Hamlet

            
             Avenging the murder of a father was a part of one's honor and had to be done at all costs. Although revenge was considered to be a form of murder, the act could be justified only if the revenger died after the revenge was carried out. In William Shakespeare's world-renowned tragedy Hamlet revenge was the driving force behind three of the main characters: Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras. For two of the characters it led to their tragic downfall and for the other it led him to greatness.
             The main character in the play, Hamlet, sought revenge for the untimely murder of his father, Old Hamlet, by his uncle and now King Claudius. In Act one Hamlet is first visited by the ghost of his father. During the encounter the ghost reveals that he was not killed by a snakebite but that his own brother had poured poison in his ear while he lay asleep. The ghost then instructs Hamlet to "Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder." (1.5.25). This is the point in the play when Hamlet first starts thinking about carrying out the revenge. After much thought and debate Hamlet devised a plan to tell if his uncle actually did murder his father or if".It is a damned ghost that we have seen."(3.2.87) just haunting Hamlet and trying to get him to murder his uncle. By putting on a re-enactment of his father's death with the players, the reaction of Claudius during the poisoning scene ensures Hamlet that Claudius did, indeed, murder his father and that now was the time to seek revenge. "A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his soul son, do this same villain send to heaven."(3.3.76) It is during this scene when Claudius is in confession praying, that Hamlet has his first chance to seek out his revenge. Since Claudius is praying Hamlet knows that he would be sent to heaven instead of hell where he belongs; so Hamlet decides to wait and catch him in an act of sin that will send him straight to hell for all of eternity.