Loyalty Loyalty: the act of being loyal to someone or something. The theme of loyalty is everything but prominent throughout the play of Hamlet. Well for the vast majority of characters at least. But for one character, loyalty is the theme he brings to this outstanding play and the one could say, the corrupt city of Elsinore. Horatio is the character that upholds to the trust and loyalty that Hamlet has in him throughout the play, the whole way through. I believe the most accurate terminology for Horatio’s relationship to Hamlet is that of a friend. Throughout the entire play, the extreme amount of betrayal by family and friends throughout the Shakespeare classic is what uplifts the significance of Horatio’s loyalty to Hamlet, and one can see as extremely impressive in this time full of hate and controversy.
The introduction of Horatio in act I scene II sets the importance of his loyalty to Hamlet as he begins to inform Hamlet of the ghost of his father and ex king, King Hamlet. As Horatio informs Hamlet, he says to him "As I do live, my honored lord, 'tis true, / And we did think it writ down in our duty / To let you know of it" showing his loyalty as he describes to Hamlet it was his duty to inform him of the ghost and the knowledge of the situation (1.2.220-222). The language Shakespeare uses in that text shows Horatio’s position of being loyal to Hamlet. Shakespeare could’ve used multiple words in place of the term “duty” but I don’t quite think any other term would show justice to the unbelievable amount of loyalty Horatio shows Hamlet. From the very beginning of the play Shakespeare introduces the theme of loyalty through Horatio.
Loyalty is very difficult to come across in Elsinore, where there are mass amounts of betrayal by not only just different characters in the play but even family members, which is what makes Horatio’s loyalty so significant. Claudius, the brother of the preceding King Hamlet, is said to be the shadiest character throughout the entire play. Claudius, who was the mastermind behind the murder of his own brother, not only killed him in an egotistical manner to take his throne, but also took his brother’s wife following the taking of the throne after his murder. This act of betrayal by