FILIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND REVENGE: A STUDY OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S HAMLET

“A little more than kin, and less than kind” rightly describes the filial relationships in the renowned play Hamlet by the father of English literature, William Shakespeare. This paper tries to underscore the portrait of family life which is dysfunctional and full of psychological dread, to say the least, with its characters spying on each other. None of the families presented here in this play enjoy anything like a harmonious co-existence, as they are caught up in all kinds of complex dynamics. One comes across the royal family of Denmark with Hamlet, his mother Gertrude, late-father Old Hamlet and step-father Claudius; Polonius and his children Ophelia and Laertes; and the family of the king of Norway involving his son Fortinbras. These subplots and the inherent power play among these relationships take the play forward. Their mutual relationships prove to be suffocating in nature which is again shown by the way the play is doomed to end in a tragedy