Hamlet's Revenge

Essay by kohles2628High School, 11th gradeA+, March 2005

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Hamlet, a play of rationalization, vicious deceit, and stinging vengeance develops Hamlet as a main character. These specific traits are carried out in the play by the character Hamlet himself. Procrastination is one of Hamlet's undesirable characteristics. Hamlet seeks revenge when Claudius kills Hamlet's own father, the king. Hamlet's reasons for the delay in seeking revenge for his father are his moral reasons and his need to be a rational being.

For moral reasons, Hamlet could not kill Claudius when he had the chance. The act of taking someone's life, regardless of the reasoning, goes strictly against any moral code of behavior. Murder is the ultimate crime, and Claudius cannot go unpunished for killing the king. Hamlet blames Claudius's lack of action on his conscience when he says, "Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all/ And thus the native hue of resolution/ Is slicked o'er with the pale cast of thought" (3.1.83-85).

When Claudius was all alone in the chapel, Hamlet finally had the audacity to kill Claudius. However, Hamlet believes that if he kills Claudius while he is praying then Claudius will surely go to heaven. Therefore Hamlet says, "To take him in the purging of his soul/ When he is fit and seasoned for his passage" (3.3.85-86) and decides to wait until a more suitable time.

Thoughts develop and reveal Hamlet as a character in the play. On several occasions, Hamlet makes the decision to kill his uncle but then convinces himself otherwise. Hamlet continuously thinks through his actions very carefully before acting upon them. It is possible that the ghost that appeared to Hamlet in Act I was the devil trying to get him to sin. Therefore, Hamlet needs to find out if Claudius really is the murderer of the king. That line of...