Hamlet Act 4 Writing Assignment

Act IV-A: Hamlet Ashamed of His Inability to Take Action In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet Hamlet is ashamed of himself because he continues to say that he will act and kill Claudius but unremittingly finds an excuse to not go through with his plans. Hamlet sees Young Fortinbras taking action and so Hamlet states, “How all occasions do inform against me, / And spur my dull revenge” (IV.iv.31-32). This shows Hamlets irritation towards himself and states that everything reminds him of his incomplete revenge on Claudius. Seeing Young Fortinbras with his army to fight for what is said to be something insignificant makes Hamlet admire him, he expresses, “Exposing what is mortal and unsure / To all that fortune, death, and danger dare, / Even for an egg-shell” (IV.iv.50-53). In this passage Hamlet states that Young Fortinbras is taking action even for a small piece of land that does not mean much to him while Hamlet cannot even take action to avenge his fathers death. Finally, Hamlet vows that he will stick to a plan to kill Claudius and finally grant his ghost fathers wish. After Fortinbras prompts Hamlets feelings in this direction, at the end of his soliloquy, Hamlet states, “O, from this time forth, / My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth” (IV.iv.64-65). Hamlet is saying that he will think only about how to kill Claudius and make no excuse to stray away from this plan. Thus, displaying Hamlets new and only focus is to kill Claudius after seeing how cowardly he is acting compared to Young Fortinbras, who is the reason of Hamlets soliloquy. Therefore, Hamlet is ashamed of himself after seeing Young Fortinbras take action so quickly and this prompts Hamlet to vow to go through with his plans to avenge his father’s death and finally slay the current Kind Claudius.