Hamlet Revenge Essays: What Students Should Avoid Doing

Hamlet can be considered as one of the most analyzed Shakespearean characters in literature classes. Accordingly, “Hamlet” as a play is also a subject of various assignments, the most common of which is Hamlet revenge essays.

Hamlet revenge essays are assignments in which the Shakespearean play is analyzed in the context of a single theme, i.e. revenge. In that regard, being a common assignment, this article provides an overview of students’ common mistakes when writing Hamlet revenge essays.

One-Sided Analysis

It is always assumed that Hamlet revenge essays should be analyzing merely the revenge theme in the play. Such assumptions are usually limited, as revenge is one of the many themes that closely interact with each other. In that regard, ignoring other themes in Hamlet revenge essay makes the analysis incomplete and lacking.

Accordingly, one way to avoid such mistake is to take the theme of revenge as a context or as a factor, against which other essential elements of the play will measured and analyzed. Examples of sections in Hamlet revenge essay include hate as a driving force of revenge, the interaction of revenge and loneliness, and the role of the mother figure in Hamlet’s revenge.

Essays do not have to include all the aforementioned examples, as they merely serve as a demonstration of integrating several themes.

The Comparative Aspect

One of the common students’ mistakes in Hamlet revenge essays is separating Hamlet from other literary works. It should be stated that the analysis of literature, specifically in a critical context, implies comparing and contrasting the works with each other.

In that regard, Hamlet revenge essay should touch on the subject of revenge in other Shakespearean works, other literary works, or both. In such way the theme of revenge will grow from the problem of the protagonist to a common psychological literature element.