The personality traits of insanity and intellectuality also contribute greatly to the death of Hamlet. Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his procrastination. Without a doubt, Hamlet portrays procrastination and indecisiveness multiple times in the play. The ghost of Hamlet’s father visits him in the beginning of the play informing Hamlet that he was murdered by his own brother, Claudius: “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life/ Now wears the crown”(I.v.44,45). Furthermore, Shakespeare exhibits how Hamlet chose to devise a plan of acting mad, rather than avenging his father’s death immediately, progressing to his demise.
Old Hamlet’s ghost appears for the second time to remind Hamlet of his mission of revenge for his father’s murder. Hamlet suggests to his mother he is not actually mad at all, he is just pretending to be. Shakespheare shows us many conflicts with characters throughout this scene and also the consequences which the scene puts out, including Ophelia’s madness due to her fathers death. The ‘closet scene’, as it is commonly referred to, is significant in a number of ways. On one level it helps develop the reader’s understanding of some of the play’s key themes.
Finally Hamlet had the perfect opportunity to get his revenge and yet again his indecisiveness is getting the best of him. Hamlet was procrastinating with his revenge of his father’s death because he was too indecisive on when and how he was going to do it also whether or not the ghost was right. He was over thinking everything and worrying if it was his father’s ghost or not. Hamlet was questioned, “Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn’d, / Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, / Be thy intents wicked or charitable, / Thou com’st in such a questionable shape” (1.4. 40-43).
Although one thing is for certain: avenge his father’s death. To fulfill this desire, he felt as though “an eye for an eye” was the only way for justice to be served. After investigation using a performance reenacting the entire murder scene of his father though using different characters, he discovered the truth of Claudius’ actions based upon his reaction. That was enough for Hamlet to go through with his plan and seek revenge on Claudius. Hamlet’s fault his father and sister go.
Revenge Revenge is a harmful action against a person or a group. It is characterized as a form of justice, seeking or taking vengeance for oneself or another person by retaliating in response to a grievance. Within the short declaration "Of Revenge" by Francis Bacon he describes the self-destructive nature and the injustices that revenge brings about while detailing the benefits of forgiveness. While "He Becomes Deeply and Famously Drunk" by Brady Udall's story explores the concept of revenge as Archie contemplates killing his father's murderer until realizing the elderly man Calf red Pulsipher is not worth the effort and lets go of his anger. From the short story "Spanish Roulette" by Ed Vega the poet Sixto vows revenge against a local gang member who raped his sister and battles with himself to make the right choice.
Hamlet: Justice or Revenge In the era portrayed in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, justice is mostly carried out by oneself and not the court of law, and it is a thing of honor to avenge the death of a loved one. However, Hamlet’s quest for justice over his father’s murder does at some point turn into personal revenge, as he wants to have vengeance on his uncle in ways that become more personal. Hamlet loses track of the main reason for wanting his uncle dead and hatred grows for Claudius, his uncle, such that he wants to make sure that Claudius does not go to heaven when he dies. His uncontrollable emotions show when he kills Polonius and does not care about his actions. Hamlet even seems to have forgotten the main reason why he is avenging his father’s death.
The prince, upon learning of Claudius’s sinful corruption, swore to avenge his father’s betrayal. However, Claudius was not only responsible for taking away his brother’s life, but also for the deaths of Hamlet’s mother, Ophelia, Polonius and Laertes. When Hamlet finally got to Claudius, he made sure the latter died suffering. Claudius’s heart was torn to pieces as he watched his loved ones die around him. The wicked crimes he was responsible for ensured his life would be miserable and tragic.
Old Hamlet remains in purgatory after he dies, he says to Hamlet: ‘I am your father’s spirit,/ doomed for a certain term to walk the night/ And for the day confined to fast in fires/ Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature/ Are burnt and purged away’. The play is set up in such a way that although this murder is definitively branded as a wrongdoing, Hamlet's seeking revenge is not necessarily the correct course of action. Claudius' murder is seen as an atrocity by the Elizabethan audience, not only does it break the Divine Right of Kings but it is also fratricide. Yet ironically his rule brings peace to Denmark and his diplomacy deflects Fortinbras' aggression. This brings about another grey area to the play – the divide between right and wrong.
Hamlet was already greatly affected by his father's death and was in deep mourning. After the ghost came into contact with Hamlet, he embodied anger and found a deep addiction to revenge. The ghost of Hamlet's father revealed something to the young Hamlet about how the ghost, Hamlet's father, had died. From there, it set the course for the rest of the play. The ghost informed Hamlet that he had been killed by Sir King Claudius and that Claudius was, in fact, Hamlet's uncle.
The demised king commissioned Hamlet to execute revenge against Claudius. Hamlet willingly accepted. As the plot advances, one tragic event follows another, all of which resulted directly or indirectly due to some form of treachery. The story depicts episodes of deep passion motivated by raft, jealousy and sadness over death and lost love. To name a few of the convoluted incidents, Hamlet was alienated from his beloved girlfriend, Ophelia.