Why Does Hamlet Not ‘Sweep To His Revenge’?

The first 200 words of this essay...

WHY DOES HAMLET NOT 'SWEEP TO HIS REVENGE'?

In Hamlet, Shakespeare skillfully and cleverly uses characters', setting, environment, situation, and circumstances to enhance the readers' reactions and make the plot in the play convincing. The gradual emergence of Hamlet's characteristics, religious believes and personality traits through his dialogue and soliloquies give us greater insight into this character's complex and complicated nature and this is essential to understanding why Hamlet did not sweep to his revenge. I will look at how and why the use of these different devices give Hamlet credible, reliable and acceptable reasons for his lack of action and therefore serve to make the play enjoyable and plausible.

Hamlets' religious believes play a major contributory factor in him not sweeping to his revenge because they restrict any actions that go against his Christianity. In his first soliloquy we find him confused and upset by the death of his father and his mothers hasty marriage, 'within a month' to his Uncle Claudius and he wonders whether it would be better to end his life rather than to remain on this 'weary, stale, flat and unprofitable...world'. He is unable to carry out the act because Gods' 'canon 'gainst