In the words of Hamlet, “I am pigeon-livered and lack gall.” Hamlet (2/2 pg. 44). This statement portrays Hamlet’s continuous struggle to seek revenge on Claudius throughout the play. He knows that revenge is in order, but he doesn’t believe he will be able to carry it out. The true question is will Hamlet ever get his revenge or will he delay until it is too late? Hamlet is presented with several opportunities to pursue his vengeance, but delays each time for multiple reasons in which reveal his true nature. There are many reasons Hamlet restrains from killing Claudius. Firstly, Hamlet does not know whether the ghost should be believed or if it is just the devil in disguise trying to trick him. This is a valid reason because if the ghost is the devil, then Hamlet’s soul will be damned to the Hell. Hamlet’s …show more content…
Hamlet was intelligent and careful yet slightly unsure of himself. The reasons behind his delay show that Hamlet was smart and cautious; thinking things through before he acted. This also shows that Hamlet was patient and did not rush into conclusions or actions. “Contagion to this world. Now could I drink hot blood and do such bitter business as the day would quake to look on. Soft, now to my mother.” – Hamlet (3/2 pg. 61). Hamlet says here that he is ready to kill and to take his revenge, but then continued to say he needed to talk to his mother, even though he actually did not. Hamlet is showing here that even though he said he was ready, that he also was unsure if he could truly go through with killing Claudius. Hamlet also discloses this when he states, “The time is out of joint. O cursed spite, That I ever was born to set it right.”- Hamlet (1/5 pg. 96). Here he questioned if he truly wanted to kill Claudius and how he ended up with the responsibility in the first place. Once again Hamlet was unsure if he is even capable of killing
In Hamlet Act four, it clarifies how Hamlet is being demanded to kill Claudius, but he is afraid to. For what Hamlet did to kill Polonius was unnecessary, he did not know that it was Polonius, Hamlet thought it was Claudius, and instantly, he was genuinely in a bad spot for what he is going through. Hamlet may not plan to carry out his father’s revenge, therefore making his decision can fulfill his destiny. Hamlet is apprehensive about his crowd to believe he’s the bad guy of this. But apparently, he is innocent about why he killed Polonius.
Claudius doesn’t confess and puts on quite a show during the murder scene that one would be puzzled as to why no one could see past his fake, friendly exterior. Claudius failing to confess just illuminates his truly malicious spirit. The ghost is also a character that sparks many questions within the play. Hamlet himself questioned whether the ghost was actually his father or the devil in disguise, trying to tempt Hamlet in committing a crime just as wicked as his step-fathers. However, Hamlet quickly dismisses that thought and convinces himself he needs to murder Claudius for revenge.
Hamlet at first was a little bit weary of the ghost but when the ghost told Hamlet that he was stuck in purgatory until revenge was sought out, hamlet was on board. Hamlet adored his father so when the ghost asked him to seek revenge, and when it told him to murder claudius it's all he focuses on for the majority of the novel. The effect seeking justice had on Hamlet was profound. He became obsessed with finding a proper way to kill the king. His first attempt was to put on a play where he hired actors to recreate the old king's murder to see how the queen and Claudius would react.
However, Hamlet cannot just kill in cold blood, he takes time to plan out every move and analyze the rights, wrongs, and consequences of every step he makes while seeking his revenge. Hamlet says in his soliloquy in 2.2.594-598: “This is most brave, That I, the son of a dear father murdered, Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words And fall a-cursing like a very drab, A scullion!” This quote is proof that Hamlet cannot seem to grasp why he cannot bring himself to kill Claudius. Hamlet comes across as a decent man. Killing is not something he can do in cold blood.
Hamlet was given the prime opportunity to kill Claudius when he found him on his knees begging for forgiveness. Hamlet negated not to kill him right then and there because he wanted Claudius to go to hell, not heaven. Hamlet’s lack of sanity, or his tragic flaw, in the play is definitely what caused his inability to
Like many things, Hamlet is intelligent and honorable, but his indecisiveness is the cause of his tragic downfall. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare portrays that Hamlet is very incapable of finishing the task at hand. Throughout the drama Hamlet faces many trials and tribulations due to his late father Hamlet, who was murderously killed by Claudius. His inability to kill Claudius and himself is one grand flaw of an epic hero. After King Hamlets passing, Hamlet entered an unknown state of mind that not only feared others for his wellbeing, but also feared himself.
Hamlet, also, could not get over the death of his father. He found out when his father’s ghost came back that his brother, and Hamlet’s uncle, murdered him. He then was willing to do anything possible to get revenge on Claudius, his uncle. Both of
Throughout Hamlet, Prince Hamlet is faced against many situations that question his mental stability and ability to make decisions. His indecisiveness comes from the way he reacts to the situations he is put in and the way his mind presents these situations to him. The most important indecisive moments are Hamlet’s suicidal thoughts, his father’s ghost, and his vengeance to Claudius. When Hamlet is told by a ghost that has a resemblance of his father that Claudius had killed him, he vows to take vengeance and revenge his father’s death.
Hamlet’s intelligence is shown when he does not blindly listen to what the ghost said “Hamlet is aware of the unreliability of otherworldly apparitions and consequently reluctant to heed the ghost’s injunction to perform an action that to him seems objectively evil.” [Foster 2], and instead makes his own plan to see if Claudius is truly guilty of murder because. Hamlet plans to “...have these players / Play something like the murder of my father / Before mine uncle. I’ll observe his looks” [Shakespeare II, ii, 596-598], and see how his uncle reacts to the play , which is like the murder of King Hamlet because “Hamlet believes that he must have greater certitude of Claudius’s guilt if he is to take action.” [Foster 2] he does not rush into anything without analyzing the facts that he has, and checking to see if they are true.
Therefore, he decides to depend on Claudius's reaction to the play to help him validate those words. To prove my point, Hamlet said, " I’ll have these players play something like the murder of my father before mine uncle. I’ll observe his looks. I’ll tent him to the quick. If he do blench, I know my course.
This behavior caused disrespect and cruelness. While the king is sleeping like he is in heaven Claudius took that from him and sent him into purgatory. This made Hamlet feel even more angry against his uncle and wants to put him to an end. As a result,Hamlet wants to destroy Claudius for every wrong deed he did. Canales 3 Hamlet is severely motivated into killing for his actions.
Hamlet's overthinking and inaction led to several unnecessary murders. Hamlet knew that Claudius is guilty, yet he still wants to make sure, therefore Hamlet made a play that played out the exact way that Claudius had killed King Hamlet. Hamlet had done this in order to watch how Claudius reacts to make sure that Claudius is the one who murdered his father, “I’ll observe his looks, if he do blench, I know my course” (Ham.2.2.583-585) “Now might I do it pat, now’a is a-praying. And now I’ll do’t” ( Ham.
Many characters show signs of intelligence throughout William Shakespeare’s Hamlet as they conjure plans to achieve their goals. However, Hamlet’s intelligence is far superior to that of all the other characters. He is capable of altering the kingdom’s perception of him to his advantage by adjusting his behaviours. The schemes he devises outsmart everyone and leave him to appear innocent. Most importantly, Hamlet miraculously escapes his own death and instead brings an end to those involved in his execution.
Hamlet himself is unaware that he behaves instinctively as a killer and doesn’t realize that his actions are morally wrong, and the reader can easily take from this that Hamlet is truly in the right and that the actions he takes are justified due to his problematic relationships. Claudius tells Gertrude, “When sorrows come, they come not in single spies, but in battalions” to remind her that bad things normally happen in quick succession after long periods emotional rest (IV, v, 61-62). In Act 1, the Ghost says, “Murder most foul, as in the best it is. But this most foul, strange, and unnatural” when Hamlet is becoming gung-ho about murdering his father’s killer (who he does not yet know is Claudius). Hamlet is pushing the Ghost toward telling him about the murder so that he feels like he has the right to move forward with his plan of revenge.
Due to himself being too idealistic and restrained, he does not take decisive actions even after using the planned play to test the Claudius's conscience that could possibly expose himself and left himself in unfavorable circumstances. Hamlet’s inability to act is caused by his overanalysis of the situations that further render him from not carrying out actions in response. If Hamlet is not indecisive, he would not be uncertain about the evidence regarding to his uncle’s crime, he would not be delaying his revenge, he would not be having emotional breakdowns and become a tragic figure. Hamlet’s personality ‘borns’ and develops under his royal position and the growing