Sample Essay - Hamlet 2

Prompt: Compare-Contrast Two Characters Shakespeare Associates

"I will speak daggers to her," he said. Hamlet I'd a man of emotion. He always

makes thing(s) so much more dramatic than they have to be; however, in the end,

Hamlet is a Shakespeare tragedy! Hamlet was written in the late 1500s, but it has bee

widely accepted in different eras as a wonderful piece of art. Shakespeare uses Hamlet

and Fortinbraus in order to demonstrate the effects of vengance by juxtaposing a life of

revenge with one of self-restraint, as well as their results.

Hamlet's life was full of reason- reason to be angry, that is. Ultimately, his anger

would only lead to his downfall. When Hamlet first found out that his father was

murdered, he was astonished. The ghost that reveals this to Hanlet also persuades him

to take revenge on his uncle, the murderer. This one instant created the motif of

vengance and the main twist in the play. Out of all things Hamlet decides to take

vengance, but in doing so, he also causes a number of other problems to occur. In

attempting to prove Claudius (Hamlet's uncle) guilty of treachery, he starts to go crazy.

He not only wants to get revenge, but he has to do it while dealing with a relationship

with a girl, the coping of his father's death, as well as the fact that his mother has only

recently married his uncle. His craziness is a result from all of his emotions being

stressed by different people one after another. Nonce Hamlet can't take the change of

situations anymore, (not to mention the ghost that he sees constantly of his father) he

creates his plans to take revenge. Meh actually ends up seeing four people die, (not

including himself) rather than one. Once he has killed his uncle Claudius, he shows no

sign of content; he shows no sign of fulfillment. What can be seen, though, is utter

destruction.

Fortinbraus is very similar to Hamlet(,) only he took a different path. Hamlet's father (when he was still alive of course) took part in a duel with Fortinbraus' dad and was able to take not only his life, but also much of young Fortibraus' inheritance. This actually caused young Fortibraus to become quite furious about his inheritance being lost and led him to the thought of vengence. Like Hamlet, Fortinbraus had good reasoning to want to take revenge on King Hamlet, and he had every intention of doing so. Uncle Fortinbraus took power after his brother, leaving (young) Prince Fortinbraus with no real power to go to Denmark and take revenge. Uncle Fortinbraus was against thr prince taking action on his thoughts and so he ordered him to take his revenge, and soon enough, we see, he restrained himself well enough from doing so. We also find out that he won the war (battle) with Poland and was successful by the end of the play.

Shakespeare contrasts these two and how the(y) ended up in the play. He shows

us that the one who carries out vengence (Hamlet), is left with literally nothing to his

name, nor his body. Through this fact and the entirity of Hamlet(')s story, he

demonstrates that vengance is the ultimate destroyer of kingdoms. With Fortibraus, we

see that the one who doesn't count revenge, is blessed with getting back his

inheritance, and more. Fortibraus is left with the crown of Denmark, an entire country.

Shakespeare is clearly telling his audience that vengance is deteriorating, while self

constraint is rewarded.

Shakespeare finishes up the play by sowing the results of these two characters. He shows us who is better off, who followed the act of vengance, and who is dead. We see what is better- not taking vengance. Blessed are those who do not take revenge.

Hamlet wasn't able to realize this in time.