Hamlet's Hesitation as his Tragic Flaw in Hamlet by Shakespeare

Hesitation in William Shakespeare's Hamlet In Shakespeare?s Hamlet, a ghost tells Hamlet that his uncle, Claudius, is responsible for the death of his father. Hamlet is driven to reveal the truth of his father?s death and seeks to avenge his murder to achieve justice. In his quest to right the wrongdoing, Hamlet delays acting toward justice for many reasons. The main factor for Hamlet?s hesitation is attributed to his self-discipline. He lacks of ability to act on his emotions.

In the tragic play, Hamlet written by William Shakespeare, many people consider the main character to be insane. They believe this because Hamlet himself, pretends to be a mad man throughout the tragedies he endures. What one must do is study how he thinks and the rationality he shows during these disasters, all the while fooling everyone he is going mad just to get revenge on the new King. “Hamlet is never insane. He may approach the brink of insanity but he backs away and instead chooses to act insane in order to achieve his ends and eventually victory over Claudius,” it is all just part of the bigger plan.

His second flaw completely opposite from the first, was acting on impulse out of passion making him kill the wrong man, Polonius. Hamlet’s acting out of passion and anger not only killed the wrong man but it was also Ophelia’s father, causing her to commit suicide. Hamlet was a hero trying to do the right thing, but his tragic flaws turn everything around when everyone including himself dies . One of Hamlet’s flaws is that he over thinks things a lot and it is first shown the most at the prayer scene with Claudius. Once Hamlet sees how Claudius reacts to the play he knows that Claudius killed his father and that the ghost was right, he has a chance to kill him and doesn’t take it .

William Shakespeare's “Hamlet” is one of the most tragic plays ever written. It is about a young prince trying to keep his word to his dead father by avenging his death. Hamlet procrastinates when avenging his father’s death, which is his tragic flaw. Hamlet appears to be a coward as well as depressed. He finds himself questioning his own ambitious motives such as revenge and hatred toward his murderous uncle.

Coping with these burdens took it’s toll and drove Hamlet to insanity. Hamlet’s troubles began to cloud his judgment. He never thought through his plan too kill Claudius. He constantly waited and let each opportunity slip out of his grasp. This clouded judgment was evident in the confession scene where Claudius admits to the murder of Old Hamlet.

Finally, he's able to excuse his own role in Polonius' death, ending with both his and Laertes' demise. Hamlet's concentration on reasoning and rationalizing is what delays his ability to act immediately and leads to fatal endings for both him and the people around him. While Hamlet did agreed to achieve the satisfaction his father desired, a major setback he has is wanting it not to be morally complicated. If he truly believed he was justified in avenging his father's death, he would have acted and not have concered himself with the optics of appearing heroic . During the prayer scene, Hamlet instantly draws his sword when he sees the King alone.

Hamlet knows that having the correct facts is so important because without hard evidence he may unjustly kill his uncle and have to d... ... middle of paper ... ...set with Hamlet for murdering his father, Polonius, and conspires with King Claudius against Hamlet. After all these tragic events it gets worse, Hamlet’s two very best friends plot against him, it drives him mad. It all starts with an act of insanity, then there is less acting involved and it finally ends up as Hamlet’s reality and tragedy for all. In conclusion, Hamlet could be considered insane, it is not just an act. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet is acting mad in order to avenge his father’s death, therefore he is able to gain vital information regarding King Hamlet’s death.

In act 2, scene 2 Hamlet meets an actor who easily displays intense emotion and passion on matters that have just come to his head. Hamlet asks himself in the soliloquy that followed if he was a coward for not completing his task yet. This makes it obvious that killing Claudius isn't something that Haml... ... middle of paper ... ...on has resulted with Leartes and his mother both dead, and himself mortally wounded. Had his quest of murder been for desire and not for duty, he wound have killed Claudius before any of this had happened. But since he had to first test the ghost, and then wait to kill Claudius when he wasn't praying, Hamlet ends up dying in this scene, along with a host of others.

Hamlet questions what may or may not happen however Laertes just wants the revenge fast and effective. Although these characters have different standards when it comes to revenge, they both immediately blamed and directed their anger towards Claudius when they found out their father’s were dead. Hamlet’s reason to blame Claudius is simply because he is his father’s murderer. In 1.5 while Hamlet is talking to the ghost of his father he says, “Haste me to know ’t, that I, with wings as swift/As meditation or the thoughts of love/May sweep to my revenge” (Shakespeare 1.5.31-33). At first is seems as if Hamlet would seek revenge right away because he seems eager to find out who the killer is and when he does find out he says he knew it was Claudius all along.

Hamlet as the Tragic Hero Hamlet is the best known tragedy in literature today. Here, Shakespeare exposes Hamlet’s flaws as a heroic character. The tragedy in this play is the result of the main character’s unrealistic ideals and his inability to overcome his weakness of indecisiveness. This fatal attribute led to the death of several people which included his mother and the King of Denmark. Although he is described as being a brave and intelligent person, his tendency to procrastinate prevented him from acting on his father’s murder, his mother’s marriage, and his uncle’s ascension to the throne.