William Shakespeare’s Hamlet turned out to be one of his greatest works of all time. The play includes a conflict amongst two relatives who feel like they should rule their land. Hamlet is the son of the late King Hamlet. His character is intriguing because the traits he possesses are very unordinary. Even though Hamlet receives many proofs that his father was murdered by his uncle Claudius, he is incapable of taking any physical action to seek out his revenge. Doubting his desires, his skepticism pertaining to the ghost, and overanalyzing the world around him are three of the many elements which keep him indecisive and delay his revenge causing his demise.”
“Following the death of the King, the people have to appoint a new leader. The two main candidates were Claudius and Hamlet. Due to his age and wisdom, Claudius was elected over Hamlet. The people assume that since Hamlet is of young age, he may not make the most suitable decisions as king. He learns that his uncle killed his father so that means he must be King. Nevertheless, he lacks the ambition to rule which lower his incentives to take revenge. Hamlet even admits this to ophelia when he proclaims, “I am myself indifferent honest; but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me: I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious”(Act 3, Scene 2, 132- 135).
This character trait makes his actions seem ironic. He wants to take revenge but not being ambitious became a major barrier. Hamlet opens up to Rosencrantz about his distemperment. “Good my lord, what is your cause of distemper? You do, surely, bar the door upon your own liberty, if you deny your griefs to your friend……….. Sir, I lack advancement.” The discrepancy in the mood between these conversations implies that Hamlet is slowly beginning to develop the ambition to take his revenge. Hamlets also informs his friend Horatio about his goals to claim the throne and how upset he was when that didn’t happen.
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“Does it not, think’st thee, stand me now upon– He that hath kill’d my king and whored my mother, Popp’d in between the election and my hopes, Thrown out his angle for my proper life…” (Act 5,Scene 1, 69- 72). This proclamation finally affirms Hamlet’s desires to be the king which leads to him to finally omit his true intent in the next scene. Unfortunately, Claudius has had more than enough time to prepare for Hamlet’s rebellion and orchestrate a plan to take him out. All in all, Hamlet could have easily avoided his own mistakes if he had just followed his gut feeling.”
“Old King Hamlet reveals his ghostly to figure to Hamlet’s comrades while they were patrolling the ramparts of the castle, during the initial portion of the play. They assume that the spirit was a negative energy so they immediately informed Hamlet, who was still clouded with sorrow. King Hamlet tells his son that he was murdered by his uncle Claudius and commands that Hamlet seeks out revenge. This encounter causes Hamlet to investigate but, it is his doubt which makes him indecisive. Also, he has a hard time accepting the cause of this occurrence.
Initially, Hamlet almost immediately denies the reality of what he just experienced. “The spirit that I have seen may be the devil and the devil hath the power to assume a pleasing shame; yet, and perhaps out of my weakness and my melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me.” (Act 2, Scene 2, 596- 601). Hamlet becomes more and more unsure of himself as he delves deeper into his mourning. Hamlet even goes as far as to claim that the devil is playing tricks on him. Due to his lack of faith in the ghost, Hamlet chooses to deny the presence of the ghost rather than accept the reality and act immediately. This proves that he is negligence towards others through lack of trust miscontrudes his decision making.
As a result, this causes a major setback in his plot for revenge.The second example of Hamlet’s skepticism is asking for too many proofs. Even with clear evidence, he decides to test his Uncle Claudius’ character. “Observe mine uncle, if his acute guilt. Do not itself unkennel in one speech. It is a damned ghost we have seen. And my imagination are on foul as Vulcan’s stithy.” (Act 3, Scene 2, 80- 84 Shakespeare). Doubting the ghost caused Hamlet to be hesitant with his decision made him want to hear it straight from the serpent’s mouth to affirm the allegations. This course of action leads to him being called upon by his mother and accidentally murdering Polonius which led to him being poisoned by Laertes.
If Hamlet didn’t require this much evidence to follow through with his plan, he would have avoided the disaster that took place at the end. Hamlet was assured only after seeing his uncle react to the play. “O good Horatio, I’ll take the ghost’s word for a thousand pound..” (Act 3, Scene 2, 281- 282). If Claudius hadn’t reacted this way to the play, Hamlet would have still been unsure about what the ghost had told him. Since the production of the play was a lengthy process, Claudius had more than enough time to map out his own agenda.”
“Hamlet is constantly studying the world around him. He weighs out every single outcome before taking any action. This is another example of him being irrational when it comes to doing what is right. This is evident during Hamlet’s dispute with Rosencrantz over the concept of morality. “Why, then, ’tis none to you; for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so: to me it is a prison. (Act 2, Scene 2, 260- 262)”.
This displays Hamlets lack of ability to find the balance between assesing matters from either an objective or subjective perspective. Another example of this can be seen is when he rants about the inevitability of death. “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; and thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, and enterprises of great pith and moment with this regard their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action ( Act 3, Scene 1, 91- 95)”. He is putting a lot of thought into what the meaning of life/death is and whether or not killing someone is worth the burden Hamlet must shoulder.
Critically analyzing every little aspect of his plan was a huge waste of time. This also proves Hamlets will to kill is hindered by his own uncertainties. This causes him to evaluate himself and why he lacks conscious decision making skills . “Now whether it be b*stial oblivion, or some craven scruple of thinking too precisely on th’ event…” (Act 6, Scene 6, 39- 46). Hamlet finally accepts the flaws in his character and regrets everything he had accomplished up to that point.”
“Hamlet could have found many other alternatives to achieve his goal of taking revenge but was clouded by his indecisive nature. The stubbornness of Hamlet is attributed to the methodical course of action he took which highlights many character flaws within him. Throughout the entire play, he cannot come to terms with what he wants to accomplish. In conclusion, avoiding his ambitions, doubting the ghost, and putting too much thought into every little detail derailed Hamlet’s achievement and got him killed.”
