Examples Of Hesitancy In Hamlet

Hamlet, unlike Fortinbras and Laertes, did not follow what his advisor told him without questioning why he should take the advice. As time passes, Hamlet still has not acted out the revenge he promised his father. Out of disgust for his irreverence for his father he says, ?why, what an ass am I! 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? (II.ii.594-598). This statement prompts one to believe Hamlet has been convinced by his father?s words to act, but does not want to do so hastily. Hamlet questions the validity of his revenge by devising a plan to provide evidence of King Claudius? guilt. Hamlet took advantage of his position at the local theater by instructing his actors

Critics have attempted to explain Hamlet’s delay in avenging his father for centuries and the most relevant scene to illustrate Hamlet’s hesitation is in Act Three when Hamlet has the opportunity to kill Claudius but doesn’t. Hamlet says at the time that he does

Why does Hamlet hesitate to kill? This is the question that, if answered, could be the reason for the rest of the play. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, by William Shakespeare, is a play revolving around a distraught prince, Hamlet, who is trying to avenge his father’s death by killing his murderer, his uncle. After learning the cause of his father’s death, Hamlet alters his ways and secludes himself from others in order to fulfill what the Ghost has requested. Over the span of two months, the play follows Hamlet as he considers the appropriate time to kill his uncle. Within the two months, Hamlet prolongs his revenge too long and is ultimately destroyed by his feigned craziness and independence.

Once Hamlet is sure of Claudius’ guilt, it is Hamlet’s belief in his religion that leads him to inaction. In Hamlet’s mind, it is now his rightful duty to avenge his father’s murder. At the end of Act 3 Scene 3, Hamlet has a perfect opportunity to kill Claudius, when he sees the King kneeling in prayer. Hamlet enters the King's private chapel with a sword in hand, ready to kill Claudius. As Hamlet enters he observes, "now he is a-praying, and now I’ll do 't"(3.3.77-78). But, Claudius is agonizing over his actions. He has committed

During the soliloquy that occurs in Act 3, scene 3, "Now might I do pat", Hamlet hears his uncle confessing his sins, kneeling before the altar. Hamlet think of this to be a great opportunity to finally avenge his father’s murder, and his hatred towards his uncle for marrying his mother. However moments before he follows through with his plan he comes to the conclusion that killing the King while he is doing a good and pure deed, such as praying and confessing , will not send him to hell but to heaven and he will not gain his seeking of revenge. He believes that rather being a punishment it would be service to kill him while he is purging his soul. Hamlet elects the idea that a more suitable occasion would be when he is drunk, asleep, in rage,

    Hamlet is many things: scholar, speaker, actor, and prince. His greatness shows in all of activities, save one: his inability to act. Hamlet is not able to avenge his father's death without considerable delay. There is a flaw in Hamlet's character that causes him to postpone the murder of Claudius - this flaw is Hamlet's idealism. While idealism is normally a good trait, in this case, because of the unusual circumstances, Hamlet's idealism causes great conflicts within him.

Hamlet had the opportunity to kill Claudius at the chapel but restrained himself, he believed it was too good of a death for Claudius and that if he were killed his sins would be forgiven. This shows his lack of action and proves he is a procrastinator. In his soliloquies he constantly criticizes himself for the obvious avoidance of responsibility saying, "Am I a coward? Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across? Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face? Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i' the throat, as deep as to the lungs? who does me this?" (Act 2 Sc. 2, 571-575)

”Thus conscience does not 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 away,/ And lose the name of action.” Hamlet here combines some themes of this play: death and life, the connection between thought and action. In act five scene five, he goes into Claudius’ room to kill him. Like the last time he went to kill him, he was on his knees praying. Why send him to Heaven when he should go to Hell? His father wasn’t given a chance to repent his sins before he was murdered, so why should King Claudius? Hamlet thinks about this for a minute, and decides to wait for a more reasonable

He instead, after failing to act on different occasions, relinquishes his ability to take vengeance and gives that power to God. “There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ‘tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now: if it be not now, yet it will come – the readiness is all...Let be” (5.2. 192-96). Hamlet has resigned himself to the situation and trusts that God will allow to happen what is supposed to happen. This is contrasted with his earlier yearnings in which he wanted to control every aspect of his revenge. Hamlet has matured, it seems, by the end as one who rests his troubles in the fate that God has ready for him. This maturity would not have happened, of course, if Hamlet had never been a religious person to begin with. Hamlet is like a bookshelf in which a book can be taken off to be read and understood whenever he wishes to. His religion is a book that he didn’t take off the shelf until he underwent an experience of self-realization. Hamlet’s maturity shines through when, at the moment of his death, he doesn’t react with anger towards Laertes, his killer. Instead, he consoles him when he says, “Heaven make thee free of it!” (5.2. 311). Hamlet expected death and, for him, there was no other outcome so, why not accept

He is seen again delaying his revenge due to over thinking when refusing to kill Claudius in a moment of weakness. The prince’s reluctance to murder the praying king and thus sending him directly to heaven is ironic due to the fact that Claudius is unable to confess his sins and ask for God’s forgiveness. The readers once again observe Hamlet’s failure to execute his responsibility due to his overwhelming desire to perform the perfect revenge.

To clear any uncertainty as to whether or not Claudius murdered his father, Hamlet decides to set him up. Hamlet plans a "mouse trap" for Claudius in which he sets up a play, for the King and Queen, to be a murder tragedy. Hamlet hopes to see Claudius's reaction towards the murder scene in hope of establishing his guilt. "The Play's the thing Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." (II, ii, 589-591) The play works but Hamlet does not "sweep to his revenge". Why not, is he worried about Ophelia being caught up on his attempted murder? William Hazlitt states, "When Hamlet is most bound to act, he remains puzzled, undecided, and sceptical, dallies with his purpose, till the occasion is lost, and finds out some pretence to relapse into indolence and thoughtfulness again." This is most likely the reason why Hamlet does not take advantage of the opportunity to kill the king when he is at his prayers. Hamlet can not have his revenge perfect as he wishes, so he declines it altogether. "He kneels and prays, And now I'll do't and so he goes to heaven, And so am I reveng'd: that would be scann'd. He kill'd my father, and for that, I his sole son, send him to heaven. Why this is reward, not revenge. Up sword and know thou a more horrid

At another point in the play where Claudius is alone in the chapel kneeling at prayer Hamlet has the opportunity to strike him down, “now might I do it pat, now he is praying”, (act 3, scene 3, 77 – 100). He does draw his sword but yet again his over analysing stops him. His reasoning for this delay is that Claudius is praying and in order for revenge to be complete Claudius has to be engaged in a sinful act. This again shows not the mind of an insane man but the thinking of a rational albeit conflicted mind.

Hamlet feels the moment of death is important and has to come at the right time. Hamlet had one well known opportunity to kill Claudius, but his hesitation came in when he realized he was praying. According to Karl S Guthke hamlet did not kill Claudius while he was praying because if he was to have stabbed him in the back at that moment he would go straight to heaven no matter how sinful his life was. ( Guthke 91) Hamlet shows how important the moment of death is when he says “that he will wait until lust and sin come back, and when his soul would be at the door of hell.” (Kilgore)He is constantly putting it off, because he is not ready, because he has not done thinking about it. Hamlet says he will not kill him now, he wants to find a moment that when killed he will be sent to hell.(Shakespeare)

Hamlet’s plot to avenge his father’s death is ultimately driven by his passion and emotions, but his reasoning plays a role in the story as he considers the impact of certain actions. In scene three of act three, Hamlet finally receives an opportunity to carry out his plan. As Claudius is kneeling in prayer, the prince pulls out a sword and prepares to kill his father’s murderer. In this moment, he is driven by anger and bitterness, however, he suddenly has a realization and thinks logically. If he kills the man as he is praying, he will not suffer, but rather will go straight to heaven. Hamlet decides

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet does not succeed to the throne after his father's death, but if he had would he have been a good king? Due to the fact that he was highly educated and clearly controls the people’s perception of him very well he would have made a very competent king of Denmark. The one factor holding him back from being the perfect king are his wild emotions about his father's death and mother’s quick mariage.