Hamlet

            One of the central themes in Shakespeare's Hamlet is revenge, and exacting revenge becomes the principal focus for a number of the characters during the course of the play. Among these characters are Hamlet and Laertes, who is quite pivotal because he is in many ways a parallel to Hamlet and provides the readers a strong base for comparison with Hamlet. The figure of Laertes is extremely useful in analyzing the social commentary Shakespeare is trying to make about the "morality of revenge", because he mirrors Hamlet in practically all aspects of life, and is even placed into similar circumstances as Hamlet, namely having the duty of avenging his father's death. The one major difference between the two is their approach to and methods of avenging their respective father's deaths. Shakespeare has made Hamlet and Laertes similar in all aspects except the one crucial characteristic mentioned earlier, so that the reader can attribute any dissimilarities in the outcomes of their respective revenge missions to that one characteristic. However, there are no dissimilarities in the two outcomes. Both Hamlet and Laertes achieve the goal they set out to achieve, avenging their respective fathers" deaths, but shortly thereafter both wind up dead themselves. This demonstrates that Shakespeare believes no matter what the circumstance, no matter how it is carried out, and no matter how it is approached, murder as a form of revenge is morally wrong. Although, on the course website it says, "In Elizabethan England a man was expected to retaliate swiftly for slights to himself or the abuse of his kin or dependents.".
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