Hamlet

Pablo Picasso once stated that, “Action is the foundational key to success”. The story of Hamlet is a superb example of how overthinking can be detrimental. Hamlet’s deep psychological thinking prevents him from carrying out the revenge for his father’s death. The foils of Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras, who immediately avenged their father’s deaths, are perfect examples of the success a “Man of Action’ can obtain. Unlike his opposites, Hamlet becomes so entangled with his own thought process, that he cannot make a firm decision of action against his uncle, Claudius. A ‘Man of Action’ like Fortinbras and Laertes, is more prone to success than ‘A Man of Thought’ like Hamlet, because he relies on his conscience and takes advantage of opportunity when it presents itself.
Intuition and innate conscience are key to decision making. Vincent Van Gogh once stated that, "Conscience is a man 's compass". Throughout the play, Hamlet questions himself about every small decision he is faced with; all the while delaying action against his uncle. Already halfway through the play, Hamlet is still pacing about, weighing the possibilities of any situation he could face. To the audience, he seemingly has enough reason and passion to jump at the chance to slay Claudius. The action the reader or audience craves to see is still postponed. In his most famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy in Act III scene I, lines 57-91, Hamlet continues to show the indecisiveness between his heart and mind. This soliloquy seems to contradict itself when he states that, "When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause", and then stating that, "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, and thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o 'er with the pale cast of thought". Hamlet thinks that all things in life ought to be put into strong consideration and are worthy of worry. He also contradicts himself mostly because even though his revenge gives him so much to live for, he questions the importance of it. Still, we see no thought from Hamlet put into action. In her Case of Hamlet 's Conscience, Catherine Belsey states that, "Hamlet toys in his melancholy with the notion of suicide, but he is even incapable of that, and the "conscience" said to make a coward of him is the speculative tendency which continually supplies him with pretexts for inaction". The continuous amount of thought applied to every circumstance becomes such a distraction to Hamlet 's decision making process. Thoughts begin to cloud Hamlet 's view and he is unable to trust his intuition. The more he delays, the more time Claudius has to plot for his demise. In the events after his Act III scene I soliloquy, we see that Hamlet does not commit suicide, but begins to form a plan to see if Claudius actually killed his father. By not trusting his gut or first instinct, the audience finally sees Hamlet taking sloppy, unrehearsed action against his enemies in the next few scenes and throughout the rest of the play. Life experiences and modern literature such as Hamlet, teach that conscience is the part of the mind that consistently builds upon life occurrences. When faced with anything, conscience is the most equipped to respond effectively because it is the inner moral compass. As in everything in life, decisions impact the consequences a person must face day to day. Hamlet 's decision to ignore his conscience and delay action was the key that unlocked his tragic fate.
Hamlet loses many an opportunity to kill Claudius throughout the play. The story of Hamlet addresses both sides of the opportunity issue. Paulo Coelho sees it as this: "The two worst strategic mistakes to make are acting prematurely and letting an opportunity slip; to avoid this, the warrior treats every situation as if it was unique and never resorts to formulae, recipes or other people 's opinions". Hamlet is unable to find a healthy balance between the two worst strategic mistakes a person can make. When Hamlet is first visited by his father 's ghost in Act I scene v lines 98-104, he promises, " Yea, from the table of my memory I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records, All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past That youth and observation copied there, And thy commandment all alone shall live Within the book and volume of my brain, Unmixed with baser matter. Yes, by heaven!” Hamlet, who seemingly believed the ghost 's claims, should have had enough passion and drive to carry out its request. After much thought and time, Hamlet is faced with another divine opportunity in Act III scene III to take Claudius 's life without any witnesses around. He declines in line 89, saying, "Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent", assuming Claudius has asked for forgiveness and once again missing a crucial opportunity. When the ghost reappears in Act III scene IV and reminds him of his task in lines 111-112, "Do not forget. This visitation is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose", Hamlet 's resolve for revenge seems to be strengthened, although two more acts pass without achieving any potential that the ghost intended to strike up. Hamlet thinks too deeply about every action or opportunity he is faced with, which in the end causes his tragedy to overlap with Claudius 's.
The foils of Hamlet are great examples of how men of action can achieve great success in their lives. Laertes is a significant foil of Hamlet because when he was informed of his father 's murder in Act IV scene V lines 105-110, he immediately stated, "Vows, to the blackest devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation. To this point I stand that both the worlds I give to negligence. Let come what comes, only I’ll be revenged, most thoroughly for my father", and began plotting to kill Hamlet to avenge his father, Polonius. Although it is known that Laertes dies by his own plot of revenge he ultimately achieves success by avenging his father’s death. Fortinbras is a foil of Hamlet because he actively sought revenge for his father 's death and the recapture of lost territories. Both Princes are seemingly in the same situation where an uncle has taken their rightful throne. The response towards their circumstances is very different for both young men. While Hamlet sat around contemplating life and death, Fortinbras took action by raising an army to reclaim the lands lost after his father 's death. Hamlet allows his thoughts to distract him while Fortinbras plans to conquer other countries. Although, conquering may seem unimportant at first, Fortinbras achieves success and gains the Danish throne at the close of Act V. Prince Hamlet compares himself directly to Fortinbras while watching his army pass by in the fields in Act IV scene IV. Hamlet questions in lines 38-65 how an army with no obligation and almost no passion could give their lives so flippantly while he stands by watching his evil, incestuous uncle take his throne and mother. Knowing about his uncles ' crimes from the beginning, coupled with the love he had for his father, should have been enough reason for Hamlet to immediately kill Claudius without question. Fortinbras, like Laertes, is the example of action with little thought, the opposite of Hamlet.
Throughout the play, Hamlet is in a state of indecisiveness. He cannot make a clear decision because he is focused on every detail that could surface from his actions. The entire play is not about revenge, but rather about Hamlet’s inner struggle to take action. While Hamlet thinks incessantly about the plans he could carry out; two other characters develop their own plots of revenge and follow through with them immediately. A ‘Man of Action’ like Fortinbras and Laertes, is more prone to success than ‘A Man of Thought’ like Hamlet, because he relies on his conscience and takes advantage of opportunity when it presents itself. Hamlet did succeed at killing his uncle, but at the price of his life, and many others he cared so deeply about. Instead of acting on his intuition, Hamlet remained a ‘Man of Thought’ and sealed his tragic fate.

Works Cited
"No Fear Hamlet." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://www.sparknotes.com/>.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Hamlet" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 29 Oct. 2012.

BrainyQuote. Xplore, 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://www.brainyquote.com/>.

Belsey, Catherine. "The Case of Hamlet 's Conscience." JSTOR. University of North Carolina Press, 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/>.

Cited: "No Fear Hamlet." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. &lt;http://www.sparknotes.com/&gt;. Shmoop Editorial Team. "Hamlet" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. BrainyQuote. Xplore, 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. &lt;http://www.brainyquote.com/&gt;. Belsey, Catherine. "The Case of Hamlet 's Conscience." JSTOR. University of North Carolina Press, 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. &lt;http://www.jstor.org/&gt;.