Hamlet, by Shakespeare

Hamlet

Yet I,

A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak

Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,

And can say nothing--no, not for a king,

Upon whose property and most dear life

A damn'd defeat was made. Am I a coward?

Who calls me villain, breaks my pate across,

Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face,

Tweaks me by the nose, gives me the lie i'th' throat

As deep as to the lungs--who does me this?

        In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet has been saddened by

the death of his father. When he finds out that is was the

doing of his crooked uncle, Hamlet's chief goal is to

revenge the ignoble deed. This revenge, which the play is

centered upon, is hindered by Hamlet's tragic flaw and is

seen in the above passage. The flaw, hesitation, impedes

his ability to avenge his fathers death, and ultimately

results in his decline and demise.

        The play opens with King Hamlet having already been

murdered. Claudius, the dead King's brother, has seized the

throne as well as the Queen's, and mother of Hamlet's, hand

in marriage. All of these events have shocked the

protagonist, Prince Hamlet, who still laments the death of

his noble father and curses his mother for marrying his

uncle with "most wicked speed, to post with suck dexterity

incestuous sheets." However, in spite of his disapproval,

Hamlet does not voice his anger by saying "but break my

heart, for I must hold my tongue." Hamlet wears "customary

suits of solemn black" and cries with the "fruitful river in

the eye" for his father and states that he acts as suck

because "within which passes show, these but the trappings

and suits of woe." Hamlet does not care about the kingdom,

he merely wants to grieve the death of his...