Haste Not

Haste Not

To do or not to do? That is the question. People are notorious for putting off what they set out to do and for various reasons. Hamlet is not any different. His postponement in killing his uncle is one of the many Shakespearian debates that critics lend their time to. As such, there are a diverse number of opinions and theories that speculate the exact root of his inaction, some names more popular than others, such as, Goethe, Coleridge, Klein, and Werder. There is no concrete ruling on the matter. There is nothing in the text to follow that suggests a new discovery, but a narrowing down or weeding out of the false and contradictory ones. However simplistic in nature, Hamlet delays in striking his revenge because he thinks too much.

What would come of “Hamlet” if Hamlet marched up to the King after his meeting with the ghost and fulfilled his vengeance? Edward Wagenknecht seems to believe that the delay of action is out of dramatic necessity. “The primary, the most important, reason why Hamlet does not kill the king sooner is there the death of the king must involve the end of the play” (189). Contrary to many beliefs, Wagenknecht acknowledges that Hamlet’s delay is not caused by cowardice. Wagenknecht also puts forth, despite the widespread notion, Hamlet’s delay is not due to a tragic flaw within Hamlet and Wagenknecht rejects this “in toto.” It can be said that Hamlet’s self-condemnation in his soliloquies is a tragic flaw in itself. However, Hamlet is alone in badmouthing himself and not once is it mentioned in the text that anyone, except Hamlet, speaks ill of him. Wagenknecht also notes, “Hamlet’s shrinking from his task implies, then, no weakness on his part; it is simply intended to impress us with the magnitu...

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...bated. If but one thing is certain it is that no one will ever know Shakespeare’s true purpose for Hamlet’s delay.

Works Cited

Conrad, Bernard R. "Hamlet's Delay-A Restatement of the Problem." PMLA 3rd ser. 41 (1926): 680-87. JSTOR. Web. 06 November 2013.

Reed, Robert R., Jr. "Hamlet, the Pseudo-Procrastinator." Shakespeare Quarterly 9.2 (1958): 177-86. JSTOR. Web. 06 November 2013.

Shakespeare, William, "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Eds. Edgar V. Roberts, and Robert Zweig. New York: Pearson Education, 2012. 91-96. Print.

Shaw, A B. "Depressive Illness Delayed Hamlet's Revenge." Medical Humanities 28.2 (2002):

92-6. LinkSource. Web. 10 November 2013.

Wagenknecht, Edward. "The Perfect Revenge-Hamlet's Delay a Reconsideration." College English 10.4 (1949): 188-95. JSTOR. Web. 06 November 2013.