It is true that
Hamlet is basically a revenge-play,and
yet it differs from a revenge-play. The basic elements of a revenge-play may be
enumerated as under :
- It deals with some crime
,usually murder. - The ghost of the dead appears to reveal
the the identity of the criminal. - The task of avenging
the murder is laid upon the shoulders of a close friend or
relative. - This task is accepted as something
sacred. - The avenger faces many difficulties and
impediments in the performance of his task. - Ultimately
revenge is taken with terrible consequences to the avenger and the
avenged. - The play is full of violence and bloodshed,
adultery and incest,thrilling fights, sensational horrors and other melodramatic
elements. - The language used is artificial and pompous and
the style is flowery and grandiloquent.
It is
clear that all the basic elements of a revenge-play are found in Shakespeare's
Hamlet .The ghost of the late king of
Denmark appears in full dress and armour and reveals the identity of the murderer, and
the task of taking revenge is entrusted to Hamlet,the prince, who accepts it as a sacred
duty.He encounters many difficulties in the performance of his task. Ultimately, he is
successful in completing his task but in the process both the avenger and the avenged
are killed. Plots and counter-plots,the treachery or friends, assumed and real madness,
fighting and bloodshed, sensational events and other basic elements of a revenge-play
are to be found in Hamlet, and so it
may be called basically a revenge-play.
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