In the scenarios that call for quick, decisive behavior, Hamlet ruminates. Hamlet is prepared to “drink hot blood,” and yet he finds that he is unable to kill the unarmed Claudius because “now he is a praying.” The time has come for action, and yet Hamlet falters, though he has “cause and will and strength and means to do’t”. Although he justifies his delay, longing for Claudius to be condemned to eternal damnation, he continues to be a slave to his own paralyzing habit of “thinking too precisely on th’event.” If Hamlet had remained silent for once and focused on the task at hand, perhaps the play would have ended earlier, with Claudius killed “in the purging of his soul, when he is fit and season’d for his passage.”…
Once again Hamlet uses sarcasm, but this time to express his disapproval for his mother and Claudius. While conversing with Horatio about his visit, Hamlet states, “Thrift, thrift Horatio! The funeral baked meats / did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables” (I.ii.30). Hamlet refers to his mother's sudden wedding, stating that it happened too soon after his father's death. This statement lets the audience know Hamlet's objection to his mother's wedding.…
Another reason why he didn't get justice was because when he finally had caught Claudius off guard , He was on his knees and Hamlet though that he was praying for forgiveness for his sins. Hamlet thought that if he killed Claudius right then and there he would have went to heaven instead of hell where he wanted him to go for killing his father. Hamlet did not get justice because he procrastinated and really didn't have a well thought out plan to follow through…
Hamlet wants Claudius to suffer in hell for murdering his own brother, who is also Hamlet’s father. Killing Claudius while he repents his sins for murder would send him to heaven and be unfair to Hamlet’s father. Even though I do believe that Hamlet is playing the role as a madman, I do not believe he delayed in killing Claudius because there was no audience. Hamlet truly wants revenge on his uncle for murdering his father then marrying his mother. In the Oxford English Dictionary, revenge is defined as, “The action of hurting or harming someone in return for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands”.…
The differing trait between these two men is their urgency to get revenge. Hamlet is a rational character that wants to consider all options before making a decision. While this is normally a positive trait, Hamlet’s over-analysis causes indecisiveness, which results in inaction. This phenomenon is seen when Hamlet does not follow through with the murder of Claudius because Claudius is praying and Hamlet wants him to have unconfessed sins, so Claudius is not sent to heaven. In this instance Hamlet is looking for the optimal solution, when arguably any solution would suffice.…
Throughout the events in Shakespeare's Hamlet Claudius’ hand has worked its way throughout Elsinore, deceiving its inhabitants for his own greedy ambitions. In his attempts to further himself he has remained directly responsible for death of Old Hamlet and all the events which unfold during the duration of the play. Claudius’ manipulative grasp encompassed Denmark and sent the castle into a spiraling descent of madness and utter chaos. Money, power, and love, Claudius desired these things so greatly that he went to such radical lengths as to murder his own brother, Old Hamlet, the king of Denmark. Nothing stood in his way, he could marry Gertrude, claim the throne and gain the riches of a king, except until Hamlet began acting as a threat…
I’ll Leave This for Later Obstacles are known to be put in people’s paths to make them stronger sometimes even guide onto a more clearer road. William Shakespeare is known to have written plays and poems centuries ago. They are difficult to understand or analyze because of the style of writing but not impossible. In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the main character as the title suggests Hamlet is trying to get revenge for his father, Old Hamlet’s death.…
First of all, Hamlet has his mind set that behind the curtain lies Claudius. His first thought is that this is his best chance at killing Claudius. He had no intention or desire to kill Polonius whatsoever. “He thought it was the chief and wished to kill him to avenge his father.…
One particular point that I love about Hamlet, the character, is the perfect blend of decisiveness and enough control to not make rash decisions. Throughout the play, Hamlet is thrown into several predicaments in which he has to make difficult decisions. Hamlet encounters a ghost that claims to be his deceased father and the ghost said “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5.31). This ghost is saying to commit an act of treason and kill the sitting king, Claudius, because revenge needs to be taken. This is a lot to comprehend for a boy that recently lost his father.…
Hamlet does not kill Claudius when he sees him in Act three, scene three because he believes that Claudius is praying and Hamlet believes that if he would've killed Claudius while he was praying that his soul would go to Heaven. Later in Act three, scene four Hamlet killed Polonius because at the time Hamlet was explaining the circumstances of his father's death to his mother and Polonius was eavesdropping on the conversation. Hamlet noticed him and believing that it was Claudius and now was his time to strike he stabbed Polonius through the curtains. I believe that there is an argument that Hamlet is both a man of thought and a man of action. Hamlet is a man of thought because as he noticed Claudius "praying" he thought about the situation…
To Act or Not To Act: Tragic Flaws in “Hamlet” “Conscience doth make cowards of us all,” (Shakespeare 3.1.83). This quote from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a starting point to show a main characters tragic flaws. For Hamlet, the main character in the play, he often procrastinates in completing tasks. Moreover, even once he completes an action he tends to overthink his decision. By allowing Hamlet to have destructive flaws, one being procrastination and the second being indecisiveness it shows that these flaws bring Hamlet to his downfall.…
Eventually Hamlet’s self pity turns into a motive to seek revenge for himself. He is highly upset with the King and Queen and takes it upon himself to seek revenge. Unfortunately, the revenge becomes an act of selfishness Hamlet states “Haste me to know’t; that I, with wings as swift as a meditation or thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge” (Hamlet, Shakespeare) In the quote above Hamlet is admitting that he will personally seek revenge and kill Claudius. This causes isolation with Hamlet because now he is out to get the new king, while the rest of the kingdom is in support of the new…
Thesis Statement Most of our actions are governed by non-conscious parts of the brain, giving logical reasoning a very limited and ineffective authority over how we decide and what we do. The sub-conscious, or the unconscious always has a stronger control over the self, and trying to resist its authority would only lead to frustration and disillusionment. In Shakespeare’s iconic character Hamlet, this dilemma between the reasoning of the conscious and the overriding intuitive powers of the unconscious can be observed as Hamlet’s trying to make sense of every step he takes only makes him less decisive and brings him unhappiness. Research Questions Why does Hamlet struggle so much in making decisions and taking steps? What keeps him from acting out his revenge?…
However, when he has a perfect opportunity to kill Claudius while he is praying, he hesitates and is unable to as his mind takes over in fear that Claudius will go to heaven if he is murdered in prayer. This demonstrates how Hamlet’s inability to take action prevents him from accomplishing the tasks at…
We are aware that Hamlet is depressed about his father’s death, his mother re-marrying, and the lack of mourning the kingdom is doing for the death of the King, but he does not commit suicide even though he considers it at one point. Hamlet’s loneliness, feelings of anger, and sorrow would certainly compel him to avenge his father’s death by killing Claudius. “A villain kills my father, and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven.” (III.3.77) Hamlet doesn’t immediately avenge his father’s death, he goes through a phase where he contemplates and delays when he should commit the act of killing…