My Final Research Paper from HS

Moiz Gilani                                                                                                                           

5 May 2019

                                                            Tragic Flaws: Vengeance

                 William Shakespeare lived during the early modern period, a time in western history that is set between the Middle Ages and the Industrial Revolution and has created a modern society of people Vengeance has been an important theme in many of Shakespeare’s plays such as Othello and Hamlet. It is a common theme as it shows how a character can be manipulated by others, making him do destructive things. However, as the avenger makes his way through a horrible journey of truth and lies, he finds out the personalities and traits of different characters around him. On his way to serve justice, most of the time, it does not end well for both the avenger and the villain. As in the play Hamlet, Hamlet was mentally challenged and later he finds himself killing those he never meant to. His only enemy, Claudius, was to be killed because of what he did to Hamlet’s father, but Hamlet lost everything, even his own life while avenging the murder of his father. Sometimes the truth can be hard to believe. As the avenger makes his way through the journey of revenge, eventually he fails. And from that point on, there is no turning back, there is only the downfall of the protagonist while he loses his loved ones.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Shakespeare portrays the tragedies in the play which include the theme of revenge even though taking revenge might seem to be the right thing to do at that time, it ultimately destroys the avenger and causes the catastrophic deaths of other characters.

                  Revenge has caused the downfall of many characters in Shakespeare’s plays. Rage from vengeance causes one to act recklessly through anger, rather than morality. Revenge is an emotion easily defined as an eye for an eye or where one’s own mistakes lead to consequences. However, this is a very dangerous theory to live by, as we read in the play about  Hamlet making decisions blindly causing him to fail, making his plans worthless. Throughout Hamlet , revenge is a dominant theme. Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet all seek to avenge the deaths of their fathers. But in so doing, all three rely more on emotion than thought and take big steps toward their plans, which eventually leads to the downfall and death of all but Fortinbras. “To be, or not to be  that is the question, Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles” (III,I)(56-60) Hamlet expresses his emotions that whether should he exist or take his own life, He would have to suffer the difficult times if he chose to live.“Revenge in Shakespeare” an article from (Unknown) author states, “In Hamlet we have a thoughtful, decent, highly intelligent young man who would not normally do anyone any harm and, indeed, is unable to perform the violence that his call to revenge demands. Conventionally, in revenge plays, the avenger is something of a hero but, in seeking revenge, is himself a killer. In some of the plays the avenger is not in any way a hero but utterly villainous”. The writer explains how a person who is looking for revenge starts taking lives of other people, ironically making him no different from the villain. Hamlet makes an oath to the Ghost to avenge his murder. But Hamlet’s overreactive behavior attracted too much attention which brought more characters to the plot. This caused Hamlet to take all of them out, all who came in the way of his vengeance, such as  polonius who was never meant to be killed but involved himself in this situation which cost him his life. “He then spends almost the entire play spectacularly failing to keep his oath” (Kiernan). “Revenge in Shakespeare” an article from (Unknown) author States,   “It is an interesting situation because although the avenger has the right to realise justice by taking revenge, it is simply not Christian. The Christian way would always be forgiveness. But forgiveness is not an option in revenge plays”(Revenge). Shakespeare plays often uses the theme of revenge, where  there is no option to forgive the villain but only to take revenge. There is always violence and bloodshed between characters, Including Claudius, the murderer of Hamlet’s father, who was the main cause of all this chaos. “Hamlet is often understood to be a revenge tragedy, but it is quite an odd one at that. It is a play driven by a protagonist who spends most of the play contemplating revenge rather than enacting it.” (Jamieson)  Hamlet and revenge.                                 

            Shakespeare uses revenge as a major theme present throughout the work. Revenge plays a crucial role in the development of the story, as each character progresses towards their destiny. Vengeance is the main theme in the play Othello – by William Shakespeare, it is portrayed from the character Iago. Through Iago’s soliloquies he reveals his plans for taking revenge from Othello. Iago wants to get revenge on Othello and his wife, Desdemona. The reason why he wants to get revenge on Othello is because he promotes Cassio to Lieutenant. Iago takes advantage of his reputation and was well known as “Honest Iago”, which made him gain trust from others to manipulate characters in the play in order to fulfill his plans. Iago is aware that he can easily manipulate the people around him to get revenge on Othello that he does not stop and think about the harm he is causing. Iago is a brilliant character who successfully manipulates several characters such as, Cassio, Desdemona, Roderigo and his own wife, Emilia to take his revenge, Revenge and vengeance can be best described by the term “an eye for an eye”, 

(“Vengeance in Shakespeare and Literature”), “ The idea of vengeance for family honor causes great chaos and madness throughout the play, and leads many other major characters in the play who were beloved to get caught up in this circle of chaos, madness, and vengeance. Revenge causes the characters to act blindly and inattentively through anger and emotion, rather than through reasoning, intuition, and reliable thinking between actions and consequences”. (Vengeance). Othello is a tragic play as many characters in the play die because of how Iago manipulates Othello by leading him to believe that Desdemona is having a relationship with Cassio, which led to the death of several characters. In an attempt to take revenge, Iago kept giving Roderigo hopes, yet, in reality, he was just using him to complete his revenge. Iago expresses his plan and purpose in a soliloquy at the end of Act 1, Scene 3, “ To get his place and to plume up my will In double knavery. How? How? Let’s see. After some time, to abuse Othello’s ear That he is too familiar with his wife. He hath a person and a smooth dispose To be suspected, framed to make women false” .(Iago)(I, iii)(330-335).  He plans to get Cassio’s position as Othello’s lieutenant by making Othello jealous of the handsome, flirtatious younger man, and at the same time he plans to get revenge against Othello by making him jealous of Desdemona, this shows how one can manipulate several characters in the play in order to get to his goal. First, he gains everyone’s trust as an honest and friendly man, but later takes everyone out, one by one, with his plans. The tragedy of the noble hero Othello is brought by Iago because of his hatred and jealousy. Instead of seeking and searching for the truth himself, Othello relies on others for his personal matters, which caused him to lose everything. The moral of the play could be that you can not trust everyone, even if they are close friends. “ Now, I do love her too, Not out of absolute lust But partly led to diet my revenge,yet that I put the Moor At least into a jealousy so strong That judgment cannot cure.”  (II , i) Othello .

               Hamlet’s inability to avenge the murder of his father the way he wanted drives the plot and leads to the deaths of most of the major characters. As in Othello, Othello himself is a cause of his downfall because of his poor judgment skills and trusting a “friend” without solid evidence of what is the truth. Instead of finding the reality himself, He depends on Iago. Even Though for some, Revenge might be the only way to end their problems, but it comes at a price. Instead of helping you move on with your life, it can also leave you dwelling on the situation and remaining unhappy for what you did or how it affected others. Sometimes you do not realize the cost for vengeance until you perform it. The avenger has to live with it for the rest of their life. It might seem rewarding for the first few moments but it has several long term effects. If one were to attempt a definition of the revenge tragedy one could say that it is the story of a disturbed protagonist and his elaborate plan of revenge for the murder of someone close, Or sometimes jealousy can take over human minds and lead them in the direction to vengeance.

                                    ——The End——-

Government-

The ability of people to communicate their feelings and thoughts effectively, Without fear of being silenced   is an incredibly important right of the people of the United States. Even though We all are informed, As spectators, We get plenty of information implanted into us. Instead of facts, The press sometimes might  give us the opinions which in several cases might mislead public into believing something that might not be true. The press should be free but also should be regulated. Freedom of press is perfectly fine as long as they don’t use it to spread hate and invite violence and no one can do anything about it. There is no such thing as absolute freedom. Free press doesn’t mean they can write what they like and spread different views for people.

 

        The positive concept of liberty understands freedom as not just the restraining from free society  but the capacity or ability to do certain valuable things. A person would be unfree if he had little choice but to accept a low wage or face starvation, Everyone should be able to stand up for their rights and what is better for them. If a person deserves more they should speak up as itis their right to free speech. People should not be struggling in a society we live in where there is Freedom and equality.

 

        In a free society everyone should be able to express their thoughts and opinions freely. However, if everyone freely expresses their thoughts, there will be more conflicts than issues because our words may offend or hurt another person. Because of this reason freedom of speech is essential for the functioning of a free society, but there should be some restrictions on it. Just because we are living in a free society, it does not mean that we should be allowed to say whatever we want.

 

        liberty means independence and freedom from physical restraint or external force, and our basic rights that the government cannot take away or interfere with. It is also a concept that protects all individuals,  An individual with Free Will is capable of making vital decisions andchoices in life with own free consent. For example everyone should have the right to protect Themselves which brings an important issue about gun laws and other rights that each individual is born with and should not be taken away. But everyone is morally Responsible of every action they take.

 

        When referring to freedom these words are often associated with freedom; Liberty, independence, sovereignty. The liberties that are secured in the Constitution could not have been fully expressed without the freedom of press. Many people depend on sources on social media As their daily news, but everyone has different opinions on different issues. The First Amendment’s connection of freedom of speech and freedom of the press is significant. Free speech and a free press together allow people to obtain information from a wide range of sources that are not dictated or restricted by the government, so that they can make decisions, develop opinions, and communicate their views to the government.