Loyalty, a noun meaning "the quality of being loyal toward someone or something, a strong feeling of support or allegiance, or faithfulness to one's cause, ideal, or government." In its purest form, loyalty is merely the adherence, or the duty one human being has to another. First off, what exactly is loyalty? Is it be keeping a secret even if it's potentially harmful with the possibility of destroying someone or something? Is loyalty listening to the power in authority? What if that influence gives an order that clashes with your moral code, testing the boundaries of your conscience? What then? Would you make up excuses to keep yourself in the light, to remain blameless? But.what if there was no loyalty in the first place? Who would be held responsible then?.
True loyalty is shown through Horatio's friendship with Hamlet. Indeed, throughout the entirety of the play, Horatio is the only one out of Hamlet's friends that were not spying on him in any way, shape, or form. When Horatio is called to witness something extraordinary-the appearing of a ghost that's form is remarkably like the late king of Denmark, Hamlet Sr., the present king's late brother, and Hamlet's father-Horatio becomes suspicious: the king's phantom appeared in full armor, as if to go off to war, and with a face of "countenance more in sorrow than anger" (1. 2. 247.) as if he was looking for someone who wasn't there. Hamlet. His son. The only one who could avenge him.
Intrigued-and a little scared, (though he would never mention that)-Horatio convinces the two guards he accompanied on their watch to bring the matter straight to Hamlet rather than Claudius. 'Hamlet,' he had said. 'And only Hamlet should be told of this strange apparition.'.
Loyalty is synonymous to love. So, Hamlet's, or even Laertes' love toward Ophelia could be used as a proper example. Laertes blames Hamlet for both the death of his sister as well as the death of his father.