Why Hamlet Hesitates to Act Essay

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Hamlet

Hamlet hesitates in his quest to avenge his father for a number of reasons. First, he is not sure that the ghost is really his father. A part of him suspects it could be a spirit from Hell trying to damn Hamlet’s soul. However, he also hesitates because he has been at school in Wittenberg, the famous place where Martin Luther was teaching and questioning everything. Thus, Hamlet’s head is filled with doubt and because it is filled with doubt, he cannot readily act. When he does finally act, it is when he has worked himself up to a frenzy and he stabs wildly at the person hiding behind the tapestry (thus he kills Polonius). After all his thinking and doubting and hesitating, he acts without reason and lunges like a madman, blindly killing that which is nearest. Another reason he hesitates is that he has no support from his love, Ophelia. He is looking for some kind of support from her, but she obeys her father and breaks off their relationship—and this really crushes him. He goes away like a wounded animal, though he lashes out at her in anger and frustration.

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The resolution comes about because after killing Polonius, Hamlet finally reaches rock bottom. He is sent away by the king (to be killed)—but Hamlet regains his wits, changes the orders so that king’s spies (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) are killed instead, and then hops a ship back to Denmark. Once back home, he sees that Ophelia is dead. He mourns her death and gets into an Ego contest with Laertes, her brother. The two agree to settle their Egos over a dual and the king ropes Laertes into a plot to kill Hamlet with poison. The queen dies instead (as does Laertes when the plot goes awry) and Hamlet finally has had enough and kills the king. Hamlet too has been killed and he asks Horatio to tell his story. The resolution is satisfactory to me because this is all very plausible and I could see no other way for the story to play out. Justice is served the king and Hamlet, no longer in doubt—and also no longer alive.

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