Hamlet is a thinker not a man of action Essay

hamlets one mission in the hunt is to r all the samege the end of his come by hideing Claudius, withal his procrastination leads to his untimely death, the deaths of publicy others in the Danish court and the relinquishment of Denmark to Fortinbras. junctures kickoff words show a believe of revenge towards Claudius A scant(p) more than kin and less than kind. exactly later in his soliloquy we see that he is actually circumferent to chargeing him ego, than scratch offing Claudius or the perpetrator O that this in addition too sullied flesh would melt, / Thaw and resolve itself into a dew, He doesnt even contemplate run throughing Claudius he hopes that the situation will resolve itself, which it neer will, cover his unwillingness to act. This soliloquy also shows that he is not the bravest of flock, as he cannot tell his mother how he really feels, another regulatory character trait when trying to revenge someone But break, my perfume for I must hold my tongue. I n his soliloquy straight after Hamlets conversation with the Ghost he seems determine to kill his uncle, thy commandment alone shall live / Within the book and volume of my brain. The give of the word commandment shows that he will cost the Ghosts word religiously. This shows that he is resolute, as a man of accomplishment would be. How constantly, this is countered nearly immediately at the end of the scene O cursed spite, / That ever I was born to set it right. This shows that Hamlet is scared to carry out(p) what he has to do, he would practically rather someone else revenge his father than he. The first device that Hamlet uses to carry out his revenge is to make-believe to be mad. By this pretence he hopes to draw the attention absent of the court a demeanor from him so that he can watch and follow Claudius to see if he is showing any signs of guilt. He tells Guildenstern of his madness. I am mad merely north-north-west. When the wind is / southerly, I know a toss fro m a handsaw. His stated intention is to gain irrefutable evidence of Claudiuss villainy. He initiates this by visiting Ophelia in a state of foray and handing her a love letter, making Polonius believe that his madness is due to Ophelias rejection of him. Hamlet uses his pretend madness to show his true emotions and insult people he doesnt like You are a fishmonger. A fishmonger in Elizabethan times could have meant pimp, showing that Hamlet thinks that Polonius is use his daughter to gain favour within the court.Hamlets feigned madness does affect Claudius in the first act he delivers broad speeches, but by feat 2 he is reduced to terse sentences like We will try it. This is an action, but it is one that allows him to procrastinate. When Hamlet is left field alone he laments his weakness and innatural process. An actor could weep at the imagined trouble of Hecuba, whereas Hamlet fails to respond to the finish up of his father Tears in his eyes, bewilderment in his aspec t, / A broken voice, and his whole function suiting / forms to his conceitedness? And all for nothing / For Hecuba Hamlets principles cause him a nifty deal of self-criticism Why what an ass am I This is most brave, / That I the son of a dear father murderd, / Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, / Must like a whore unpack my midriff with words/ And fall a-cursing like a very drab, He curses his inactivity, showing that, although he is a thinker, he would prefer to be a man of action. At the end of the soliloquy he seems resolved to revenge Claudius, the Mouse-Trap play is a form of revenge against Claudius, but again it is not estimate revenge, as he is dummy up procrastinating.The point that he has not confronted Claudius foursome months after confirmation from the ghost that Claudius is the guilty party shows that he is unimpeachably a thinker. Hamlets soliloquy at the start of Act 3 still shows his overwhelming desire to think, particularly about felo-de-se To be or not to be. The fact that he is still has time for soliloquies, and that he is not trying to hunt Claudius down and kill him, shows that he is definitely a thinker. Hamlet shows a lack of self knowledge as he cannot, as he intended in Act 1 sc 5 with wings as active / As meditation or the thoughts of love / May sweep to my revenge. sort of he broods on his fathers death and even when he gets proof from Claudiuss reaction to the Mouse Trap play, Ill express the ghosts word for a thousand pound. He hesitates and demand further spurring by the ghost in Act 3 to whet thy almost blunted purpose. Hamlet has the perfect opportunity to kill Claudius in Act 3 sc 3, but again he procrastinates, letting himself think about what will happen to Claudius soul A villain kills my father, and for that I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven. He doesnt act, because he thinks that Claudius is praying, cleansing his soul. This would send him to heaven, not hell where he belongs. Th e irony is that Claudius himself has too much on his conscience and cannot pray, My words rainfly up, my thoughts remain below. / Words without thoughts never to heaven go. Hamlet curses himself in a later soliloquy for his lack of action. Hamlets first action of physical revenge is to stab Polonius behind the arras. This action shows that he can only if do something on the spur of the moment.If hed had time to think about it, he would have found a way around stabbing the person behind the arras, electing instead to procrastinate. Hamlet meets Fortinbras army in Act 4 sc 4, which makes him feel demoralize when he compares himself to Fortinbras the Norwegian Prince is prepared to fight over something of very little value, while he hasnt yet taken revenge for the murder of his father and the seduction of his mother How all occasions do declare against me, / And spur my dull revenge. Hamlet does what he always does when confronted with a line he has a soliloquy. However, this is h is last soliloquy, which could suggest that he is done with persuasion now, and will finally carry out his revenge. Hamlet shows another decisive action, in dealing with the betrayal of his one-time friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and with Claudius attempt to have him killed on his way to England. He replaces his own name with that of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in the letter, ensuring that they will be killed in his place.He also Boards a pirate ship so that he can sacrifice to Denmark, these are all very decisive actions cerebrate to towards revenging his fathers death. Hamlets entrance into Ophelias funeral sure is more action-focussed than his previous actions This is I, / Hamlet the Dane. His fight with Laertes, declaration of his love of Ophelia and his chemise from prose to verse show that he is longer talking his self into equivocation and misleading others. Therefore he is not thinking as much as he is acting.Hamlets next action is to duel with Laertes, not k nowing that it has been fixed so that Hamlet will die, but as with most strategies in the play, it does go according to plan both(prenominal) Laertes and Hamlet are wounded by the poisoned sword, Gertrude drinks the poisoned wine, and one of Hamlets dying acts is to force Claudius to drink the poisoned wine, which he does with relish, enjoying the power he has, and the fact that he is killing the person who killed his father, seduced his mother, taken his thrown and plotted to kill him twice Here thou incestuous, murdrous, damned Dane, / Drink off this potion.Is thy coalescence here? / Follow my mother. His action here was done purely, without any thought. As he dies Hamlet names Fortinbras as his successor to the throne of Denmark. He admires Fortinbras as a man of action, seeing that that is what his country needs to return stability to it, I do prophesy thelection lights / On Fortinbras. He has my dying voice. The time frame of the play helps to reinforce the tone of time pa ssing. Individuals in the play travel from Denmark to Norway, Poland and England, from the court to the countryside.Contrasting the activity of Laertes and Fortinbras with the prolonged inactivity of Hamlet. As the hero in this tragedy Hamlet doesnt have one, sole, character flaw that leads to his untimely death. He is a thinker involved in a dilemma that can only be solved successfully by a man of action. His inability to act swiftly and decisively without high motivation in confederacy with his fathers murder brings havoc to the Danish court, his own death and the death of many others in the court. If he had been a man of action Claudius would have been killed months before.