My initial reaction to these final acts is that Hamlet is
finally getting some clarity of the confusion that surrounds him. He knows who he can trust and the people he
can’t. He also seems to know his
character foils as he talks about Fortibinas and his convictions to capture the
land and also Laertes who has done well for himself. He still echoes his insecurities with these
great men but he has come to his terms.
I think we can all relate to the fact that we all have insecurities and
know there are people that are always better.
It is with true self assessment that we can accept our flaws and move forward
in being an individual.
Laertes is the character foil to Hamlet as he also comes
home and faces his father’s death and readily goes into conviction to avenge
his father’s death so his father can be honored. He does not wait as he wanted to go into
action especially when he also hears the news of his sister’s death. That made it clear to him that he only has
one direction to take. Laertes also
speaks directly of his intentions even from the beginning when he tells Ophelia
to watch out for Hamlet’s intentions.
Unlike Hamlet, he is true to his words and does not need to use tricks
like the play, play mad, or use witty words to confuse people like Hamlet.
In this final Act, the overall theme is revenge and forgiveness. Hamlet got his revenge when he sent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their execution for betraying his friendship by switching the order for his own execution. Laertes also wants revenge for Hamlet killing his father and causing Ophelia to be mad and suicidal. The King wants revenge on Hamlet for knowing what happened. The Queen figured it out finally when she told everyone aloud that she has been poisoned as well as Laertes confirmed it is the King that did all of it. Fortibinas also wants revenge as he plans so take over Denmark for his father’s death. However, there is also forgiveness in this final acts when Hamlet asks to be pardon and Laertes tells Hamlet “I do receive your offer’d love like love, and will not wrong it”. Therefore, in this tragic drama the revenge circled through as the King, Queen, Laertes, and Hamlet all died with the exception of Fortibinas.
I agree that revenge has became a big roll in this play. All the fights, gestures, and lies that the so called friends Hamlet had was a joke. Hamlet flipped the script and got them back from trying to under-minding him.
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Carmina: I also saw revenge as being the theme for act four. While I see the entire play as being about revenge act four really drives it home with Hamlet finally acting on his desire to honor his father and Laertes returning to honor his father by getting revenge against Hamlet.
I love how there can be so many themes interpreted for each act. I try to make my blogs different by trying to choose a different theme than what is obvious and see if I may support that theme with the texts in the play. There is very strong evidence pointing to revenge and forgiveness within the last two acts of the play. I also like how you pointed out Laertes's personality. He is definitely the most exact and fastest acting character. He does not wait and contemplate to determine what actions he would take. He seeks to get revenge and know's who to kill and wants to do it as soon as possible.
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