To Do, or Not to Do: Cowardice in Hamlet by William Shakespeare

To Do, or Not to Do

Hamlet is a coward. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare he delays avenging his father’s death. He is visited by his father in the form of a ghost. He is told by the ghost to get revenge and kill his uncle Claudius, because he murdered him and married his wife to become king. Hamlet experiences a tremendous amount of internal conflict throughout the play. He is constantly debating whether or not he should face his troubles. He goes through a lot of conflict throughout the play especially with his uncle/stepfather king Claudius. Hamlet is delayed by a combination of internal character traits and external obstacles because of his passive nature, doesn’t trust the ghost, the ghost gives him ambiguous instruction and he gets shipped to England.

In the play, Hamlet is seen as having passive nature. He promises to avenge his father’s death but fails to do so. This is seen when he wants to kill Claudius but doesn’t do it because Claudius is praying and Hamlet doesn’t want him to die without sins on his soul. He says “Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; and now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven, and so am I revenged. That would be scann'd. A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven” (3.3.75-80). In this quote, Hamlet sees Claudius praying alone, but hesitates to kill him because it would send his soul to heaven. If he kills Claudius when he has no sins he would go to heaven and Hamlet does not want that to happen. His own father didn’t have the chance to confess his sins before he died.

Hamlet's internal actions further strengthened with his meeting with the ghost. The information that Claudius murdered his father, was given to Hamlet and immediately ...

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...et found out about him murdering his father. He decides to send Hamlet to England. Claudius tells Hamlet: “Hamlet, this deed, for thine especial safety, which we do tender as we dearly grieve, for that which thou hast done—must send thee hence, with fiery quickness. Therefore prepare thyself. The bark is ready and the wind at help, Th' associates tend, and everything is bent For England” (4.3.43-49). In this quote, Claudius is saying for Hamlets own protection, he is send him to England. He tells him to get ready to leave. The ship is set to sail, the wind is favorable, and his servants are waiting for him, everything is ready for him to go to England. Once Hamlet arrives in England, Claudius planned for him to be executed so he no long has to worry about him. His plan did not work though. Hamlet escaped the ship and went back to Denmark to get revenge on Claudius.