Hamlet
Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, has been considered one of the most complex plays throughout history. The main character in this play, Prince of Denmark, Hamlet is the reason for that complexity. Hamlets character goes through a lot of changes during the play. His multiple personality and the way he projects himself during the play plays a very huge role in his decision making. Throughout the play, his character portrays sanity, madness, procrastination, and finally revenge.
In Act I, Scene I, Hamlet is shown as a son mourning for his fathers death. There is also bitterness towards his mother because she has remarried so quickly, to none other than his uncle. He feels like she has betrayed his father and him. Everything changes when the ghost appears in front of Hamlet in Scene V, Ghost: I am thy fathers spirit/Doomd for a certain term to walk the night (1.5.10). His fathers spirit informs Hamlet that he was murdered, Ghost: Murder most foul (1.5.28). The ghost also tells him about his mother being unfaithful during their marriage. He even warns Hamlet not to kill his mother but to make her feel guilty of what she has done. The ghost wanted Gertrude to feel the guilt till she completely withered away, Ghost: Leave her to heaven / And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge/To prick and sting her (1.5.87). Just learning about his fathers murder and not doing something irrational totally shows some sort of sanity on Hamlets part. Not taking revenge right after knowing that information took a lot of courage. Instead, his mind starts to maneuver into thinking brilliant tactics to take revenge.
In Act IV, Hamlet shows his intelligence after he learns about his execution in England planned by Claudius. He escapes his death marvelously and raises little suspicion. If he was dim-witted he would have never figured out Claudius plans and would have died very early in the play. His tactics were genius, playing an idiot to fool his enemies of his real intentions. He was irrational with others but with his best friend Horatio, he was a sane clever man.
His so called madness helped him a great deal when he put on the play for Claudius and Gertrude for their reception party. He replayed the same scenes as the ghost told him, the way he was murdered. He called it the Mouse Trap. He wanted to see the guilt on Claudius face to actually see if the ghost was actually telling the truth, Hamlet: Observe my uncle. If his occulted guilt do not itself unkennel in one speech, / it is a damned ghost that we have seen, and my/imaginations are as foul as Vulcans stithy" (3.2.84). The madder he got, the more it played in his favor. His fake madness was one of the main characteristics of Hamlet that got the revenge he wanted. Hamlets observation about Claudius was like the cat watching the mouses every move. He was trying to find the right moment to pounce on Claudius but did not think the reception was quite the place to do it.
The only woman Hamlet actually cared about was Ophelia. His mind just went haywire whenever he was around her. His nearness to Ophelia caused the true madness inside of him. He admits that he loved her once, Hamlet: I did love you once, (3.1.116) When he learns that she had betrayed him by siding with her father, Polonius he was deeply crushed. After that he rejects her, Hamlet: You should not have believd me, for virtue/cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish/ of it. I lovd you not, (3.1.118). His thinking becomes irrational and he says a lot of things that he does not mean. He calls her a common whore and that she should join the nunnery. Vicious remarks are made towards her by him over and over, such as: Hamlet: Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool, / for wise men know well enough what monsters / you make of them. To a nunnry, go and quickly too. / Farewell. (3.1.140). Hamlet has the task of taking revenge over his fathers death and moreover when Polonius forbids Ophelia to talk to Hamlet. This leads his emotions to enrage even further. All these factors together help explain why Hamlet treats Ophelia like an imbecile.
It is very clear that Hamlet is an intelligent young man, and the madness that overshadows him is because of Ophelias love, but he also posses a characteristic trait that soon would be his death. Procrastination could turn deadly if not acted upon immediately, and we are shown that in the play. It causes many deaths, such as: the torn mother, Gertrude, the stern father, Polonius, of a heartbroken girl, Ophelia, the known offender, Claudius, and our tragic hero, Hamlet. Hamlet had many chances to do the deed, but never thought of it as the right time. The right time came at the end of the play during the dual with Laertes.
Hamlet witnesses himself when Claudius admits his crimes in Act 3, Scene 3. He repents about killing his brother, Claudius: Forgive me my foul murder? (3.3.52). He asks for forgiveness from God, but he does not regret the power he has now as being King. Hamlet had the perfect opportunity to finish Claudius off just after his confession, but his over-analytic mind gets the best of him. He started making excuses that Claudius was under the presence of God if he killed him now he would go straight to heaven and do it some other time:
Hamlet: When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage,
Or in th incestuous pleasure of his bed,
At fame a-swearing, or about some act
That has no relish of salvation in t
Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven.
And that his soul maybe be as damnd and black
As hell whereto it goes. My mother stays.
This physic but prolongs thy sickly days.
The way he procrastinates it really makes a reader wonder if he actually wanted to avenge his fathers death and get it over with. Was he really doing it because of duty and it was the right thing to do, or because he loved and really cared for his father? If he acted a little faster he would have saved all those lives, plus he would have prevented Fortinbras to take over Denmark and eventually would have become King of Denmark.
Hamlet is an excellent play. Every character in the play is written in such depth that it makes itself appealing to the reader. Hamlets character is the one with the most lines and the most perplexed. His character throughout the play morphs into different personalities from an intelligent man to a mad man. The ability to procrastinate eventually became the reason for his own death, and he finally got his revenge that he sought after.
References:
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. The Bedford Introduction to Drama. Boston, MA, 2005. 354-407.
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