But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue." .
- (Shakespeare, Lines 146-159).
In his frail state of mind, a ghost appears to Hamlet and informs him that Claudius murdered his father. The ghost strongly urges him to seek revenge. Hamlet questions the appearances of things around him and worries if he can trust his own perceptions (Cordell). Hamlet contemplates his revenge on Claudius to the point of obsession. He decides to feign madness in order to keep the other characters from guessing his motive of behavior (Hazlitt). Since Hamlet discovers the murder of his father, and the adultery and incest committed by his mother, he retains a very bitter and pessimistic view of the world (Cordell). He is already unsure of what to believe and what to do, and the tension of his uncertainty arises as he speaks to heaven in his soliloquy at the end of Act One, Scene Five.
Hamlet was indecisive on how to channel his emotions into a productive plan. After much thought, he decides that he will seek revenge through Claudius's guilt (Hazlitt). This is shown in Hamlet's soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 2.
"Had he the motive and the cue for passion.
That I have? He would drown the stage with tears.
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,.
Make mad the guilty and appal the free .
-More relative than this. The play's the thing.
Wherein I"ll catch the conscience of the King".
- (Shakespeare, Lines 547-604).
In Hamlets soliloquy in Act Three, Scene One, he ponders the value of his own life by contemplating the moral aspects of suicide, life, death, and afterlife (Shakespeare). Hamlet cannot trust anyone because he is surrounded by people who are influenced by the King's corruption. Therefore, he is left with no one to confide in but his own conscious. .
"To be, or not to be-that is the question".
Whether "tis nobler in the mind to suffer.