A question that stumps great minds that are not alike is one that is still a discussion for debate even four hundred years after it arrival. Why does Hamlet delay? Not only did it make a suspenseful and dramatic play that captures the attention of an audience but it also gives away to what kind of character William Shakespeare wants to create for his young tragic hero, Prince Hamlet. This Hamlet is a man who suffers from his own words that “the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,” (III, I, 85-86). As a smart and reflective man he continues to make excuses for his thought-sick mind that ultimately delays the resolution of the play, the death of Claudius. Hamlet agonizes over actions after actions and develops issues within him that give reason to why his mind led him astray. His obsession with rightful revenge as well as the inner conflict to maintain balance that resides within him coincides with this reflective nature.
First, consider Hamlet’s claim that he will avenge his father “with wings as swift / As meditation” (I, VI, 29-30). He says ‘meditation’, something not all that swift and that signals to the reader that Hamlet is prone to ponder things from various angles before action is taken, which can take time. He does not intend to make this a quick conclusion with a quick and timely death of Claudius; he needs to take time and think through all matters before any action to be taken. The Prince of Denmark claims that “The time is out of joint; O cursed spite, / That ever I was born to set it right!-” (I, VI, 190-191) and he sticks with this claim throughout till the very last act when he dies of poison. Hamlet has to figure every single detail which includes the consequences and the ...
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...h takes away much of his energy and ability to act and therefore none is taken. Within his nature to overthink he finds excuses in himself to why he does not act yet, such as the necessity to make revenge perfect as well as his inability to find steadiness in himself. Hamlet spends much of his time and energy to dispose of the people who are seemingly harmless and little on the person who is really out to get him, Claudius. His new self-acceptance of what will come no matter what allows himself to think that his fate already predetermines and that he is the one to complete his father’s wish. Also as he is not given the chance to think things through to the extent he usually does to second guess these acceptance thoughts and thus kills Claudius.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. Marilyn Eisenstat, and Ken Roy. Hamlet. Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 2003. Print.
The vengeance of his father 's death is the prime cause of Hamlet 's obsession with perfection, his tendencies of over thinking philosophically, and idealistically, are what cause Hamlet 's delay. Hamlet is exposed to multiple opportunities to take the murderer of his father, Claudius ' life, the most notable being when Hamlet stumbles upon Claudius alone, praying; when about to act Hamlet says "When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed, at gaming, swearing or about some act that has no relish of salvation in 't: then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven and that his soul may be as damn 'd and black as hell, whereto it goes"(3.3.90-96) This inability to act when the chance is given exclaims how Hamlet is not willing to send Claudius to heaven and he will only act if he is to arrive in hell, which will in turn fulfill his need for the perfect
At the beginning of the play, Hamlet has learned that his brother, the newly king, Claudius, murdered his father. In Christian Wertenbaker: What is the riddle in HAMLET? (Sirs.com, 2011) it is stated, “From then on, Hamlet has to find his own way. He has become a seeker of truth. Unless he verifies the facts for himself, he cannot do the act” (1). This shows that Hamlet can’t back away from what he is meant to do. In his eyes he sees himself as being chosen to avenge his father. In fact, Hamlet proclaims, “The time is out of joint. O, cursed sprit, That ever I was born to set it right” (I. V. 207-208)! Already Hamlet is stressed out by his misfortune. He sees no other option, but to kill his uncle.
Hamlet is a normal person which brillant ideas. He waited so long to kill Claudius because he wanted people to be able to know the story of really happened and did not want to seem like a bad guy. Hamlet’s soliloquy, “To be or not to be” (Act 3,Scene 1 Line 64) also means should he live to do as his father or or die to betray him. Hamlet knew everything that was going on in the kingdom but wanted to act as if he did not to get even further in and have more information. He did this because he wanted to think a more brilliant plan to kill Claudius and anyone else that was dealing with it, that is how he killed
Shakespeare’s Hamlet revolves around the title character’s undeniable obligation to immediately avenge his father’s death by killing Claudius. Yet much time elapses before Hamlet finally does slay his evil uncle, leading to a fundamental question: what causes the hero to delay before eventually managing to salvage some retribution? The answer is that Hamlet’s reoccuring state of impractical contemplation renders him incapable of any decisive action that could have brought quick revenge.
One of Aristotle’s Five Rules for Tragedy state that the main character should possess a tragic flaw, something in his character which causes his downfall. In William Shakespeare’s tragic play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the main character’s tragic flaw is procrastination. There are four major quotes in the play that supports the argument that Hamlet’s tragic flaw is procrastination.
To conclude, Hamlet’s inner conflicts were the reason that he struggled with his task and that struggle lead to his death. His inner conflicts got the best of him and progressively increase the difficulty of his mission by allowing Claudius to become more aware of the situation. Hamlet’s procrastination, distrust of women, and feigning of madness resulted in a series of events that rendered him incapable of finishing his task quickly and effectively in order to ensure his safety. Hamlet was only able to complete his task whilst his body was under the effect of adrenalin limiting his thoughts and making him more impulsive. As a result, it was only until he forgot about his inner conflict, that Hamlet was able to kill Claudius but, alas, it was too late.
Hamlet’s actions leave him no choice but to take revenge against King Claudius. In Act 1 Scene 5 Lines 117-119, Hamlet says “I have sworn ‘t”, vowing to the ghost of his father that revenge will be sought against his father’s killer, Claudius. Throughout most of the play, Hamlet is reluctant to kill Claudius, but this vow forces him to continue to take some sort of action to further his vengeance. This is shown in Act 3 Scene 3, when the King is praying. While praying, the King is defenceless and could have been easily slain, but Hamlet stalls and finds an excuse to not kill the King. However, must continue continue down the path of vengeance. He tries to find excuses out of killing Claudius, but when Hamlet confirms that Claudius is the murderer in Act 3 Scene 2 Lines 12-13, stating that he’ll “bet [Horatio] a thousand bucks the ghost was right” about the identity of the murderer, he can no longer leave Claudius alive. Even though Hamlet continues to hesitate until Act 4 Scene 4 when he sees ...
Hamlet, while not a man of many actions, is a man of many words. Though like many others, Hamlet gets caught up in the moment; saying or committing himself without fully understanding the consequences or what is going to be entailed. When he is with his father’s ghost, Hamlet promises, “Haste me to know’t, that I with wings as swift. As meditation of the thought of love/May sweep to my revenge.”(1.5.35-37) Hamlet did not keep his word to his father, his actions were not swift nor where they an act of revenge. Hamlet does not strike in an act of revenge, but in an act of anger and self preservation after the murder of his mother. He is hesitant at an opportune time, while the King was praying, for the reason that when committing himself to the act of revenge Hamlet did not fully understand what was being asked of him. That he would not only have to take the life of another man, but commit treason by slaughtering the King.
Both men plot, and kill, but before acting they take a great deal of time to think about their actions. Hamlet likes to set up and get everything right before acting on his suspicions or ideas. He thinks about how his actions will affect everyone and this is because of the substantial amount of common sense he has. Before killing Claudius, he came up with a plan to take him down and exploit him for killing his father. He knows that he cannot just kill him right away because people will be confused and blame Hamlet, so he plans to crack him first. He puts on a play portraying a young man poisoning his uncle, which riles Claudius because he poisoned Hamlet’s father. By putting on the play Hamlet alerted Claudius about how much he knew which scared Claudius. Hamlet goes on to a more elaborate plan to act “mad” which instills much fear into Claudius because he thinks Hamlet now poses as a threat to him which is what Hamlet wants. Claudius’ reaction to Hamlet’s madness is shown when he...
Critics have attempted to explain Hamlet’s delay in avenging his father for centuries and the most relevant scene to illustrate Hamlet’s hesitation is in Act Three when Hamlet has the opportunity to kill Claudius but doesn’t. Hamlet says at the time that he does
Theater audiences and literary enthusiasts are not spared of Shakespeare’s astonishing ability to capture the human spirit in his play Hamlet. The story of the tormented prince who desires revenge but is unable to take action delves deep into the human mind than plays before it. While some uninformed readers may write off Hamlet’s behavior to poor writing, it is clear that the Oedipus complex is the true driving force of Hamlet’s actions when delaying his revenge.
Hamlet is a scholar, speaker, actor, and prince. For some reason, Hamlet is not able to avenge his father's death without considerable delay. There is one major flaw in Hamlet's character which causes him to postpone the murder of Claudius. I believe that this flaw is Hamlet's idealism. While his idealism is a good trait, in this case, Hamlet's environment and his...
As illustrated through his speeches and soliloquies Hamlet has the mind of a true thinker. Reinacting the death of his father in front of Claudius was in itself a wonderful idea. Although he may have conceived shcemes such as this, his mind was holding him back at the same time. His need to analyze and prove everythin certain drew his time of action farther and farther away. Hamlet continuously doubted himself and whether or not the action that he wanted to take was justifiable. The visit that Hamlet recieves from his dead father makes the reader think that it is Hamlet's time to go and seek revenge. This is notthe case. Hamlet does seem eager to try and take the life of Claudius in the name of his father, but before he can do so he has a notion, what if that was not my father, but an evil apparition sending me on the wrong path? This shows that even with substantial evidence of Claudius' deeds, Hamlet's mind is not content.
Like all Shakespearean tragedies, Hamlet’s ending is no different in end-result. Hamlet’s separation from society and his self-imposed confusion caused by over-thinking results in the unnecessary deaths of most of the major characters. In turn, Hamlet’s pre-occupation with factors inessential to his mission of revenge slows down his action. It is this internal struggle that illustrates the intensity and complexity of Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy, something that is often looked at from a psychological perspective.
Hamlet is the best known tragedy in literature today. Here, Shakespeare exposes Hamlet’s flaws as a heroic character. The tragedy in this play is the result of the main character’s unrealistic ideals and his inability to overcome his weakness of indecisiveness. This fatal attribute led to the death of several people which included his mother and the King of Denmark. Although he is described as being a brave and intelligent person, his tendency to procrastinate prevented him from acting on his father’s murder, his mother’s marriage, and his uncle’s ascension to the throne.