Theme Of Justice In Hamlet

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Throughout the play, revenge is seen as the means to acquire what the characters feel to be true justice. However, the play implies that revenge corrupts justice, which hinders the idea of fairness required for justice. Hamlet follows the Ghost to confirm whether or not it really is his father. The Ghost tells Hamlet that what he is about to tell him should be listened to with seriousness. The Ghost reveals to Hamlet that Claudius is the one responsible for his death. The Ghost proceeds to tell Hamlet that he must seek revenge against Claudius. “If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not/ Let not the royal bed of Denmark be/ A couch for luxury and damned incest” (1.5.88-90). A key thing the Ghost tells Hamlet is “if thou hast nature in thee, …show more content…
He calls his father “noble” with gives the sense of honorable. Because he feels his father was honorable, he wants to do what it takes to preserve the honor that his father had. Laertes, also refers to his sister of having “perfections” these “perfections” can be interpreted as her innocence and sense of lovability from those around her. If Laertes is to get revenge, he cannot have his sister and father in mind because that will conflict with the ideal revenge mindset. The mindset consists of not having a conscience and no emotion. If those two things are present that challenges him from being able to extract revenge. Revenge throughout the play provides the definition of being without conscience and heart. It is implied if one or both elements are present then one cannot truly enact revenge. Hamlet and Laertes did not feel a type of satisfaction they were hoping to get from revenge. They did commit the act of revenge but the presence of conscience or emotion left a sense of incompleteness. Corruption leads to revenge which leads a lack of fairness in justice. Hamlet and Laertes cannot expect justice to be fair if they let their conscience and heart be corrupted by trying to achieve
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