Procrastination is the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, and thus putting off impending tasks to a later time, sometimes to the "last minute" before the deadline. The greatest problem in ‘Hamlet’ is the problem of Hamlet’s delay in avenging the murder of his father. What makes Hamlet delay the execution of the orders of the ghost, has always baffled the critics. It is the reason that even today there is no unanimity about the cause of the delay. We have only to content ourselves with various speculations about it.
Key Words: Hamlet, Procrastination, Problem of delay, Hamlet’s Delay
Introduction
Procrastination may result in stress, anxiety, a sense of guilt and crisis, health problems, and severe loss of personal productivity, as well as social disapproval for not meeting responsibilities or commitments. These feelings combined may promote further procrastination. While it is regarded as normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal
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Coleridge finds in Hamlet ‘an almost amorous-intellectual activity and a proportionate aversion to real action consequent upon it.’ This view of Hamlet’s character given to irresolution and procrastination is revealed in one of his soliloquies. He himself feels ashamed of being a coward who can only ‘unpack his heart’ with words and can start cursing like a kitchen menial. The majority of critics attribute the cause of delay to this philosophic outlook of Hamlet that unnerves Dim at the moment when he should plunge into action and execute the deed.
Hamlet’s Philosophical Speculation
Hamlet has been one of the most philosophical character. He was essentially preoccupied with existential problems. He says in the mood of utter disgust: How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this
Hamlet will always be well known for his delay in killing Claudius. After the interaction with his fathers ghost. The ghost informes Hamlet that he must get revenge and now kill Claudius. But from the start hesitation was in effect. There are many different theories of why Hamlet delayed revenge the most well know are finding of a perfect moment and him questioning death and the ghost itself. Hamlet was never unfaithful, he always want to go, but that he had never finished thinking the matter out.
In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the main character continually delays acting out his duty of avenging his father's murder. This essay will discuss how Hamlet's nature and morals (which are intensified by difficult events) prevent him from carrying out the task.
Another main reason for Hamlet's delay once again has to do with his morals and idealism. Because he possesses such a strong mind, he can find many possible causes and effects for everyday affairs. When dealing with affairs far from ordinary, such as his father's murder, "... the native hue of resolution is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought..." (Act III sc i).
Shakespeare's drama Hamlet has become a central piece of literature of Western culture. It is the story of a prince named Hamlet, who lost his father. Soon after that he has to confront multiple obstacles and devises a series of situations to defend the new king's royalty. Furthermore, he had to prove that King Claudius, who was the prince's uncle, had killed Hamlet's father. This story has remained among the most popular and the most controversial plays around the world. It generates controversy for all the doubts that this play leaves with the readers. One of the most questioning situations in the play is the delay of Hamlet in avenging Claudius' for his father's death. As a reader this
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character continually delays acting out his duty of avenging his father’s murder. This essay will discuss how Hamlet’s nature and morals (which are intensified by difficult events) prevent him from carrying out the task.
Hamlet, the eponymous hero of Shakespeare’s greatest work, descends swiftly into madness and paranoia after the murder of his father and the realization of his mother’s true, morally reprehensible, nature. As a result of these new responsibilities and extreme circumstances, Hamlet diverges from his usual, logical thinking into paranoia and over analysis, a condition that prevents him from trusting anyone. Hamlet, having been born a prince, is, for the first time, forced to make his own decisions after he learns of the true means of his father’s death. Another contributing factor to his madness is the constant probing of others into Hamlet’s sanity. These factors all contribute to Hamlets delay, and that delay contributes to the tragic
Procrastination is ignoring your responsibilities and avoiding them for no good reason. Experiencing procrastination can have a positive or negative reaction according to the amount of the behavior. The person that is procrastinating must first realize that they have a problem in order to find ways to overcome procrastination because they are putting their health, family and job at risk. Twenty percent of people realize they are procrastinators which in the end becomes a lifestyle. There are various reasons why people procrastinate.
Therefore, the theme of procrastination in Hamlet is the cause of delay in taking the revenge of Hamlet’s father’s murder. However, the theme of long delays and seeking alternative to revenge such as in the form of suicide while c considering it less sinful as compare to revenge from the aspect of the Christian theology also discloses that Hamlet is sensible and even in the times of emotional instability, he does not fall beneath what is humanlike behavior. On the contrary, Titus does not show such emotional savvy while expression grave concern and shows eagerness to avenge the murder (Burwick 24).
What makes Hamlet so intriguing as a character in his avoidance in the actions we expect him to carry out, as he constantly postpones his actions in order to acquire more insight and certainty about current situations and about what he plans to do in response, and the following consequences of his decision bringing about two of the plays major
Attention Getter: A famous author by the name of Wayne Dyer once said, “Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is incredibly heavy.”(1) In todays society it seems as if procrastination has become a normal and acceptable thing to do. It is often joked about amongst schoolmates and co-workers around the world. Nothing seems to get done until it absolutely needs to get done, then everyone runs around getting things done quickly and often times inaccurately. The trouble with this mentality however is that some things will never get done because something will come up tomorrow or the next day and what you are putting off now gets pushed even further back. Today I will persuade you to stop this habit from continuing. I will be explaining the problems we face when dealing with procrastination as well as how to deal with it and actions you can take to prevent it in the future.
It is better not to put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Many consequences can arise when one procrastinates. An example of this is found in Shakespeare’s Hamlet through the depiction of the central character. Although Hamlet is characterized as daring, brave, loyal, and intelligent, he is overwhelmed by his own conscience. The tragic hero is defined as one whose downfall is brought about due to their tragic flaw. Hamlet’s inability to act on his father’s murder, his mother’s marriage, and his uncle assuming of the thrown are all evidence of his tragic flaw of procrastination.
It is this mourning that becomes the foundation of conflicts to come. After an encounter with his father’s ghost, Hamlet learns of his uncle’s treachery and is at first filled with rage, “Haste me to know’t, that I with wings as swift, as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge.” (Hamlet aside, Act I, Scene V, p.1651), but it is Hamlet’s struggle with himself that leads to not act upon his words as fast as he had clamed to.
Procrastination is a common tendency that we all give in to and all of us have at least a little experience with.
Hamlet's first thoughts after learning of his father's murder are of an immediate, violent revenge upon Claudius. However, his subsequent actions do not live up to these resolutions. Over four acts he takes little deliberate action against his uncle, although the ghost explicitly demands a swift revenge. In S. T. Coleridge's words, Hamlet's central weakness is that he is "continually resolving to do, yet doing nothing but resolve".
Well known is it that the main plot of Hamlet is outlined by revenge. Upon learning the circumstances of his father’s death, Hamlet’s attitude shifts. Once a saddened mourner, Hamlet becomes a man on a mission for revenge. When the ghost of Hamlet’s father brings the news to the awestruck Hamlet, Hamlet is appalled by the “Foul and most unnatural murder” (1.5, 31). Hamlet immediately promises the ghost the retribution he desires, claiming that he will seek swift vengeance against his father’s murder to prove his love for him: “Haste me to know’t that I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge” (1.5, 35-37). Ironically, Hamlet promises the ghost a swift revenge, though his revenge is anything but quick. The theme of delayed activity reoccurs throughout the plot of the story, because, consistently, the protagonist’s time-table for accomplishing the task is slowed due to his pondering of moral issues. Hamlet’s Mousetrap scene is a perfect