This paper is a discussion of violence in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. The play's actions hinge on a murder and, by the end, eight more people have died violently. Yet the greatest violence is done to the living (in some cases, driving them to kill), and Shakespeare uses all these acts as a cautionary tale. In Hamlet's own words, "I must be cruel to be kind" (III IV 1003). Through violence, he argues for clemency and empathy. Before the play begins, Hamlet's uncle has murdered his father in order to secure the throne for himself. Claudius then claims Hamlet's mother as his queen, seducing and distracting her from questioning her father's death.
Yet the restless ghost of the murdered king demands vengeance, and his haunting appearances set the actions of the play into motion. Hamlet, traditionally seen as a man paralyzed by inaction, is forced to act. He torments those around him, especially Ophelia, whose tender feelings for him are frustrated and confused, ultimately driving her to madness and death. He forces his uncle to confront his bloody deeds by having them played out in a barely disguised pantomime, and then confronts his mother, spelling out the violence that has been done against her. He stabs Polonius, mistaking him in his rage for the king, then engages in mortal combat with Ophelia's brother, Laertes. By the end of the play, the stage is littered with bodies and haunted by the spirits of those who have already been killed by blind fury, jealousy,
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