Why Does Hamlet Hesitate to Take Revenge - Essay Example

Why does Hamlet hesitate to take revenge? Introduction Hamlet hesitates deliberately to Kill King Claudius, who succeeds King Hamlet thereby inheriting his throne. The hesitation thus becomes an integral theme in the play as the author develops a number of systematic conflicts from Hamlet’s hesitation. Hamlet on the other hand gives a number of reasons for his hesitation. He gets a number of perfect chances to kill the king but always give excuses for not killing a feature that shows his characters and his relations with the other characters. Hamlet’s hesitations turn to inaction when he later gets perfect opportunities to kill the king. Hamlet’s indecision to carry out the revenge is Shakespeare’s way of proving that revenge is wrong. Hamlet for example lacks both opportunity and position of strength to execute the revenge as efficiently as the ghost request a feature that proves his characterization as a deliberate person. The author of the play takes his audience through the emotional development of Hamlet and justifying some of his actions thereby proving that revenge is a social vice. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet appears distraught and antisocial owing to the fact that the sudden death of his father, the late King disturbs him. He loathes his uncle and does not engage in any social event where he is part. When the his father’s ghost therefore appears to him and informs him that his uncle had killed him, everyone expects that he would show his anger and carry out the ghost’s directive of taking revenge of the king. Instead, Hamlet dismisses the ghost, “The spirit that I have seen / May be a devil, and the devil hath power / T assume a pleasing shape" (Neil 315). The then sets out to find out the truth before he can execute such a revenge. In doing this, the character enhances the development of a number of themes including surveillance. Furthermore, Hamlet expresses shock at the wishes of the ghost. The ghost says, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (Neill 312) and Hamlet answers in shock, “Murder?” (Neill 312). Hamlet begins his clandestine investigation with the view to determining the guilt of King Claudius. Hamlet organizes a play. The play tactfully introduces a unique literary technique as the author positions a play within the play. In his play, Hamlet replays the murder of his father as narrated to him by the ghost. From the play, Hamlet observes the reactions of the king thus prove his guilt. Fortunately, the King’s reaction sells him out and proves his guilt in killing the former king. The king leaves the podium and recants a prayer in repentance for his sins an action that proves both his guilt and the effectiveness of Hamlet’s surveillance strategies. After establishing such a formidable proof, Hamlet should execute his revenge. Instead, Hamlet begins giving a number of excuses while showing immense inactions some of which show his admiration of the actions of his uncle for his acts. Hamlet for example walks past the king kneeling and praying for forgiveness of the atrocities he committed. Such is a perfect opportunity since the king is unguarded and unarmed. Hamlet argues that he does not want to kill the king since his spirit would go to heaven following the sincere repentance. Hamlet explains that this would make the revenge insignificant since his father remains in hell while his murderer would go to heaven. As such, Hamlet does not take any action and instead goes to his mother’s bedside to confront her. The scene shows Hamlet’s inaction. Additionally, the scene shows Hamlet’s admiration of his mother as he berates her for marrying Claudius for sex. His tone shows his jealously and proves that he had suffered from Oedipus complex. A number of scenes in the plot shows that Hamlet is a bold individual capable of killing anyone he deems a threat provided he has a conviction to do the same. He for example kills Polonius after he mistakes him for Claudius. He does not show any remorse for the action as he says, "Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!" (Neill 322). Additionally, he engineers the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by sending forged letters to the government of England. Such basic factors show that Hamlet is not a morally righteous individual and should not hesitate in taking the revenge. Such acts of bravery show that Hamlet is a strong man capable of executing the revenge against any ordinary individual within the kingdom. The situation is however precarious for him given the fact that he has to execute the revenge against the king. Hamlet lacks the strength to stage the murder of the king. He lacks the strength and position to do so. Even when he walks up to the king as he kneels to pray, Hamlet considers a number of factors including the possible ramifications of killing a king. Death is a predominant theme in the play and shows that revenge is wrong. The deaths in the play are results of conflicts that arise from the need for revenge as directed by the ghost. Killing King Claudius would be a catastrophic death that would cause mayhem in the kingdom. As Hamlet considers killing him, a number of conflicts ensue most of which result in the deaths of numerous other characters. As the author of the play shows the deaths of a number of innocent characters in the play, he succeeds in showing that revenge in wrong thus justifying Hamlet’s inability to carry out the revenge as swiftly as the ghost of his father would have wanted. The first death in the play is the murder of Polonius. Hamlet kills Polonius after he resolves to kill King Claudius. He stabs at the spying figure believing that he was Claudius. The scene shows that revenge often has a number of innocent casualties most of whom do not always understand the nature of the conflict but die anyway. After learning that King Claudius has sent a mail to England ordering his murder, he plots an ingenious plan to send forged letters ordering the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The two die innocently as Hamlet strives to safeguard his survival while punishing the illegitimate king. The play ends in a tragedy as the entire royal family dies. Apparently, after Claudius understands that Hamlet seeks to revenge his father’s death, he plots a plan to kill Hamlet. Laertes stabs Hamlet with a poisoned sword in a game staged by the king. In an ensuing confusion, Hamlet stabs Laertes with the same blade as his mother Gertrude drinks poisoned wine. In pain and despair, Hamlet forces King Claudius to drink from the same glass of poisoned wine and every member of the royal family dies leaving the throne vulnerable. As such, death becomes a fundamental theme in the play as the author strives to prove that revenge is wrong and often claims innocent casualties. The theme of speaking is equally conspicuous in the play as Hamlet’s hesitation to kill King Claudius gives rise to a number of social interactions among the various characters thus permitting the portrayal of the theme. Hamlet cannot understand why his mother remarried his uncle soon after the death of his father. He therefore confronts his mother and the two engage in a quarrel, which is a form of dialogue between the two key characters. In the confrontation that ensues, Hamlet accuses his mother for marrying Claudius for sex a feature that justifies the claims that Hamlet suffered from Oedipus complex. He claims the mother is weak and does not mourn the father long enough, "Frailty, thy name is woman!" (Act I, Scene II). After the ghost of his father intervenes the confrontation between mother and son, Hamlet leaves but only after he pleads with his mother to stop sleeping with Claudius. Hamlet’s fixation with his mother’s sex life shows the degree of his admiration for his father thus his admiration for his uncle who succeeded in killing his father thereby marrying his mother. As the play ends, Hamlet does not revenge his father’s death. When he eventually kills Claudius, such is a desperate attempt to claim everyone. His motivation to kill the king at this level arises from a number of factors including the basic fact that the king had attempted to kill him. Furthermore, the king had caused the death of his mother, a woman he loved and admired. As such, the compulsion to kill the king is not a revenge for his father anymore but a show of his might as he strives to protect his legacy and that of his family. In retrospect, Hamlet’s indecision to kill Claudius arises from a number of factors all of which show that revenge is wrong. Shakespeare includes the hesitation both deliberately and strategically to help him prove that revenge is wrong in any society. The author positions Hamlet against a ruling king and presents a number of factors that show Hamlet’s lack of position of strength against the king. Hamlet considers a number of factors every time he finds an opportunity to kill the king. In every case, he decides against killing the king given his inability to execute such a high profile revenge. In his in-depth analysis of factors and consideration of the ramifications of killing a king, Shakespeare proves that revenge is wrong and may always have myriad negative and deadly consequences. Work cited Neill, Michael. “Hamlet: A Modern Perspective.” Hamlet: Prince of Denmark. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Print.     Read More