William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is categorized as a tragedy for its elements of violence, despair and death. The conflict driving the plot of the play revolves around the very sinful act of murder, which is to be performed by the protagonist. Hamlet is summoned by an apparition to avenge his father's death by inflicting the same destiny onto his murderer, Hamlet's uncle. However the conflict goes unresolved for five acts and Hamlet's inaction throughout the play has called for great speculation. There is no clear reason given for his delay, but evidence suggests that the reasons for Hamlet's delay are a result of his indecision and uncertainty. Three of the speculated theories are thus that Hamlet is morally conflicted, doubtful of the ghost's integrity, and flawed by his philosophical nature. .
One hindrance to Hamlet's ability to correspond to the ghost is his morality. He is unable to justify the act of murder on the basis of his religious beliefs, which undermine much of his initial concerns. Hamlet often thinks about the afterlife and the quality of a person's afterlife as defined by the consequences of their choices. He himself contemplates committing suicide and wishes that "the Everlasting had not fix'd his canon 'gainst self- slaughter!" "(1.2.131-132). This shows a struggle within Hamlet. While he detests the conditions of his life and wishes he could end it, he concludes that he would rather continue living in "an unweeded garden than live in hell as a consequence of suicide" (1.2.125). In the same way, Hamlet wants to avenge his father's death yet desires to carry it out in a moral and accepting way. Therefore Hamlet's awareness of morals is apparent, and there is an obvious impossibility of murder within these morals. .
This first theory however, proves inconsistent because Hamlet's morality is compromised by his madness. As the play progresses, Hamlet becomes overly enthused by his vengeful quest that he begins to behave and think in a violent manner.
As the main character he faces many problems. ... Hamlet's delay in killing his uncle is understandable. ... However there are also many reasons for Hamlet's delay in killing Claudius. ... Hamlet has many reasons for delaying to kill Claudius. ... Although at times Hamlet appears wishy-washy his delay is understandably human. ...
Throughout the story we watch as Hamlet delves within himself to find the reason for the delay, only find out that there is no reason. ... (www.goldenessays.com) Hamlet, at one point in the play, tries to bring the problem into perspective with the "To be or not to be" soliloquy in Act 3, scene 1. For Hamlet though, the problem is not his state of being, but his state of action, to [do] or not to [do]. ... (www.goldenessays.com) This problem, so much like Laertes" poison, seeps through Hamlet's conscience and kills any action of revenge (paraphrase of Joel Sommer Littauer). ......
As the main character he faces many problems. ... Hamlet's delay in killing his uncle is understandable. ... However there are also many reasons for Hamlet's delay in killing Claudius. ... Hamlet has many reasons for delaying to kill Claudius. ... Although at times Hamlet appears wishy-washy his delay is understandably human. ...
Hamlet and Revenge In William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, revenge takes its foothold on the main character, Hamlet as he tries to avenge his father's death. ... This delay is typical to tragedies of that time. The revenger first hesitates, then the delay occurs, followed by the slaughter of the murderer in a fit of rage. ... The next delay was the accidental killing of Polonius, which created a whole new problem (ERH). ... While Hamlet knows he must kill Claudius, he allows many delays to suspend the act. ...
The classic question of Hamlet, by Shakespeare, is referred to as "the Hamlet problem." Many critics analyzing the play have asked the following questions: Is Hamlet a coward, why does he delay so long in completing his revenge, and what are the justifications for his actions? ... Hamlet has the gift of philosophical thought. ... Hamlet's delay in avenging his father's death is intentional. ... Hamlet is far too brilliant to allow procrastination to be the cause of delaying his revenge. ...
Hamlet especially incorporated all revenge conventions in one way or another, which truly made Hamlet a typical revenge play. ... After the ghost persuades the revenger to commit his deed, a hesitation first occurs and then a delay by the avenger before killing the murderer, and his actual or acted out madness. ... The death was considered by Elizabethan people as a fair one, therefore a problem occurred when Andrea's ghost appeared to seek vengeance on its killer. ... Hieronimo then delays his revenge for many different reasons that occur in the play. ... The ghost appears ...
There is a huge disconnect with Hamlet's extreme thoughts and his delayed actions. ... Hamlet is using weeds to describe the problems in his life. He feels that his problems are out of control, just as weeds are in a garden. ... Hamlet's reason for delay is that Claudius is in the midst of praying, a holy and virtuous act. ... Hamlet uses Claudius' prayer as an excuse to further delay the act of revenge because his conscience will not permit him to commit premeditated murder. ...
Hamlet is a man of thought . "To be, or not to be, that is the question" (3,I,56) is one of Hamlet's most famous soliloquies and it clearly tells us about Hamlet's character. ... Hamlet's thoughts are mainly concerned about his own problems only. ... Thus we see the delayed actions of Hamlet results in his death along with the death of many others. ... These resulted in his delayed actions which resulted in the death of many others as well as ,Hamlet , himself. ...
