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Hamlet's Flaws

Decent Essays

“Procrastination is opportunity’s natural assassin” –Victor Kiam. Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, illustrates this idea through the character of Hamlet. Hamlet is given multiple chances to avenge his father’s death, however, fails to do so due to internal struggles, lack of proper planning and timing skills, and his indecisive nature. These flaws ultimately lead to Hamlet’s demise and the death of several other characters.
Firstly, Hamlet’s paranoia causes him to become anxious about how the Danish people will react, if he proceeds with killing King Claudius; “Who calls me villain, breaks my pate across, Plucks off my beard …Who does me this?” (Act II.ii.584-587). This leads to Hamlet deciding whether he should continue with the …show more content…

First of all, when the ghost of King Hamlet reveals that Claudius murdered him, Hamlet’s indecisiveness leads him to question whether the ghost is telling the truth or not. Hamlet then organizes a play in which he states; “If his occulted guilt, Do not itself unkennel in one speech, It is a damnèd ghost that we have seen” (Act III.ii.81-83). Even half way through the play, Hamlet still questions the legitimacy of the ghost’s revelation. Secondly, Hamlet’s indecision is displayed when he has the chance to kill Claudius while he is praying; “And so am I revenged. —That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven” (Act III.ii.78-81). Hamlet is indecisive in the fact that he wants to avenge his father’s death but he also wants to send Claudius to hell to suffer, preventing him from killing Claudius at that moment. Lastly, Hamlet fails to decide whether to act deliberately or impulsively. When it comes to King Claudius, Hamlet thinks thoroughly and precisely on how to murder him, but for other characters such as Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, Hamlet does not hesitate sending them off to England to get executed; “Why, man, they did make love to this employment. They are not near my conscience. Their defeat does by their own insinuation grow” (Act V.ii.61-63). Because of

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