Hamlet essay - The task of revenge.
...dig two graves.” Meaning those who desire revenge should be aware of the repercussions. Hamlet delays his revenge as he grows increasingly confused as he begins to doubt his ability to commit the deed. “Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause And can say nothing; ……. Am I a coward?” This apparent weakness is a deliberate ploy by Shakespeare, as without the suspense and doubt surrounding Hamlet there would be no play. Hamlet’s indecisive personality is dramatically necessary, as it keeps the reader’s interest throughout. Hamlet’s seemingly impossible deed of revenge also presents many unanswered questions; will Hamlet kill Claudius? How and when will he do it? What will happen to him if he does commit murder? And perhaps more importantly what will happen to him if he doesn’t? These unanswered questions are crucial to the plays success. During the play we observe Hamlet straying further and further from his ‘duty.’ His anger never depletes but his ability to kill dwindles. This is apparent when in Act three, Scene three, Hamlet has the opportunity to kill Claudius as he is kneeling in prayer, but his courage fails him as he is afraid Claudius will go the heaven and he will go to hell. Hamlet does not kill Claudius as he did not give his father a chance to confess his sins before death, and so Hamlet does not think Claudius deserves this privilege. This exposes Hamlets desire for a ‘perfect’ murder. He likes to be in control, and so to kill Claudius, Hamlet has to be sure it was indeed him who murdered his father. Hamlet displays his uncertainty when he invites a group of players to perform a specially written piece depicting how Claudius murdered his father. Hamlet has to prove Claudius’s guilt, even though he has been presented with evidence early in the play confirming his suspicions. This is an additional reason why Hamlet does not immediately seek revenge. If he killed Claudius, his life would instantly no longer be under his own control, and he will have to suffer for his own actions. A further explanation for Hamlet’s inability to enact revenge is due to the fact that killing Claudius for vengeance against his father’s murder is not his highest priority. Hamlet is more preoccupied with his mother’s betrayal (as he sees it) of him and his father by her sudden marriage to his Uncle. Hamlet openly displays his disgust and condemns them for committing incest. He clearly deems her disloyalty to him and his father as of greater importance than his father’s death: “She married. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” Hamlet’s plans for revenge are distracted by his obsession, he spends the majority of the play judging and degrading Gertrude and Claudius. Hamlet feels rejected by his mother. Once again he is no longer the most important person in her life, as he has been replaced by Claudius. Gertrude has to chose where her loyalties lie, and who she believes, she declares during the play the dispute “hast cleft my heart in twain.” Hamlet was also in line to the throne, and by marrying his mother Claudius has also taken the crown away from him. “A cutpurse of the empire and the rule, That from the shelf th...