Hamlet's Change in Philosophy

Hamlet is an intensely cerebral character marked by a desire to think things through and pick situations apart. As such, for the first three and a half scenes of Hamlet, Hamlet broods over his father’s death instead of taking action against Claudius, his father’s murderer. Hamlet finally acts because he experiences three intense emotional jolts that allow him to view his situation from a new perspective and spur him to action. Together, these emotional experiences alter his personal philosophy about the nature of death and God’s relationship with creation, and compel him to finally take decisive action.

Hamlet arguably takes his first bold action when he stabs Polonius through the arras. However, this is not the beginning of Hamlet’s decisive action because he has no conception of the effect his action will have. He stabs wildly through the arras without knowing who, if anyone, is behind it. As such, there is a separation between cause and effect. Hamlet’s first fully considered action, with complete understanding of cause and effect, is his theft of the Royal commission while en route to England. His theft is a bold act that is uncharacteristic of his demeanor throughout the first four acts of the play.

Something about Hamlet changes between his stabbing of Polonius and his theft of the commission that compels him to act. On his way to the ship with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet meets Fortinbras’ army. He has a conversation with a captain in which he learns that thousands of men will probably die in a fight over a piece of land that is nearly worthless. After the conversation ends, Hamlet contemplates the situation and interprets it as a model for how he must act from then on:

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...ready to face it. He understands that death is inevitable, so he decides to act based upon his first two revelations: he seeks to preserve his nobility in choosing to act and not delay, and trusts that God will shape the situation for the better.

Hamlet finally acts because his personal philosophy is altered by three emotional revelations. In the first, he realizes that action is nobler than inaction. In the second, he realizes that God actively influences cause and effect in order to promote justice on earth. In the third and final revelation, Hamlet comes to terms with death as the ultimate, unavoidable leveler and imposer of order. These emotional revelations overcome his innate tendency to over-contemplate before committing to action. His change in philosophy compels him to act and brings about the tragic dénouement of the play.

Works Cited

Hamlet