually result in death. At first, Hamlet cannot trust anyone, so he goes to Ophelia to confide in her. Ophelia is then deceitful to her father Polonius because she is not honest about her relationship with Hamlet. In turn, Polonius is sent to spy on Hamlet’s conversation with his mother Gertrude, who becomes frightened by the way Hamlet is acting. Polonius jumps from behind a curtain and Hamlet kills him. This adds fuel to the fire, as it gives reason for revenge on Hamlet by Polonius’ children, Laertes and Ophelia.

One of the themes Shakespeare conveys is that the characters of these tragedies does not learn from killing and death. It only causes them to continue with their same old way of doing things. It would seem that both the characters from Hamlet and Macbeth should have learned their lesson early on in the plays, but neither do. Eventually it leads to their destruction.

The killing of Lady MacDuff and her children is just to show how out of hand this had gotten. The idea that MacDuff’s wife and children are a threat to Macbeth is abs

Some topics in this essay:
Hamlet Claudius, Hamlet MacBeth, Banquo MacBeth, Lady MacBeth’s, MacBeth Macbeth, King Duncan, Laertes Ophelia, Lady MacBeth, Lady MacDuff, Hamlet Polonius, revenge killing, revenge death, deceit revenge, lady macbeth, play hamlet, king duncan, mother gertrude, hamlet macbeth, macbeth lady macbeth, ghost appears, trust own, macbeth killing fear,