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To Do, or Not to Do
Hamlet is a coward. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare he delays avenging his father’s death. He is visited by his father in the form of a ghost. He is told by the ghost to get revenge and kill his uncle Claudius, because he murdered him and married his wife to become king. Hamlet experiences a tremendous amount of internal conflict throughout the play. He is constantly debating whether or not he should face his troubles. He goes through a lot of conflict throughout the play especially with his uncle/stepfather king Claudius. Hamlet is delayed by a combination of internal character traits and external obstacles because of his passive nature, doesn’t trust the ghost, the ghost gives him ambiguous instruction and he gets shipped to England.
In the play, Hamlet is seen as having passive nature. He promises to avenge his father’s death but fails to do so. This is seen when he wants to kill Claudius but doesn’t do it because Claudius is praying and Hamlet doesn’t want him to die without sins on his soul. He says “Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; and now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven, and so am I revenged. That would be scann'd. A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven” (3.3.75-80). In this quote, Hamlet sees Claudius praying alone, but hesitates to kill him because it would send his soul to heaven. If he kills Claudius when he has no sins he would go to heaven and Hamlet does not want that to happen. His own father didn’t have the chance to confess his sins before he died.
Hamlet's internal actions further strengthened with his meeting with the ghost. The information that Claudius murdered his father, was given to Hamlet and immediately ...
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...et found out about him murdering his father. He decides to send Hamlet to England. Claudius tells Hamlet: “Hamlet, this deed, for thine especial safety, which we do tender as we dearly grieve, for that which thou hast done—must send thee hence, with fiery quickness. Therefore prepare thyself. The bark is ready and the wind at help, Th' associates tend, and everything is bent For England” (4.3.43-49). In this quote, Claudius is saying for Hamlets own protection, he is send him to England. He tells him to get ready to leave. The ship is set to sail, the wind is favorable, and his servants are waiting for him, everything is ready for him to go to England. Once Hamlet arrives in England, Claudius planned for him to be executed so he no long has to worry about him. His plan did not work though. Hamlet escaped the ship and went back to Denmark to get revenge on Claudius.
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
Hamlet is a character that we love to read about and analyze. His character is so realistic, and he is so romantic and idealistic that it is hard not to like him. He is the typical young scholar facing the harsh reality of the real world. In this play, Hamlet has come to a time in his life where he has to see things as they really are. Hamlet is an initiation story. Mordecai Marcus states "some initiations take their protagonists across a threshold of maturity and understanding but leave them enmeshed in a struggle for certainty"(234). And this is what happens to Hamlet.
Throughout the Dramaturgic Analysis of Hamlet Prince of Denmark the indecisiveness of Hamlet is noted. He does not immediately seek vengeance but continually schemes, rants and raves (both in his rational and insane moments). Whether cowardice, caution, or simply indifference dominate his persona is unclear - what is clear is his distaste for his own behavior: "How stand I then, That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,...And let all sleep, while to my shame I see The imminent death of twenty thousand men... (sic)." (Shakespeare, 116).
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.
One of Hamlet’s flaws is that he over thinks things a lot and it is first shown the most at the prayer scene with Claudius. Once Hamlet sees how Claudius reacts to the play he knows that Claudius killed his father and that the ghost was right, he has a chance to kill him and doesn’t take it . His only proof was the ghost and even though others saw the ghost no one else heard it talk except Hamlet. Hamlet was also considering a lot of other things at this time, like how if he killed Claudius now Claudius would be free of sin and would go to heaven. He was also thinking if his father didn’t get to die free of sin it wouldn’t be fair for Claudius to die free of sin either, which shows how vengeful Hamlet’s character is. At the same time, Hamlet has morals and understands the consequences so that’s why it’s harder for him to perform the act . After a l...
By most accounts, this passage would be taken to mean that he does not kill Claudius because at this time the King is praying, and when praying one's soul will ascend to heaven if one should die. Hamlet wants Claudius to burn in hell; for him to go to heaven would make his revenge void. He will avenge his father's death when Claudius is engaged in some other less holy act, in order to insure the King's place in hell.
In the prayer scene, Hamlet misses his best opportunity to kill Claudius and avenge his father’s death. With no guards around, Claudius is alone and he is unaware that Hamlet is lurking in the shadows. The scene is set for Hamlet to take vengeance for his father’s unsettled spirit. However, Hamlet does not kill him, because Claudius is repenting for his sins, allowing him to go to heaven when he is to die. As one’s religion often dictated the afterlife of one’s soul, King Hamlet is doomed to an eternity in purgatory. Hamlet does not feel it is fair for Claudius to go to heaven, while his father is at unrest, so he decides instead to kill Claudius while he is doing something sinful. This is ironic because Claudius says he is not really praying; he is just going through the ...
In William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” there are many different events throughout the play that affect and shape the main character Hamlet. The biggest event being when Hamlet meets the ghost of his father, the king, who then proceeds to tell him that his uncle murdered him. This event will lead Hamlet to madness with sanity while plotting his revenge on his uncle which will ultimately end in his, his uncle and several other’s deaths at the end of the play.
Hamlet, a young prince preparing to become King of Denmark, cannot understand or cope with the catastrophes in his life. After his father dies, Hamlet is filled with confusion. However, when his father's ghost appears, the ghost explains that his brother, Hamlet's Uncle Claudius, murdered him. In awe of the supposed truth, Hamlet decides he must seek revenge and kill his uncle. This becomes his goal and sole purpose in life. However, it is more awkward for Hamlet because his uncle has now become his stepfather. He is in shock by his mother's hurried remarriage and is very confused and hurt by these circumstances. Along with these familial dysfunctions, Hamlet's love life is diminishing. It is an "emotional overload" for Hamlet (Fallon 40). The encounter with the ghost also understandably causes Hamlet great distress. From then on, his behavior is extremely out of context (Fallon 39). In Hamlet's first scene of the play, he does not like his mother's remarriage and even mentions his loss of interest in l...
It could be said that Hamlet is deliberately delaying his revenge for fear of actually committing it. However, religion was a focal part of people’s lives at the time the play was set and at the time it was written, one would be justified in claiming that Hamlet genuinely didn’t want to kill Claudius while he was praying to prevent him from going to heaven.
Despite the fact that Hamlet was uneasy with Claudius’ gain of power prior to encountering his father’s ghost, it didn’t cause him to act impetuously. Aware of the grave situation Hamlet decisively chose his methods to discover whether King Claudius was his father’s murder.
Hamlet is questioning if it worth living in such misery or not because he is encumbered with trying to avenge his father’s death every day. At this setting, Hamlet is self-destructive and risks alienation from his religion as he begins to think of suicide. If he were to kill Claudius, he would violate a central religious principle against murdering another human being. Although it is easy to dislike King Claudius for his actions, we wait and hope that he confesses his crimes but he never does (Stockton & Shakespeare, 2000, p. 09). Both suicide and murder would make Hamlet feel guilt by violating his religious quota, thus representing alienation at the level of his religious consciousness (Knights, 1966, p. 14). Hamlet has the duty to avenge his father by killing the murderer, the king, risking being alienated at a religious level.
As the play’s tragic hero, Hamlet exhibits a combination of good and bad traits. A complex character, he displays a variety of characteristics throughout the play’s development. When he is first introduced in Act I- Scene 2, one sees Hamlet as a sensitive young prince who is mourning the death of his father, the King. In addition, his mother’s immediate marriage to his uncle has left him in even greater despair. Mixed in with this immense sense of grief, are obvious feelings of anger and frustration. The combination of these emotions leaves one feeling sympathetic to Hamlet; he becomes a very “human” character. One sees from the very beginning that he is a very complex and conflicted man, and that his tragedy has already begun.
Once Hamlet has learned of his father’s death, he is faced with a difficult question: should he succumb to the social influence of avenging his father’s death? The Ghost tells Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.31) upon which Hamlet swears to “remember” (1.5.118). Hamlet’s immediate response to this command of avenging his father’s death is reluctance. Hamlet displays his reluctance by deciding to test the validity of what the Ghost has told him by setting up a “play something like the murder of (his) father’s” (2.2.624) for Claudius. Hamlet will then “observe his looks” (2.2.625) and “if he do blench” (2.2.626) Hamlet will know that he must avenge his father’s death. In the course of Hamlet avenging his father’s death, he is very hesitant, “thinking too precisely on the event” (4.4.43). “Now might I do it…and he goes to heaven…No” (3.3.77-79) and Hamlet decides to kill Claudius while “he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in th’ incestuous pleasure of his bed” (3.3.94-95). As seen here, Hamlet’s contradicting thought that Claudius “goes to heaven” (3.3.79) influences him to change his plans for revenge. Hamlet eventually realizes that he must avenge his father’s death and states “from this time forth my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth” (4.4.69). From this, Hamlet has succumbed to the social influence and has vowed to avenge his father’s death.
One reason why Hamlet delays to take action against Claudius is because he does not just want to kill him, but he wants to damn his spirit. He hates Claudius so much that he is willing to take his life and damn his soul. Hamlet has plenty of motive to drive him to want this. Claudius did kill Hamlets father his own brother, and than married his sister. Hamlet gets a chance to kill Claudius, but Claudius is praying in church and hamlet does not want to kill Claudius and not damn his soul. It if he had done it he could have possible damned his own soul.