Hamlet Essay Research Paper The Inanition of

Hamlet Essay, Research Paper

The Inanition of Hamlet

William Shakespeare s Hamlet, is one of the best known tragedies in literature.

Hamlet, is charged by the spirit of his father to avenge his wrongful death. Previously

unaware of any foul play in the death of King Hamlet, Hamlet becomes suspicious for the

ghost said that the serpent that did sting thy father s life/ Now wears his crown. (Act I

sc.v 46-7) He must now take revenge on his uncle Claudius to let the disturbed spirit rest

in peace. It would seem to most people that this is a rather simple task to execute, but it

proves to be the single most difficult thing for Hamlet to do in the play. His inanition in

murdering Claudius stems from his great cowardice.

Many people believe that the main reason that Hamlet takes so long to kill

Claudius is that he is constantly contemplating his morals. Samuel Taylor Coleridge

would have you believe that the reason for the inaction is caused by endless reasoning

and hesitating- constant urging and solicitation of the mind to act, and constant escape

from action. Here we have poor young Hamlet, mourning the death of his father and

now must kill his uncle. His conscience is preventing him from taking any action to send

Claudius to his maker. Coleridge would also like the reader to feel that Hamlet was not a

coward. His reasoning is that for Hamlet is drawn as one of the bravest of his time.

Agreeing with his statement would show that the reader did not pay close attention to

Hamlet s soliloquies.

In his rogue and peasant slave soliloquy he mentions so plainly that even an

uneducated man could see that Hamlet is a coward for he admits it. Throughout the

soliloquy he refers to himself as many repugnant things, such as a John-a-dreams, a

muddy-mettled rascal, and a pidgeon-livered person lacking gall. How, one can look at

Hamlet s famous soliloquoy and get the message that Hamlet is not a coward. He goes so

far as to say that he is unpregnant of his cause. This quote clearly states that he is

feeling quite impotent about carrying out his bidding. No where once, does he mention

that he cannot fulfill the charge given to him in the soliloquoy due to his mental state of

mind. There is nothing preventing him from killing Claudius, other than the fact that he is

fearful of the consequences that would follow his actions. In the soliloquoy How all

occasions do inform against me (Act IV sc.v) Hamlet only vaguely mentions any idea of

thinking. He states Now whether it be/ Bestial oblivion or some craven scruple/ Of

thinking too precisely on th event (41-3), sending the image of a man pondering his

current state and weighing different options to the unwary reader. A person, like

Coleridge, will be lulled into believing this statement without acknowledging the following

lines A thought which, quartered, hath but one part wisdom/ And ever three parts

coward (44-6) Here once again Coleridge s ever prevalent thought that Hamlet is not a

coward is disproved by none other than Hamlet himself. In this statement he is saying that

the main reason for his inaction is due to his thinking, but his thinking is due to his

cowardly nature.

Another person that was caught in Shakespeare s trap of making people believe

that Hamlet was thinking heavily about his moral code instead of killing Claudius is

William Richardson. He firmly thinks that the strongest feature in the mind of Hamlet,

as exhibited in the tragedy, is an exquisite sense of moral conduct. Doubting the ghost s

revelation, he becomes inactive for a while. He was not totally sure that Claudius was

guilty of the crime, so he arranged sixteen lines to be said in the play, The Murder of

Gonzago. Upon observing Claudius reaction tot he play, Hamlet is convinced that he is

guilty of murder. Now he must act and destroy his uncle.

Hamlet s actions to be sure of Claudius guilt stem from one basic thing; fear.

Fearing damnation causes him to think that the ghost may have been the devil and he most

have some evidence for him to continue his vengeance. He was quite certain that Claudius

had murdered his father by then, but wanted an escape from completing his charge, so he

devised the lines in the play as a trap for his uncle. Upon noticing that Claudius is guilty,

Hamlet must now find a new was to delay his revenge. His next opportunity for

vengeance is after the play when he sees Claudius in the chapel praying at the altar. He

does not seize this opportunity that is knocking ever so loudly, for he says that he does not

want to send Claudius to heaven, but rather to hell. Hamlet knows that the soul of

Claudius is damned, due to his heinous actions, but makes up yet another excuse to not

kill him. Hamlet is afraid of the repercussions of his actions if he kills the king in the

chapel. He will most certainly be executed for his actions, and this is what he is most

afraid of. He is like most m

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