The Revenge Tragedy was a poplar literary genre during the Elizabethan age. It was introduced by Kyd's in The Spanish tragedy and raised to great height by Webster. The Revenge Tragedy shows man taking the law into his own hands to redress grievances and to establish justice according to his own understanding. At the end, justice of sorts is established.
As required by the ghost, Hamlet decides to take revenge on Claudius who has captured Denmark as well as Hamlets mother, Gertrude. Hamlet s inhibited by certain psychological difficulties. His tendency to philosophize prevents him from murdering Claudius praying unarmed. His feeling is that if Claudius is murdered while praying, his soul would go direct to heaven and not to hell. This would defeat the wished of the Ghost.
Polonius is killed by Hamlet by mistake. The loss of her father drives Ophelia mad. In her mad state Ophelia drowns in a brook and dies. Laertes wants to kill hamlet for the death of his father and the madness of his sister. Laertes is aided by Claudius. Laertes smears a deadly poison on the tip of his rapier. As for Claudius, he poisons wine and hopes to induce Hamlet to drink it.
Fortinbras's father, who was the King of Norway, was defeated and killed by Hamlet's father who was the King of Denmark. Ever since this incident, Fortinbras had wanted to conquer Denmark. Claudius used his good offices to divert Fortinbras's attention to the task of infiltraling into Poland. In the last scene of the play, destiny interferes and establishes what is justice according to divine dispensation.
All the wrong-doers are punished with death a the end. In the confusion that follows. Hamlet comes to possess Laertes's poisoned rapier. He does not know that it is poisoned. He rubs Laertes with it. The author of the mischief falls down deaf confessing his sin and begging Hamlet to forgive him. Gertrude also expiates her sin. She drinks the wine without knowing that it has been Poisoned by her husband. Before dying, she warns Hamlet not to taste it. The Long-awaited retribution is done as Hamlet forces the poisoned wine down the throat of Claudius an kills him. The last to dies is Hamlet. Lacerated by Laertes with his poisoned rapier, Hamlet dies, having fulfilled his mission of eradicating evil.
