In William Shakespeare's "Hamlet," the task of avenging his late father is bestowed upon Hamlet after learning his uncle is the one who pours poison in King Hamlet's ear. Hamlet is somewhat cautious with the information and develops a plan that he hopes will deceive Claudius into showing signs of guilt for killing his own brother. Hamlet keeps his cautious and uncertain attitude up until the play he puts on for Claudius and Gertrude, at which point he begins to act rashly without thinking of the consequences to follow. Hamlet's quest for revenge begins as a noble cause, but the change in his approach of decision-making leads to the death of countless characters.
After hearing the Ghost's claims about how Claudius murdered his father, Hamlet decides to step back and gather some more information before taking action. He says, "Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd, bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, be thy intents wicked or charitable, thou comest in questionable shape" (I, iv). He believes that the Ghost may be trying to fool him, which some literary critics agree with. "He does not accept the disclosure as certain and suspects that the Ghost may be an evil spirit sent to lead him astray by a false accusation of his mother and uncle" (Javed 329). This would be considered sound judgment in that he wants to know for certain whether or not Claudius killed his father before avenging the death, leading him to construct a plan.
The turning point in Hamlet's behavior and strategy was the play being put on by the traveling troupe as well as his conversation with Gertrude immediately following. Claudius gives the reaction that Hamlet was hoping for, and any doubts about the Ghost and what he said are put to rest, "O good Horatio, I'll take the ghost's word for a thousand pound" (III, ii). Hamlet gets the perfect opportunity to kill Claudius in the chapel, but decides against it because he is praying and Hamlet believes that if a person was killed while praying, they will go to heaven.
