Hamlet's Motive

Hamlet has long-been associated with the name of William Shakespeare as a masterful work of literary art. It is one of the most debated, celebrated and studied pieces of all time; a marvel of showmanship from one of the most famous authors to ever pick up the elegant pen of words. Those who have read the drama often marvel at the complexity of Hamlet himself, and debate his hesitancy of action throughout the tragedy—namely, the supposed murder of Claudius which he ‘must’ commit. While many scholars agree on Hamlet’s reasons for delay, critics have yet to narrow their thoughts on Hamlet’s overlying motive: why does behave the way he does? More importantly, what were Shakespeare’s motives in portraying Hamlet the way he ultimately does? Hamlet’s hesitation is not the most convoluted and interesting of the subjects; his rationale of purpose is what drives the entire work to be the complex enigma that it still is, to this day. To begin with, many scholars have suggested that Hamlet’s motives directly correlate to Shakespeare’s own life and experiences. With such an intricate work of literature, it is easily assumed that “anything which will give us the key to the inner meaning of Hamlet will necessarily provide a clue to much of the deeper workings of Shakespeare’s mind” (Jones 25). While this may be true, one cannot necessarily assume that unlocking Hamlet’s motives and frame of mind will bring us closer to William Shakespeare, as a person and personality. Rather, it is safe to say that in exploring Hamlet’s intentions, one can find insight into the mentality of Shakespeare; the ideas which he molded into the character of Hamlet, in order to build the persona which he used to explore the subject of revenge. Like with many great works, a reader cannot always assume that the main character is modeled after the author who penned it. This is a biased way to look at literature, and often detracts from the piece as a whole. One should only take that the ideas portrayed in

Cited: Bradby, C.F. The Problems of Hamlet. New York: Princeton University Press, 1928. Foss, George R. What the Author Meant. London: Random House. 1932. Jones, Ernest. Hamlet and Oedipus. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1949. Mauerhof. Ueber Hamlet. Trans. Harvard College Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard College Library, 1907. Deuticke, 1911. Wolff, Gustav. Der Fall Hamlet. Trans. Meuchen. Germany: Barth, 1914.