The Tragedy of Hamlet - Research Paper Example

Why Hamlet hesitated/delayed killing Claudius The tragedy of Hamlet was written by William Shakespeare. The setting of the tragedy is in the kingdom of Denmark. The main hero of the play is prince Hamlet who is ordered to avenge his father’s death by his father’s ghost. The ghost told Hamlet that his uncle Claudius, who had inherited both his father’s throne and wife, was the one who was responsible for the death of Hamlet’s father. The ghost of prince Hamlet’s father gave this order to his son, then disappeared just before it was dawn. King Hamlet’s wife whose name was Queen Gertrude was prince Hamlet’s mother. However, the funny thing is that Prince Hamlet did not act on the order of his father’s ghost immediately. Some may think that Hamlet was afraid to avenge, but this paper will prove that there were a number of reasons that are believed to have led to the delay of this revenge. This work will explain the reasons why Hamlet was hesitant to kill his uncle Claudius. Many people would have expected Prince Hamlet to immediately act on the order of his father’s ghost and kill his uncle Claudius to avenge for his father’s murder. In fact, under normal circumstances many people would have gone ahead and avenge their father’s death without seeking further proof of the killing after such an experience. However, Hamlet acted differently. He decides to carry out further investigation, so that he can find out the truth behind his father’s murder. Kotsias explains that “much of the delay is attributed to Prince Hamlet’s contemplative and thoughtful nature” (Kotsias 848). As every human Hamlet starts doubting the authenticity of the spirit that told him about the cause of his father’s dead. In Knights’ opinion, “prince Hamlet is convinced of the truth in the ghosts, but still keeps in mind the possibility of the information being false” (Knights 101). He even questions whether the ghost that had appeared to him was from heaven or hell. This disbelief is even confirmed when he tells Horatio and the other sentinels not to tell anyone about the ghost. Therefore, it can be stated that Prince Hamlet was afraid of acting on orders given to him by the ghost because the ghost might not have been his father’s and had given him those orders with the aim of making his life unbearable. However, another explanation of Hamlet’s secrecy can be his fear. Schleiner explains that, “there is a possibility of Hamlet being afraid of accepting the fact that the ghost that had appeared to him was truly his father’s and that all the allegations made against his uncle were indeed true” (Schleiner 35). Everything in the play testifies that Prince Hamlet had indeed believed in the message brought to him by his father’s ghost. If it is so then the main conclusion would be that the delay was caused by cowardice. It can be said that Hamlet was not brave enough to face his uncle and kill him. This would explain the fact that he tried by all means possible to convince himself that the ghost was indeed a false one. If this is the case then he did so in order to hide his fear of avenging his father’s death. Another thing would be that he was waiting for a perfect proof that his uncle Claudius was actually responsible for the murder of his father. Depicted as a contemplative and thoughtful person, Prince Hamlet must have taken into consideration the fact that not having a perfect proof that Claudius had actually killed his father, his avenge might not be accepted and understood by the members of the kingdom. A failed attempt would provide Claudius with the opportunity to turn members of the kingdom against Hamlet. This implies that he will appear to be a murderer, not a brave avenger. However, with adequate evidence the Prince Hamlet would be able to kill Claudius not worrying about whether or not the attempt would be successful due to the fact that the cause of this attempt would be explained by the evidence. At the end when Prince Hamlet eventually kills Claudius he is able to get to do it due to the fact that Claudius had attempted to kill him. Kotsias claims that: “at this moment the killing of Claudius was not all about avenging his father’s death, but his mother’s too” (Kotsias 849). The murder attempt is further proved by the drink that Claudius offers Hamlet during the sword fight is what ends up killing Queen Gertrude who is Hamlet’s mother. Queen Gertrude takes the drink after Prince Hamlet refuses to take it. At this point everything was evident and it could be seen that Claudius had attempted to kill Prince Hamlet after a drink he had offered him turned out to be poisoned. However, it is also arguable that Hamlet’s delay to kill Claudius and avenge his father’s death had nothing to do with evidence. When the ghost appeared to him, the orders issued were to avenge his father’s death immediately. The question that should be raised in this particular case is what would have happened if there would be no evidence. According to Knights, “when using techniques such as the play used in this case, there is always no assurance that it would be successful” (Knights 105). These questions show that there is a possibility that Hamlet would have missed evidence that would have linked his father’s death to his uncle. Therefore, the ultimate question here would be what would have happed if no evidence were collected. Even if lack of evidence could be used to explain this delay it would not be substantial enough to answer the question on what exactly caused the delay in vengeance. Even when he eventually kills Claudius, there is no sufficient evidence that can link that particular incident to King Hamlet’s murder. Furthermore, there were people, who had witnessed the appearance of King Hamlet’s ghost to Prince Hamlet and could have testified about the same. In fact Knights points out that, “Prince Hamlet who made the people who had witnessed this incident to promise that they will keep the incident a secret” (Knights 109). The secrecy can be said to have been a way through which Hamlet aimed at making sure that Claudius was not aware of the fact that he had been ordered to kill him to avenge King Hamlet’s death. This would negatively impact the whole vengeance mission. It can also be said that Prince Hamlet had delayed the avenge, because he had not found a perfect opportunity to do so. Given that Claudius was at that moment the King it would not have been an easy thing just getting to the palace and getting him killed. It is obvious that he had guards who would react to any sign of threat to his life. Given the fact that the purpose of killing Claudius was to avenge his father’s death Prince Hamlet must have wanted his death to be as painful as possible. It is clear that he did not want to make peaceful one. This is seen when he decides against killing him while he was praying. According to Wilson, “despite the fact that he had a perfect chance to kill Claudius at the time when he was praying he decided against it due to the belief that killing him while he was praying will mean that he will go to heaven” (Wilson 123). This proves that Prince Hamlet wanted Claudius’ misery to go past his point of death. He wanted him to continue being in misery even after he had died. The best way to do this was to make sure that he was not in harmony with God when he died. The fact that he followed him at that particular moment proves that he desperately wanted to bring Claudius’ life to the end after his reaction confirms his guilt. Some arguments are that Prince Hamlet would have delayed the killing due to his fear. However, there are some places in the story, which can evidently disapprove this. According to Wilson, “If in any case there was fear then he would not have liaised with the travelling actors by the names Elsinore, and Hamlet to prove that his uncle was indeed responsible for the death of his father” (Wilson 123). Looking at this particular event one can easily note that Prince Hamlet was not necessarily seeking to prove to the public that Claudius had killed King Hamlet. However, he is in the course of proving to himself that indeed the ghost that had appeared to him was his father’s and not just some spirit that was out to mislead him. One thing that is for certain is that Prince Hamlet would not have gone to the extent in organizing that play, if indeed he was feeing fear of killing Claudius. The act of furiously following Claudius after he reacts to the scene, where the king dies in the plays shows Prince Hamlet’s determination to kill Claudius. From the incident when Prince Hamlet organizes for the play that would confirm whether or not Claudius was guilty of killing King Hamlet, there are a number of things that can be deduced about Prince Hamlet’s personality. The first trait is that he is considerate. Even after being told by his father’s ghost that his uncle Claudius was responsible for his father’s death, he still tries to confirm the allegation lest he killed the wrong person for his father’s death. This is seen in the way that he plans on a strategy to confirm that it was Claudius, who actually killed his father. This must be one of the reasons as to why it takes him such a long time before he finally kills Claudius. Werstine asserts that, “Were it someone who was less considerate of the fact that Claudius might not be guilty Claudius would have died on the same day that King Hamlet’s ghost appeared to Prince Hamlet and revealed that Claudius was the man who was behind the murder of King Hamlet” (Werstine 13). Another trait that is brought to light in his pursuit for proof of his uncle’s guilt is that he is contemplative and thoughtful. He is not a kind of a person who can make hasty decisions which they might end up regretting later. Throughout the novel all his moves seem to be calculated. He wants to confirm that Claudius is guilty and he comes up with a plan to do that. He does not just stay calm and wait for a clue to come his way. When he approaches the travelling actors he is already aware of the kind of reaction to expect from his uncle if indeed he was the one who was responsible for the murder. Wilson claims that, “His contemplative and thoughtful nature has also brought to light when he decided against killing Claudius at the time when he was praying” (Wilson 124). He knew that by doing that he will only be giving him peace - something that he really did not want Claudius to have. During the occasion when he had gone to confront his mother he thinks that a good opportunity had come his way when he hears some noise coming from behind the tapestry. To him, he thinks that it was Claudius hiding there due to the fear of what he will do. At this moment Claudius was aware of the fact that Prince Hamlet was aware of his involvement in King Hamlet’s death. He was also aware of the fact that his life was in danger because it is obvious that Prince Hamlet would want to avenge his father’s death. Werstine states that “during this incident Prince Hamlet goes ahead and stabs Polonius thinking that he was Claudius” (Wersine 14). This is another chance that Hamlet thought that he had only to realize that it was not really Claudius that he had stabbed but Polonius. At this moment it can be said that luck would have played a role in the delay in Hamlet’s vengeance. During two occasions he had really thought that the chance to kill Claudius had come only for him to realize that it was not exactly a perfect one. In fact one of these events led to the death of the father of the woman that he loved. When he accidentally kills Polonius he really thought that he was Claudius. It is clearly evident that a number of factors contributed to the delay of Claudius’ death. As seen in this paper it can be concluded that Prince Hamlet wanted a confirmation of the fact that it was his uncle who had actually killed his father. This is seen in the way he waits as he seeks confirmation before he goes ahead and makes the decision to kill him. After the confirmation it can be stated that the death would have been brought about by lack of an appropriate opportunity. Work cited Kotsias, B. A. Scopolamine and the murder of King Hamlet. Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, 128(7), 2002: 847-849. Knights, Lionel Charles. Some Shakespearean Themes: And An Approach toHamlet. Stanford University Press, 1966. Schleiner, Louise. "Latinized Greek Drama in Shakespeares Writing of" Hamlet"." Shakespeare Quarterly, 1990: 29-48. Wilson, J. Dover. What happens in Hamlet. Cambridge University Press, 1951. Werstine, Paul. "The textual mystery of Hamlet." Shakespeare Quarterly, 1988: 1-26. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. St. Paul, Minn: EMC/Paradigm Pub, 1878. Print. Read More