Hamlet with his 'thirst for vengeance' and his instruction to kill.
The troubled traits of Hamlet are communicated well by the imagery. Hamlet says that he
wants his “too too sullied flesh” to “...melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew” or “How
weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world”, where the chain of
dismal adjectives, display how difficult Hamlet’s emotional state is. These references and
desire to words do not merely present his dejection, but additionally bring his thoughts of
suicide to the surface. Suicidal thoughts establish a weakness in his character. However he
redeems himself as he comprehends that suicide is against the ideals of the church, so
constrains himself. Hamlet also quotes "To be or not to be", as he ponders upon the
advantages and disadvantages of suicide. Hamlet also embraces a less confrontational
approach in the first soliloquy, where he candidly insults and mocks Claudius as a ‘satyr’.
Claudius is likened to a grotesque creature part human, part goat and symbolised as having a
sexually promiscuous nature which conveys Hamlet’s hatred towards him. While he denotes
his father ‘Hyperion’, the titan god of light which represents honour and virtue. This indicates
that Hamlet has great adoration for his father, and that revenge will ensue. Furthermore the
play demonstrates that Hamlet has professed desire to obey his father, although there is no
guarantee that he will go ahead and carry out the revenge. Hamlet also avoids using “I” or
“me”, which implies that he wants to escape from all that is happening. Hamlet also
comments on his mother Gertrude and uncle Claudius that it was a relationship consisting of
“incestuous sheets”. The use of alliteration stresses the words. Moreover the sound of hissing
denotes anger.
In the second soliloquy Hamlet has moments of thought, “hum…” where he has doubts
about the ghost. He thinks the ghost may be deliberately sent from hell to misguide him in to
murder. Elizabethans believed in evil spirits attempting to corrupt civilization. Hamlet also
reveals that he doubts the authenticity of the ghost and, therefore, he does not surely believe
his father has truly returned, "And shall I couple hell?”
Hamlet becomes director in a play within a play. He is mirrored by the character Phyruss,
who becomes his pawns to manipulate the reactions of the audience, most specifically to
“catch the conscience of the king”. Hamlet compares actors with prostitutes, implying that
they are selling their souls, their emotions to the public, “like a whore…heart with words”. The
imagery of “the stage with tears” reflects back to Hamlet’s disgust at Gertrude’s weeping in
the first act. Hamlet realises that as an idealist, he can never be fulfilled. He must “like a
whore” deceive. He is attempting to take actor qualities in choice of words and rhythms,
"…remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain! …what an ass am I? …".Again his
anger is displayed through alliteration and hissing of words. At the moment of murder in the
play Claudius immediately leaps up, behaving like a guilty man, “Somebody get the lights...".
The second soliloquy is very intriguing as Hamlet doubts his own character and obedience to
his father in this Soliloquy. He ponders about whether he is a coward because he has not yet
killed Claudius. “ But I am pigeon livered and lack gall”. He likens himself to pigeon, a
pathetic cowardly creature which flees at the first sign of contact. In the Renaissance period,
the disposition of the Dove was explained by the argument that it had no gall and therefore
had no courage to seek revenge. The liver also was seen as the body's storehouse for
courage. Hamlet feels concerned about his delay of revenge. He feels ashamed that he has
not avenged his father's death with the speed displayed by the actors in the play, “O, what a
rogue and peasant slave am I!”. Hamlet expresses self-hatred and ridicules himself to the
worst possible level.
Hamlet’s second soliloquy leads us to believe that revenge will indeed follow in the
next act. Although Hamlet’s motivation and determination begin to degenerate as the
play progresses, which indicates Hamlet’s ambivalence about avenging his father’s death.
Until the closing moments of the play, Hamlet fails to carry out the revenger role, which will
have defied the Elizabethan audience’s expectations, and most importantly tradition.
Traditional Elizabethan conventions may have been intentionally out grown or defied by
Shakespeare until the closing scene because he may have wanted to exemplify that Hamlet is
diverse. Shakespeare tries to exhibit the fact that Hamlet is atypical. His objective was to have
flawed characters. However the play Hamlet does follow the conventional revenge tragedy
prototype quite faithfully, except of course that the hero appears to delay because of his state
of mind.
Hamlet gains compassion and sympathy from a modern audience rather than
incomprehension because a modern audience perhaps may be more engrossed in considering
the many uncertainties that our lives are built upon and Hamlet’s cerebral motivation. He
might have lost a lot of our sympathy and respect if he had just killed Claudius at once.
Hamlets internalisations evolve because he identifies his ego with his fathers, and
consequently suffers from a death of ego. Shakespeare’s Hamlet delays revenge as part of his
character. It is a central opportunity to explore Hamlet’s mental agony.
A new side of Hamlet is exposed when he kills Polonius “How now! A rat? Dead for a ducat
dead”. Here he has committed a crime, acting against his principles as a Christian, although
he doesn’t actually say that murder is wrong. Hamlet being Christian should signify
forgiveness towards Claudius, although he does not. This is a major dilemma of an avenger in
a predominantly Christian era. The Renaissance saw Greek ideas and attitudes of literature as
a clash with Christianity.
In soliloquy 5, Hamlet walks in on Claudius during prayer, where he has a prime opportunity
to kill Claudius, “Now might I do it pat”, but he cannot bring himself to commit the murder.
His religious beliefs still overpowering the promise he made to his father’s spirit
subconsciously, though he doesn’t say this. Hamlet believes that if he kills Claudius during
prayer, Claudius will avoid going to hell, so Hamlet resists, “he goes to heaven and; so am I
revenged”. There is also the possibility that Hamlet just genuinely finds murder immoral and
wrong, even if it means avenging your father.
Hamlet is a character which encompasses fatal flaws within the play. When Hamlet returns
from England he argues that his reasons for revenge are rational, “That to Laertes I forgot
myself, For, by the image of my cause, I see The portraiture of his…”. Here Hamlet
acknowledges that Laertes is also seeking revenge and that he understands the complexity of
a fellow avenger. Hamlet’s situation echoes Horatio’s. Laertes and Hamlet both display
impulsive reactions when angered. Once Laertes discovers his father has been murdered
Laertes immediately assumes the slayer is Claudius. As a result of Laertes's speculation he
instinctively moves to avenge Polonius's death. "To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest
devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation: to this point I stand,
that both worlds I give to negligence, let come what comes; only I'll be revenged most
thoroughly for my father." Laertes's mind displaying his desire for revenge at any cost. In
contrast to Laertes speculation of his father's killer, Hamlet presumes the individual spying on
his conversation with Gertrude is Claudius,” Nay, I know not: is it the King?". Consequently,
Hamlet consumed with rage automatically thrusts out attempting to kill Claudius, but instead
strikes Polonius. Hamlet's and Laertes's imprudent actions are incited by fury and frustration.
Sudden anger prompts both Hamlet and Laertes to act spontaneously, giving little thought to
the consequences of their actions.
Hamlet's greatest flaw is idealism. Idealism is a good trait, but not in this case as Hamlet's
environment, the worst of all environments for him, and the circumstances which transpire,
his temperament causes great conflicts within. Hamlet is highly intelligent and indulges in
deep thought. He believes that things should be essentially good, and that people's motives
should be fair. Consequently, he finds it hard to understand all of the evil that is around him ,
"'Tis an unweeded garden that grows to seed; Things rank and gross in nature possess it
merely". Hamlet describes his world as nature uncontrolled, unrestrained, where death and
sexuality dominate the environment. Hamlet is deprived of support, as he is very isolated. He
confides in Horatio in an attempt to gain some encouragement, but although Horatio is concerned for
Hamlet, he still is unable to provide real advice and guidance on whether Hamlet should seek revenge.
Moreover this flaw proves to be his most fatal one, but not only for himself but for his mother and
Laertes who both fall a victim to Claudius’s deceit. Horatio however is greatly supportive in
watching Claudius during the play to detect signs of guilt. Hamlet is influenced by his religious beliefs
and obligation to God which his revenge actions throughout the play i.e. Hamlet expresses the desire to
kill himself yet holds respect for the ideals of the church.