Hamlet Decisive End, Indecisive Approach Essay - 742 Words

Decisive End, Indecisive Approach In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the titular character struggles to engage in his desired plan of revenge. Hamlet shows throughout the play that he is inconsistent, indecisive, and unsure of himself, as well as his actions. The play focuses on Hamlet’s revenge; however, he continuously fails to happen at opportunistic moments. Throughout the play, Hamlet insists that he intends to avenge his father’s death through the murder of Claudius, but Hamlet fails to act on occasion because of his indecisive personality. Shakespeare’s character, Hamlet, is known for his indecisive personality. It is a trait that humanizes Hamlet in the sense that every man is flawed. However, this feature is Hamlet’s main†¦show more content†¦Now Hamlet uses a rational â€Å"now he is praying; And now Ill dot./ And so he goes to heaven;/ And so am I revenged. That would be scannd:/ A villain kills my father; and for that,/ I, his so le son, do this same villain send/ To heaven†(p.79). Hamlet uses this â€Å"logic† to further justify his inconsistency between his actions and his motive. Finally, during the last scene, Hamlet encounters yet another chance to avenge his father’s, and now also his mother’s murders after his fencing match against Laertes. Claudius tries to kill Hamlet by poisoning him, and poisons Gertrude instead; this is the final breaking point of Hamlet. After the death of his mother Hamlet, can no longer hold back and strikes his foil through Claudius’s heart. Then, he forces the poisoned wine down his throat. This occurrence yet again shows Hamlet’s indecisive character. He plans out the vengeance of his father’s death so many times perfectly, but kills Claudius without a plan and everyone witnesses the murder. Throughout the play, he clearly analyzes every plan to kill Claudius. During this analysis, not once is he concerned with what will happe n to him for murdering Claudius. He considers what would happen to Claudius for killing him during prayer. He considers what will happen to Claudius for killing his father, but not once does he worry that he could get punished because his vengeance will make him a murderer too. The only instance Hamlet worries about the afterlife is during