preview

How Is Hamlet Indecisive

Better Essays

The young prince of Denmark wanders around the streets of the kingdom aimlessly. Disheartened by the sudden death of his father, he falls into a vortex of confusion. He is intelligent yet indecisive. He is Hamlet, the protagonist of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In the play, Shakespeare creates characters like Hamlet and Claudius, who carefully craft their plans and strive to actualize their goals. While some take immediate action to control their fates, some remain indecisive and overly concerned about the consequence of their actions. Despite the different paths characters take to approach their targets, none turn out to be successful. Not only do Hamlet and Laertes end up killing each other with their poisoned swords, but Claudius is forced to drink the poisoned wine and accidentally causes the death of Gertrude. By contrasting various characters' outcomes with their intended goals, Shakespeare reveals …show more content…

The fact that both fail to actualize their intentions despite their meticulously crafted plans suggests that it is not their indecisiveness that compromises their plots but rather their inherently selfish and malicious intentions. While Hamlet’s egocentrism is apparent in the way he treats his mother and his lack of regret for killing Polonius, Claudius, in contrast, is self-centered and malicious in that he not only tries to manipulate Laertes, but also intends to distort the truth in order to conceal his involvement in murdering Hamlet. The idea of how selfishness can affect people’s chance of succeeding is not only significant within the novel but also relevant to our daily lives. Like the characters in the book, those who always possess concern for themselves before others can only benefit for a transitory period of time, while those who are selfless and care about the well-being of their entire community will ultimately be able to succeed in the

Get Access