Hamlet Indecisiveness Essay

Perfection is merely an ideology that can never be obtained and is constantly being pulled down by human’s own imperfections. In William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, Shakespeare sheds light on the tragic flaws of heroic characters; the tragedy that befalls Hamlet is the result of his unrealistic idealism, which is the cause of Hamlet’s alienation and indecisiveness.
Hamlet’s unrealistic idealism alienates him, and can be seen through his abhorrence of women’s “frailty” (I,ii,146) which causes his relationship with Gertrude and Ophelia to deteriorate. Hamlet expects his mother to mourn for her husband’s death and to live a life honoring him; however, the queen remarries with Claudius. Hamlet is deeply discouraged by the marriage of his uncle and
his mother; he describes it as “incestuous sheets”(I,ii,157), and belittles the queen by commenting that “a beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourn’d longer.”(I,ii,150) Because the reality does not fully meet Hamlet’s expectations, he loses respect for women, thus viewing them as a lower class. It is expressed through his derogatory speeches and actions against Gertrude where he confronts her not as a son, but as a criticizer. He refers her as “stew’d in corruption, honeying and making love over the nasty sty”(III,iv,95), and physically assaults her. Hamlet can no longer find comfort, nor is willing to accept help from his mother, hence being alone to challenge Claudius.
In addition, Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia breaks because Ophelia does not live up to his expectations of love. Love, from Hamlet’s perspective, has to be fair, honest, eternal, and can never be defiled. When Ophelia returns Hamlet’s gifts, and lies in order to conceal the ruse that Polonius has planned, Hamlet’s image of Ophelia’s love shatters to pieces by the cruel reality. Hence, his perspective of women, who are the source of love, is completely transformed into hatred. Hamlet, a misogynist, tells Ophelia to “get thee to nunnery” because she can’t keep honesty and fairness in the world unless she is in the nunnery free of sin and temptation. An allegorical insult is implied too because nunnery can also mean a “brothel” where sinful and lustful women go.
Furthermore, he alienates himself from his friends – Rosencrantz and Guildenstern – because they do not suit Hamlet’s expectations of a worthy friend. This is something I too have problems with, and I realize that I need to have a greater understanding and compassion for others. Since Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are faulty, intellectually challenged, and untrustworthy, Hamlet does not consider them as equals; they are looked down upon. He mocks, ridicules, and insults their forced and unwilling attempts to spy on Hamlet. As a result, he eliminates any benefits that he could have derived from colluding with them against Claudius, which only hastens his demise. If Hamlet respected and treated Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with respect despite their faults and flaws, they could have helped Hamlet’s situation by pacifying Claudius’s agitation on Hamlet’s madness, and even possibly providing Hamlet with information and support.
Ironically, Hamlet’s idealism not only alienates him from the world, it alienates his mind from himself. The fact that he cannot live up to his expectations frustrates him, resulting in self-abhorrence. The self-hatred perpetuates his indecisiveness and drives him into the maelstrom of the existential dilemma where he questions the purpose of life. He calls himself “a coward”(II,ii,568) who “must, like a whore, unpack his [my] heart with words”(II,ii,583), and yet, shows no signs of assertiveness and commitment; as a matter of fact, Hamlet occupies himself in the pompous intellectual debate within himself concerning the existential dilemma: “to be or not to be: that is the question”(III,i,57) .
Hamlet seeks ideal opportunities for his revenge; this results in his indecisiveness and reluctance.
Firstly, Hamlet is not willing to take any chances. He places the ghost’s statements in doubt that the ghost “may be the devil who hath the power to assume a pleasing shape”(II,ii,596). Until he has the perfect justifications and reasons for the revenge, he cannot perform the deed; therefore, he sets up a play “to catch the conscience of the king”(II,ii,604) which is merely an excuse for his cowardliness. Furthermore, Hamlet’s reluctance to kill Claudius while he is praying best illustrates the search for ideal opportunity. Hamlet considers the murder as “hire and salary”(III,iii,80) where he is doing a favor for the murderer by sending him to heaven. Hence, he decides to wait for the ideal moment when “there is no relish of salvation”(III,iii,93) in his actions where “his soul may be damn’d and black as hell, where to it goes”(III,iii,95). Hamlet’s refusal to commit revenge pushes him to a deeper predicament where the King directly threatens his life. Ironically, since perfection can never be attained, Hamlet will never be satisfied with anything he does. Just like a writer with deadlines, he will never be able to achieve anything, which is the ultimate cause of his
failure.
Hamlet’s indecisiveness and alienation is the result of his idealistic propriety; it is one of the major tragic flaws that destroy Hamlet. There is a difference between what it “should be” and what it “really is,” and as for Hamlet, his attempts to synchronize the reality with ideality results in catastrophe. Similar to J. D. Salinger’s character, Holden Caulfield, Hamlet has fought a losing battle against the human nature and his strive for perfection in an imperfect world.