Decisions Lead to Downfall in Hamlet by William Shakespeare

To kill Prince Hamlet, or not to kill Prince Hamlet? That is the question that loomed in the depths of King Claudius’s mind before he made the decision to do so. First of all, Hamlet was a play written by William Shakespeare in London, England, between the times of 1600-1602. The play is written as a tragedy, which is a play where the protagonist has small flaws which ultimately lead to his, or hers, downfall. Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, lives in the late medieval period of Europe, in the country of Denmark. He seeks revenge on his uncle, who he believes killed his father in order to gain the throne. He learns that his uncle killed his father, from the ghost of his father, who periodically arrives to give Hamlet advice in certain situations. Hamlet is in a confusing relationship with the daughter of the assistant to King Claudius, which combined with other events eventually lead Hamlet to become crazy, which is one of the reasons King Claudius justifies killing Hamlet. Another reason King Claudius seeks the death of his nephew is because he worries Hamlet knows that he killed the old king, and he is unsure what Hamlet, in his crazy state of mind, will do. If Claudius would have used the seven steps in the decision making process, he could have discovered an alternate solution, which could have kept him alive.

Claudius’s needed to consider the decision that needed to be made, which was what to do with the mentally instable Prince Hamlet. Claudius should know that there could be punishment against him, such as beheading or exile, if he were to kill Hamlet. He could feel a strong sense of guilt if he were to kill his own nephew, his blood relation. He needs to consider the fact that Hamlet is a very good sword ...

... middle of paper ...

...val is key aspect to consider when making decisions. Based on that, Claudius chose the correct option.

If Claudius would have used the seven steps to a decision making process, it would have saved his life, as portrayed above. Claudius needed to make a decision on what to do with the young, crazy Prince Hamlet. He had the options of talking to Hamlet, lying to him about wanting to kill him and work it out. Claudius could resign from king, and go into exile in a foreign country. The third option he could have done would be to publicly humiliate Hamlet to get him hated throughout the nation, and then when he killed Hamlet, no one would notice. The best option would have been for Claudius to resign from being king, resulting in Claudius’s survival. With this information, Claudius has the answer to his question, “To kill Prince Hamlet, or not to kill Prince Hamlet?”