Hamlet's Intellectual Virtue Analysis

"To be or not to be – that is the question." It is one of the most famous lines in Western Literature and the hallmark of a critical thinker. It is no coincidence that Hamlet is one of the greatest critical thinkers of all time. In school, we are expected to think critically and it is seen as an intellectual virtue. Given the situation Hamlet is in though, Hamlet's intellectual virtue only leads to chaos and death. The story of Hamlet is a tragedy because Hamlet has a tragic virtue.

From the beginning, Hamlet is set up for tragedy. The death of his father leaves a void in Hamlet's life. In Act 1 Scene 2, Hamlet says, "How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world!" Hamlet has lost his purpose in life and

seeks to die and evaporate into dew. The appearance of the ghost changes this.

As the ghost details the murder of Old Hamlet, Hamlet becomes distraught. As the ghost leaves, Hamlet proclaims, "I'll wipe away all trivial, fond records / All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past…And they commandment all alone shall live / within the book and volume of my brain" From this moment on, Hamlet declares that he will only think about avenging his father's death. The ghost gave the lost, wandering Hamlet a yellow brick road to follow. From this moment on, Hamlet knows his sole purpose in life is to kill Claudius as revenge. The turmoil in Hamlet's life that resulted from his father's death and his mother's marriage set the stage for Hamlet to be placed on a path that leads to death.

After Hamlet declares his only purpose is to avenge his father, he is unable to take action. This is in part due to the fact that Hamlet thinks too well. He has trapped himself in a prison that his mind created. In Act 2 Scene 2, Hamlet explains, "Why then, 'tis none to you [Rosencrantz and Guildenstern], for there is /

nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it / so. To me, it is a prison." Later in his fourth soliloquy, Hamlet admits that, "conscience does make cowards of us all." He implies that he is unable to break the shackles of his prison and take action because of his conscience. He struggles to determine whether it is nobler for him to act or silently suffer. Later, after the play reenacting Old Hamlet's death, Hamlet prepares to kill Claudius after determining he is guilty of his father's death. However, he finds Claudius seeming to be praying, and Hamlet's plan is thwarted. His ability to critically think compels him to do just that: think critically. He says, "Why this is hire and salary, not revenge." He explains that if he were to kill Claudius at prayer, he would send Claudius's soul to heaven even though Claudius murdered Old Hamlet. After debating with himself, through he decides that sending Claudius to heaven is not justified as revenge. He decides to wait for a 'better' time when Claudius is "drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in th' incestuous pleasure of his bed." Hamlet implies that he will catch Claudius committing sins. While murder is never a good thing, Hamlet is in a position where he must eventually murder Claudius. However, if Hamlet were to act when he discovers the king alone, then the deaths of six other characters could have been prevented. Hamlet's death also could have been prevented. Hamlet's inaction as he contemplates his whether to be or not to be only leads to the suffering of those around him.
While Hamlet was destined for tragedy, Ophelia could have been the one to alter Hamlet's fate. In Act 3 Scene 1, Hamlet senses a trap as he talks with Ophelia. Hamlet asks, "Where is your [Ophelia's] father?" to which Ophelia replies, "At home, my lord." If Ophelia were to have answered honestly, Hamlet would have known that Polonius and Claudius were spying on him and perhaps the story would have ended there without tragedy. Hamlet picks up on the lie, however, and proceeds to decry and insult Ophelia. Later in the play, we find out that Ophelia has drowned. Gertrude says, "She chanted snatches of old lauds, / as one incapable of her own distress / or like a creature native and endued / unto that element." Gertrude implies Ophelia was mad when she drowned and was unaware that she was going to die. Part of Ophelia's madness can be blamed on Hamlet's insults and his murder of Polonius, but at the same time, Hamlet cannot be completely blamed as Ophelia had a chance to stop the tragedy before it began. The enmity Hamlet expressed towards Ophelia created a situation destined to end in tragedy.
As Hamlet witnesses Fortinbras's army marching on a conquest of Poland in Act 4 Scene 4, his gift of critical thinking finally produces an answer. In his seventh soliloquy, Hamlet finally realizes that the "capability and godlike reason" must be put to good use. He even realizes that he has not lived up to what he said he would do: focus only on his father's revenge. Hamlet says, "How stand I, then, / That have a father killed…and let all [it] sleep, while to my shame I see / The imminent death of twenty thousand men / That for a fantasy and trick of fame / go to their graves." He notices that twenty thousand men are taking more action than him even though they are doing it for a seemingly worthless cause. Hamlet himself realizes he is over-thinking his act and must use his on will and strength to carry out his revenge. "Now whether it be / bestial oblivion or some craven scruple / of thinking too precisely on th' event / I do not know….I have cause, and will, and strength, and means to do't," says Hamlet. At the end of his seventh soliloquy, he concludes that he must kill Claudius. Hamlet declares, "My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!" In the end, Hamlet's critical thinking steered him the direction of murder.
In the end, it is inevitable that Hamlet would have killed Claudius as revenge for his father's death.

However, Hamlet's critical thinking skills lengthened the process, involved more people than necessary, and led to a tragedy. One only has to look at The Myth of Sisyphus to realize Hamlet is a modern absurd hero, a person who searches for the answers to his dilemma only to come to the conclusion 'let be'. Albert Camus writes, "If this myth is tragic, that is because its hero is conscious." Hamlet is, without a doubt, conscious throughout the entire play. The play could have ended as soon as Hamlet learned of Claudius's betrayal in Act 1 Scene 5, but Shakespeare would not have had a story to tell if Hamlet was not the critical thinker he is. Just as one must feel for Sisyphus, one cannot help but to feel sorry for Hamlet. He was simply born to the wrong family and in the wrong place at the wrong time and his knack for thinking turned into a tragic

virtue.