Hamlet Indecisiveness Essay

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is often interpreted as a play about a highly indecisive man who procrastinates so much, the story ends in ruin. The plot focuses on Hamlet’s, the prince of Denmark’s, internal struggle regarding his plans to kill his stepfather, Claudius, as revenge, since his stepfather had killed his father and married his mother. This struggle is not short-lived and spans the length of the book. Scholars speculate on why Hamlet took this long to make his decisions, and their theories vary widely. Among them are lack of opportunity, too much thought and analysis, melancholy, oedipus complex, doubt about the honesty of the gods, and doubts about his own ambitious motives. The theory that Hamlet stalls because of lack of opportunity is supported in the scene in which Claudius kneels on the floor of the chapel and
appears to pray. At this point, Hamlet could kill him, but he does not because he feels that his stepfather will not go to Hell since he is praying, and he believes that sending his stepfather to heaven is not an adequate revenge. Thus, this was not an opportunity to avenge his father’s death. Analysis paralysis is the technical term for a condition Hamlet had, commonly known as “thinking too much.” This is stated in the text when it is stated that Hamlet’s youth is “sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought." This paralysis prevented him from taking revenge quickly. In the play, Hamlet also has the condition melancholia, a form of severe depression.
This is epitomized in Hamlet’s excessive mourning for the dead king, being the last person in the kingdom to still wear mourning clothes, or dress in “nighted color.” Indecision also is a result of his melancholia, which results in his stalling in relation to killing the king. One of the most widely researched reasons for Hamlet’s indecisiveness is the relation between Hamlet’s situation and that of Oedipus, who wanted to kill his father and marry his mother. Hamlet often conveys his love for his mother, as he does when he berates her for marrying Claudius. However, his hesitation in relation to killing his stepfather stems from his unconsciously identifying with Claudius, since he has done the very thing Hamlet himself wishes to do. Hamlet is indecisive as well because of his fear that the gods are lying to him. This is exemplified when he questions the validity of his dead father’s ghost’s assessment that Claudius had killed his father. Indeed, Hamlet continues to verify that as the truth late into the book, which seems merely an excuse to
stall. The final reason scholars believe Hamlet stalled relates to his self-doubt - Hamlet is concerned with his own ambitious motives. This means that by killing Claudius, he himself would become king. He worries that the real reason he wants to kill his stepfather is not revenge, but ambition to rule the kingdom. This he sees as a petty sin, and it contributes to his analysis paralysis. Probably none of these theories were the sole intent of Shakespeare as an author of Hamlet, but instead the truth is most likely a combination of many or all of them. Hamlet is a complex and brooding character, and the dilemma focusing on his indecisiveness is one that will endure and continue to be an enigma.