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In many of Shakespeare’s tragedies it is often the hero who contributes the most to his eventual death. In the story of Hamlet, Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his tendency to over-think. In doing so, his attempt to obtain revenge is delayed as he hurts those around him. This ultimately results in the play’s tragedy where Hamlet, among others, dies. Thus, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the over-thoughtful nature of Hamlet causes him to procrastinate. In turn, his procrastination eventually leads him to a disaster in which he perishes.
First and foremost, Hamlet over-contemplates the death of his father and that of his mother’s sudden remarriage to his uncle. While everybody else in Denmark has accepted these events, Hamlet is still bothered by the fact that it has just been a month since all of this has happened. King Claudius’ unnatural proposal that, “[w]ith Mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage, / [i]n equal scale weighing delight and dole” causes Hamlet to question the family state of affairs (I.ii.12-13). As a result of his excessive contemplation, Hamlet falls into despair. In turn, it is his melancholy that disallows him to leave Denmark. Thus, Hamlet unknowingly commits himself to the play’s disaster.
Hamlet then, once again, over-contemplates when he is confronted by the ghost. He swears his friends to secrecy as he informs them of his plan “[t]o put on an antic disposition” as he “hereafter shall think meet” (I.v.191, 190). As an intellectual man, Hamlet refuses to kill King Claudius without further proof. Instead of immediately acting upon his father’s wishes, he stops to swear secrecy to his friends and plans a course of action. He doubts the ghost’s words as he decides to investigate the matter himself by pretending to be mad. By forcing his friends to keep quiet, not only can they not tell others about the ghost, but they cannot even tell them that Hamlet’s ‘madness’ is just a plot. Thus, even in such extreme conditions, Hamlet maintains...