Delayed Revenge in Hamlet Essay

Delayed Revenge

At the end of Act 1 Scene 5, after hearing the Ghosts story, Hamlet curses his mother and uncle, and vows to extract revenge on behalf of the spirit of his father. Throughout the play, we see Hamlet portrayed in the light of someone who thinks too much and acts too little. Hamlet, of course, has plenty of times throughout the play to extract revenge for his father, but never does it. We notice from Hamlets first soliloquy that his thoughts are easily distracted by images in his head, and he is sidetracked by his own train of thought. In this play, it takes Hamlet two months to exact revenge, because of conflicts within himself and with those that surround him.

After being informed of how his father died, Hamlet sets out on this path of revenge. But, it takes him two months to complete it. One of the reasons that he may have delayed for so long, goes back to the ghosts original command. But howsomever thou oursues this act, Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge to prick and sting her (line 91). This is pretty much telling Hamlet to make an omelet without breaking any eggs. This challenges Hamlet, because he has to be angry enough to kill his uncle, but not so angry as to plot against his mother.

Hamlet, although enraged with the ghosts story, is not completely sure he can trust the ghost. So, before he could be of sound mind and kill the king, he had to make sure he had enough evidence to proceed. Hamlet then devises a plan, to prove that the kind is guilty. Hum, I have heard that guilty creatures sitting at a play have, by the very cunning of the scene, been struck so to the soul that presently they have proclaimed their malefactions (line 617). He decides to orchestrate a play that parallels his fathers murder. He plots that he will have his uncle watch the play, and observe him as he does so. He says that if the king flinches or turns pale, that will be enough evidence for him to kill the king. Unfortunately for Hamlet, after watching the play, the king becomes suspicious of Hamlet, (thinking that he knows that he killed King Hamlet), thus he sends Hamlet off to England. This delays Hamlets revenge even further.

Hamlet is smart enough to know that killing the king is a major crime. If he killed the king, and the public found out, they would do two things. Put Hamlet on trial and eventually kill him, thereby making the king a martyr. These are both outcomes that are not favorable to Hamlet, since he wants the world to know the truth. The event of the kings murder would cover up the story of King Hamlets death. Hamlet knows that he has to wait until circumstances are right. Hamlet does get a chance to kill the king, while he is praying, but decides against it. He figures out that if he kills the king while he is praying, the king will go to heaven with no sins on his soul. And now Ill dot. And so he goes to heaven. And so am I revenged.That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven (line 75).

Another reason for Hamlets delayed revenge, is that he may have suffered from Oedipus complex. The Oedipus complex is when a child wants to possess the parent of the opposite sex, and eliminate the parent of the same sex. Although Hamlet loathes his uncle for killing his father, he might delay revenge because he can identify with his uncle. Cladius has killed Hamlets father and married his mother, therefore carrying out Hamlets own unconscious wishes. Although at every turn of the play, Hamlet is told to kill his father, but he is prevented by unforeseen repressed feelings for his mother. Although killing the king would fulfill the ghosts desires, Hamlet might destroy a piece of himself in the process.

Hamlets revenge is delayed for many reasons. He has to be angry enough to kill the king yet temper his anger for his mothers sake. Hamlet is not quite sure whether he can trust the ghost, because he does not know whether it is an apparition or the devil. Circumstances are not right to kill the king without sending him to heaven, and he might be suffering from the Oedipus complex. With all these problems behind Hamlet, it is easy to see why Hamlet took so long to kill the king. Despite all of these hurdles, Hamlet still manages to overcome, and extract the revenge that his father so richously deserves.