Hamlet's Indecisiveness
Hamlet Analysis Report
It is debatable whether or not Hamlet is one of the greatest dramatic characters ever made. The moment we are introduced to Hamlet, many readers can recognize his intensity and the passion that he possesses. Hamlet holds many negative qualities such as indecisiveness, hate, obsession, brutality, and spontaneity. Regardless of these negative qualities, Hamlet is still the tragic hero and the Prince of Denmark. On the other hand, he has remarkable qualities that a hero should have such as bravery, passion, loyalty, respect, cautiousness, and dedication. We can see all of his qualities throughout this tragic play, but when we are introduced to him, we are given such a mysterious impression and it sets the tone for the …show more content…
play. In this report, I would like to analyze and talk about three of his qualities which I thought stood out the most: his indecisiveness, cautiousness, and madness.
The first quality that I would like to talk about and analyze is his indecisiveness.
When Hamlet had received the news that King Hamlet had died and his mother, Gertrude, had married the new king Claudius, his uncle, Hamlet is disgusted, cynical, and full of hatred. While everyone has gone on with their lives after King Hamlet’s death, Hamlet is still left to think and doubt about his father’s death. Gertrude tells Hamlet, “Seek for thy noble father in the dust. Thou know’st ‘tis common—all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity” (I.ii. 71-73), and Claudius says to Hamlet, “To give these mourning duties to your father, But you must know your father lost a father, That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound” (I.ii 88-90). Hamlets pain and misery is then more deepened because those around him are not mourning but quick to move on. Although Gertrude and Claudius have said those things, Hamlet is surely more hurt by the fact that his mother had married her brother-in-law within a short period of time after the Kings death. We cannot blame Hamlet for this emotion that he feels, for anyone in his situation would be disgusted and feel the same way that he does. Hamlet is then left to reminisce about his father on how much he had loved her queen, “But two months dead, nay, not o much, not two. So excellent a king, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr, so loving to my mother, that he might not beteem the winds of heaven visit her face too roughly. Heaven and …show more content…
earth, Must I remember…?” (I.ii 138-143). Hamlet is then disgusted by the thought of his mother, and women in general, which affects his feelings towards Ophelia as well. Later on in the play, the turning point, Hamlet is faced with a ghost who claims to be the ghost of his father. This ghost describes to Hamlet who he is and what has truly happened. Everybody had known that King Hamlet had died by a poisonous snake in his garden, but the truth is that, “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown” (I.v 38-39). Hamlet carefully observes and listens to what the Ghost says and is later left with a bewildered attitude. The Ghost continually tempts and persuades Hamlet to take revenge for his father and kill Claudius. From here on out, we are left to see Hamlet contemplating on whether or not what the Ghost said was true or whether or not he has to kill his uncle. We are already left with an image that Hamlet has a grudge toward Claudius and after meeting the Ghost, Hamlet is now left to think whether he should take revenge or not. In Act III Scene IV, Claudius is kneeling down and praying. Hamlet is deciding whether or not he should kill the king right then and there but is constantly unable to make up his mind. Even if he were to take revenge right now, the king was praying, so by killing him, he would be send him to heaven. Hamlet shows his cautiousness in this scene, which I will be talking about later. Hamlet is constantly thinking about the “what ifs” while watching Claudius pray. Hamlet says, “I his sole son do this same villain send to heaven. Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge” at one point, then is left to reconsider, “…And am I then revenged to take him in the purging of his soul, when he is fit and seasoned for his passage? No.”(III.iv 77-78, 84-87). Hamlet decides to kill Claudius another day, but is left with an uncomfortable mind to kill him when he is in the act of doing wrong deeds and when he is positive that Claudius had killed his father.
Another quality that stands out for Hamlet is that he is extremely cautious and intellectual.
When Hamlet first receives the news that King Hamlet had died, he returns home to find evidence of his father’s inexplicable death. Although the ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius had murdered his father, Hamlet seeks to prove Claudius’ guilt before taking any action against Claudius. Some may say he overuses his intelligence while ignoring his emotions and going with his instinct. This is what causes Hamlet to hold back on taking revenge against Claudius. Also, when Hamlet first encounters the ghost, his sight is telling him that what he is seeing is not possible, but his emotions think otherwise. “Why thy canonized bones, hearsed in death, have burst their cerements” (I.iv 47-48). Hamlet is then careful with his actions and thinks things through because he knows the value of having the accurate facts; otherwise, he may unreasonably kill his uncle and have to deal with the consequences. He then later plans a play for actors to re-enact the king’s murder, which the ghost had told him, to prove and actually believe what the ghost had said. At one point in the play, Hamlet considers about committing suicide saying these famous lines “To be or not to be, that is the question: whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer…” (III.i 57-58). Hamlet begins to realize that his anxiety and pressures cause him to doubt that reason alone can solve his problems. He also realizes that he lacks the
emotion to avenge his father’s death. However, Hamlet connects both his emotion and reason and avoids his temptation to commit suicide. Hamlet shows us that he is strong by making the decision to stay alive and fight Claudius’ corruption. Although he chooses to stay alive and revenge his father, he still lacks the motivation to actually kill Claudius. In Act IV, Hamlet meets a captain who works under Fortinbras. The captain tells Hamlet of the deeds they do, and Hamlet is shocked that his armies go to war over a “little patch of ground” (IV.iv 18). Hamlet is shocked that Fortinbras would sacrifice many soldiers to conquer a little patch of ground, whereas, Hamlet is struggling on killing one man with good reason. Hamlet realizes he was blinded by his intellect and seems to be impressed by Fortinbras who quickly turns thought into action, and from then on, Hamlet decides to have bloody thoughts. “…O, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!” (IV.v 65-66). In addition, another scene where Hamlet demonstrates his carefulness is when he sacrifices his love for Ophelia because he was determined to seek revenge for his father. Although he makes this decision, he had still kept her close and his actions had led to unfortunate events of making Ophelia go crazy and kill herself.
The last quality I would like to talk about is Hamlets insanity. The events at the beginning of the play are enough to drive anyone mad, not only because his father has passed away, but his mother had married the brother of King Hamlet. In the beginning, Hamlet pretends to be mad so that he can gain details about his father’s death and not be responsible for his actions. He is using his fake insanity as an excuse. With Hamlets grief, he cannot control himself and then later, his intentional insanity is slowly becoming habitual. Like stated above, Hamlet even has thoughts of committing suicide because he cannot endure it anymore. While acting insane, Hamlet, who loves Ophelia, is forbidden by Ophelia’s father to see her. Hamlets insanity and rude behavior towards Ophelia is all a part of Hamlets plan. Hamlet wishes for Ophelia to tell Polonius, Ophelia’s father, that Hamlet has gone mad so that Polonius can go to Gertrude and Claudius and tell them that Hamlet has gone mad. At first, Hamlet 's madness is viewed as harmless and is thought to have been caused by the problems that are present. However, when Hamlet murders Polonius on accident thinking it was Claudius, Hamlet 's madness is viewed differently. In Act IV scene II, Claudius says, “This mad young man. But so much was our love, we would not understand what was most fit but, like the owner of a foul disease…” (IV.ii 19-21). Hamlets madness is now viewed as a “foul disease”. Hamlet’s insanity slowly becomes less intended. He beings to act irresponsibly with no thought about any consequences. It seems to us that he does not care about anyone at all. He treats those important to him as if they mean nothing to him. For example, Hamlet talks down to Ophelia and tells her he does not love her anymore and also Hamlet offends Gertrude and we know this because Gertrude says, “What have I done that thou dar’st wag thy tongue in noise so rude against me?” (III.iv 40-41). This was when Hamlet had killed Polonius on accident thinking it was the king. Gertrude and Hamlet are arguing when Hamlet hears a man behind the “arras” and murders him without any hesitation. We are now shown a new and changed Hamlet, he is not the man we were introduced to in the beginning of the play: respectful, responsible and gentle, but the new and mad Hamlet is impulsive, cruel, and violent. When Hamlet finds out that Ophelia had died, this is when we all assume and know that Hamlet really loses it. His plot to revenge his father had only hurt and killed those around him directly and indirectly. Hamlet murders Polonius, which lead to Ophelia’s suicide. Laertes, Polonius’ son, is also upset about Hamlet killing his father, so he plans against Hamlet, which leads to his own death, as well as Hamlets own death, Gertrude’s death, and Claudius’ death. We are given many interpretations of Hamlets madness, and I believe that it is up to the reader’s to interpret Hamlets insanity as they see it. We are told that his madness is purposeful actions and true insanity, but we are not fully aware of what it actually is.
What all started off as Hamlet planning to kill Claudius and revenge his father, ends up as Hamlet killing himself and those around him. One may argue that Hamlets indecisiveness, cautiousness, and madness are what added up to get himself and those important around him killed, but those three qualities are what stood out and made Hamlet into the tragedy play it is.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, and Cyrus Hoy. Hamlet: An Authoritative Text, Intellectual Backgrounds, Extracts from the Sources, Essays in Criticism. New York: Norton, 1963. Print.
Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures of Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. London [etc.: MacMillan, 1974. Print
Mabillard, Amanda. Introduction to Hamlet. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. (20 Nov. 2013) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet/hamletcharacter.html >.
It is debatable whether or not Hamlet is one of the greatest dramatic characters ever made. The moment we are introduced to Hamlet, many readers can recognize his intensity and the passion that he possesses. Hamlet holds many negative qualities such as indecisiveness, hate, obsession, brutality, and spontaneity. Regardless of these negative qualities, Hamlet is still the tragic hero and the Prince of Denmark. On the other hand, he has remarkable qualities that a hero should have such as bravery, passion, loyalty, respect, cautiousness, and dedication. We can see all of his qualities throughout this tragic play, but when we are introduced to him, we are given such a mysterious impression and it sets the tone for the …show more content…
play. In this report, I would like to analyze and talk about three of his qualities which I thought stood out the most: his indecisiveness, cautiousness, and madness.
The first quality that I would like to talk about and analyze is his indecisiveness.
When Hamlet had received the news that King Hamlet had died and his mother, Gertrude, had married the new king Claudius, his uncle, Hamlet is disgusted, cynical, and full of hatred. While everyone has gone on with their lives after King Hamlet’s death, Hamlet is still left to think and doubt about his father’s death. Gertrude tells Hamlet, “Seek for thy noble father in the dust. Thou know’st ‘tis common—all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity” (I.ii. 71-73), and Claudius says to Hamlet, “To give these mourning duties to your father, But you must know your father lost a father, That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound” (I.ii 88-90). Hamlets pain and misery is then more deepened because those around him are not mourning but quick to move on. Although Gertrude and Claudius have said those things, Hamlet is surely more hurt by the fact that his mother had married her brother-in-law within a short period of time after the Kings death. We cannot blame Hamlet for this emotion that he feels, for anyone in his situation would be disgusted and feel the same way that he does. Hamlet is then left to reminisce about his father on how much he had loved her queen, “But two months dead, nay, not o much, not two. So excellent a king, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr, so loving to my mother, that he might not beteem the winds of heaven visit her face too roughly. Heaven and …show more content…
earth, Must I remember…?” (I.ii 138-143). Hamlet is then disgusted by the thought of his mother, and women in general, which affects his feelings towards Ophelia as well. Later on in the play, the turning point, Hamlet is faced with a ghost who claims to be the ghost of his father. This ghost describes to Hamlet who he is and what has truly happened. Everybody had known that King Hamlet had died by a poisonous snake in his garden, but the truth is that, “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown” (I.v 38-39). Hamlet carefully observes and listens to what the Ghost says and is later left with a bewildered attitude. The Ghost continually tempts and persuades Hamlet to take revenge for his father and kill Claudius. From here on out, we are left to see Hamlet contemplating on whether or not what the Ghost said was true or whether or not he has to kill his uncle. We are already left with an image that Hamlet has a grudge toward Claudius and after meeting the Ghost, Hamlet is now left to think whether he should take revenge or not. In Act III Scene IV, Claudius is kneeling down and praying. Hamlet is deciding whether or not he should kill the king right then and there but is constantly unable to make up his mind. Even if he were to take revenge right now, the king was praying, so by killing him, he would be send him to heaven. Hamlet shows his cautiousness in this scene, which I will be talking about later. Hamlet is constantly thinking about the “what ifs” while watching Claudius pray. Hamlet says, “I his sole son do this same villain send to heaven. Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge” at one point, then is left to reconsider, “…And am I then revenged to take him in the purging of his soul, when he is fit and seasoned for his passage? No.”(III.iv 77-78, 84-87). Hamlet decides to kill Claudius another day, but is left with an uncomfortable mind to kill him when he is in the act of doing wrong deeds and when he is positive that Claudius had killed his father.
Another quality that stands out for Hamlet is that he is extremely cautious and intellectual.
When Hamlet first receives the news that King Hamlet had died, he returns home to find evidence of his father’s inexplicable death. Although the ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius had murdered his father, Hamlet seeks to prove Claudius’ guilt before taking any action against Claudius. Some may say he overuses his intelligence while ignoring his emotions and going with his instinct. This is what causes Hamlet to hold back on taking revenge against Claudius. Also, when Hamlet first encounters the ghost, his sight is telling him that what he is seeing is not possible, but his emotions think otherwise. “Why thy canonized bones, hearsed in death, have burst their cerements” (I.iv 47-48). Hamlet is then careful with his actions and thinks things through because he knows the value of having the accurate facts; otherwise, he may unreasonably kill his uncle and have to deal with the consequences. He then later plans a play for actors to re-enact the king’s murder, which the ghost had told him, to prove and actually believe what the ghost had said. At one point in the play, Hamlet considers about committing suicide saying these famous lines “To be or not to be, that is the question: whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer…” (III.i 57-58). Hamlet begins to realize that his anxiety and pressures cause him to doubt that reason alone can solve his problems. He also realizes that he lacks the
emotion to avenge his father’s death. However, Hamlet connects both his emotion and reason and avoids his temptation to commit suicide. Hamlet shows us that he is strong by making the decision to stay alive and fight Claudius’ corruption. Although he chooses to stay alive and revenge his father, he still lacks the motivation to actually kill Claudius. In Act IV, Hamlet meets a captain who works under Fortinbras. The captain tells Hamlet of the deeds they do, and Hamlet is shocked that his armies go to war over a “little patch of ground” (IV.iv 18). Hamlet is shocked that Fortinbras would sacrifice many soldiers to conquer a little patch of ground, whereas, Hamlet is struggling on killing one man with good reason. Hamlet realizes he was blinded by his intellect and seems to be impressed by Fortinbras who quickly turns thought into action, and from then on, Hamlet decides to have bloody thoughts. “…O, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!” (IV.v 65-66). In addition, another scene where Hamlet demonstrates his carefulness is when he sacrifices his love for Ophelia because he was determined to seek revenge for his father. Although he makes this decision, he had still kept her close and his actions had led to unfortunate events of making Ophelia go crazy and kill herself.
The last quality I would like to talk about is Hamlets insanity. The events at the beginning of the play are enough to drive anyone mad, not only because his father has passed away, but his mother had married the brother of King Hamlet. In the beginning, Hamlet pretends to be mad so that he can gain details about his father’s death and not be responsible for his actions. He is using his fake insanity as an excuse. With Hamlets grief, he cannot control himself and then later, his intentional insanity is slowly becoming habitual. Like stated above, Hamlet even has thoughts of committing suicide because he cannot endure it anymore. While acting insane, Hamlet, who loves Ophelia, is forbidden by Ophelia’s father to see her. Hamlets insanity and rude behavior towards Ophelia is all a part of Hamlets plan. Hamlet wishes for Ophelia to tell Polonius, Ophelia’s father, that Hamlet has gone mad so that Polonius can go to Gertrude and Claudius and tell them that Hamlet has gone mad. At first, Hamlet 's madness is viewed as harmless and is thought to have been caused by the problems that are present. However, when Hamlet murders Polonius on accident thinking it was Claudius, Hamlet 's madness is viewed differently. In Act IV scene II, Claudius says, “This mad young man. But so much was our love, we would not understand what was most fit but, like the owner of a foul disease…” (IV.ii 19-21). Hamlets madness is now viewed as a “foul disease”. Hamlet’s insanity slowly becomes less intended. He beings to act irresponsibly with no thought about any consequences. It seems to us that he does not care about anyone at all. He treats those important to him as if they mean nothing to him. For example, Hamlet talks down to Ophelia and tells her he does not love her anymore and also Hamlet offends Gertrude and we know this because Gertrude says, “What have I done that thou dar’st wag thy tongue in noise so rude against me?” (III.iv 40-41). This was when Hamlet had killed Polonius on accident thinking it was the king. Gertrude and Hamlet are arguing when Hamlet hears a man behind the “arras” and murders him without any hesitation. We are now shown a new and changed Hamlet, he is not the man we were introduced to in the beginning of the play: respectful, responsible and gentle, but the new and mad Hamlet is impulsive, cruel, and violent. When Hamlet finds out that Ophelia had died, this is when we all assume and know that Hamlet really loses it. His plot to revenge his father had only hurt and killed those around him directly and indirectly. Hamlet murders Polonius, which lead to Ophelia’s suicide. Laertes, Polonius’ son, is also upset about Hamlet killing his father, so he plans against Hamlet, which leads to his own death, as well as Hamlets own death, Gertrude’s death, and Claudius’ death. We are given many interpretations of Hamlets madness, and I believe that it is up to the reader’s to interpret Hamlets insanity as they see it. We are told that his madness is purposeful actions and true insanity, but we are not fully aware of what it actually is.
What all started off as Hamlet planning to kill Claudius and revenge his father, ends up as Hamlet killing himself and those around him. One may argue that Hamlets indecisiveness, cautiousness, and madness are what added up to get himself and those important around him killed, but those three qualities are what stood out and made Hamlet into the tragedy play it is.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, and Cyrus Hoy. Hamlet: An Authoritative Text, Intellectual Backgrounds, Extracts from the Sources, Essays in Criticism. New York: Norton, 1963. Print.
Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures of Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. London [etc.: MacMillan, 1974. Print
Mabillard, Amanda. Introduction to Hamlet. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. (20 Nov. 2013) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet/hamletcharacter.html >.