The Theme in the Work
Revenge enters the play as an order. In scene 5 of Act I, the Ghost tells Hamlet that he was killed by Claudius, who poured poison into his ear while he slept in the orchard, and demands revenge, with Gertrude spared. Hamlet swears, and in swearing he accepts as his only commandment what his father left him.
In scene 2 of Act III, The Mousetrap proves Claudius's guilt, and in the next scene revenge is within reach of the sword: Hamlet finds the king on his knees and gives up, because killing him while he prays would send him to heaven (scene 3 of Act III). Shortly after, in the queen's chamber, he thrusts through the curtain convinced that he is killing the king, and the dead man is Polonius (scene 4 of Act III).
In Act IV revenge changes hands and sides. In scene 4 of Act IV, Hamlet meets the army of Fortinbras on its way to a worthless patch of land and reproaches himself for letting everything sleep when he has motive and means. In scene 7 of Act IV, Claudius leads Laertes, the son who also wants to avenge his father, into a duel with a poisoned sword and a reserve cup, and Laertes accepts the plan and even proposes poison for the tip of the blade.
In scene 2 of Act V, the revenge that Hamlet postponed is fulfilled only when there is no time left to choose: Laertes, wounded by his own blade, accuses the king, and Hamlet drives the blade into him and makes him drink from the cup. Before the duel, with the proof already in hand and the duty to kill Claudius reaffirmed to Horatio, Hamlet says that what matters is being ready.
Revenge in Hamlet is never a clean blow. The blow that falls on the wrong body is the one through the curtain, which kills Polonius, and Claudius's trap ends up striking Gertrude and Laertes. The blow that finally hits the right target is Hamlet's decision in the moment, after the trap set by others has turned against its setter. The play leaves the question of what it would mean to avenge well unanswered, and answers only about the price.
Where It Appears
- scene 5 of Act I: The Ghost reveals to Hamlet that Claudius killed him and demands revenge, and Hamlet swears to remember the order and makes Horatio and Marcellus swear silence.
- scene 2 of Act III: Claudius rises, orders the lights lit and leaves during the play that reproduces his brother's murder, and Hamlet becomes convinced of his guilt.
- scene 3 of Act III: Hamlet finds Claudius kneeling, raises his sword over him and gives up, because killing him while he prays would send him to heaven.
- scene 4 of Act III: Hamlet thrusts his sword through the curtain behind which Polonius hid and kills Polonius, convinced that he is killing the king.
- scene 4 of Act IV: Hamlet sees Fortinbras's army march over a worthless patch of land and, alone, reproaches himself for not carrying out the revenge, with his father murdered and his mother dishonored.
- scene 7 of Act IV: Claudius tells Laertes, who wants to avenge his father, that Hamlet killed Polonius, and proposes a duel in which Laertes will use an unguarded sword; Laertes adds the poison to the tip.
- scene 2 of Act V: Wounded by Laertes's poisoned sword, Hamlet kills Claudius after Laertes, wounded by his own blade, accuses the king.
Passages
The order received, and the charge Hamlet accepts.
The time is out of joint. O cursed spite, / That ever I was born to set it right.(I.5)
The murderer who wants forgiveness without giving back the profits of the crime.
May one be pardon’d and retain th’offence?(III.3)
The self-reproach before the army that marches for almost nothing.
How stand I then, / That have a father kill’d, a mother stain’d, / Excitements of my reason and my blood, / And let all sleep(IV.4)
The readiness with which Hamlet faces the duel.
There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. [...] The readiness is all.(V.2)