The King Claudius has employed Polonius and Gildenstern both friends of Hamlet to spy on him, Hamlet is aware of this and plans to use this to his advantage. With them both in his presence he says “ I am but mad north-north west, when the wind is southerly I know a Hawk from a handsaw” means that he is only mad some of the time which means that some of his actions come from a normal mind and therefore carry more weight. He knows that this will reach Claudius and his future actions will be harder to put down to madness but should make Claudius think that Hamlet maybe knows the truth.
In his bid to find out whether Claudius is guilty he has planned to insert “ some dozen or sixteen lines” into a play that is being performed for Claudius and co. He makes the death in the play mimic how Claudius killed Hamlet senior. This action shows forethought and clearly shows him to be thoughtful in revenge.
During one of his soliloquies in act 2 scenes 2 Hamlet blames himself for not yet taking revenge for his father’s murder. “ Am I a coward” showing that his inaction has lead him to think and question why he has not taken any action.
The act of planning and questioning himself would make a modern audience question whether he wants to have perfect revenge or does not want to take revenge at all.
“The spirit that I have seen may be a devil” shows his questioning the truth of the Ghost, which at one point he believed, despite this he believes that at the play he has added to will prove Claudius to be guilty, “ for murder, though it have no tongue will speak”. This proves that Hamlet has planned to catch out Claudius at the play and to the audience confirms that he will take revenge if Claudius is proven guilty.
During the To Be or not to be soliloquy he gives a insight into the cause of his delay,“ thus conscience does make cowards of us all” shows that thinking has made him a coward so far and that his delay has been due to being over thoughtful when considering the issue of revenge and whether he can act upon the ghosts requests until he has proven the kings guilt.
On the day of the play Hamlet makes sure that the King will be there by asking Polonius who replies “ and the queen too” in reference to the king and queen coming together. With the trap set he asks Horatio whom he can trust to “ observe mine uncle during the play”. From speaking to Horatio in a sane tone he quickly changes to a “mad” tone hen the king enters. This change shows that Hamlet can turn on his madness when he wants or needs to, it gives him control over the other characters in the play by making them and the audience confused, this planned madness shows him to be thoughtful in revenge as it allow him to go around his task without raising to many issues as people put it own to his madness.
Hamlet knows that the actors I the play “cannot keep counsel” and waits for the play to start. When the King ups and leaves during the play Hamlet is delighted and asks what Horatio what he observed during the poisoning Horatio replies “ I did very well note him” The kings guilty actions has led them both to believe that the ghost is truthful which is the information Hamlet needed to act out the revenge. It also shows how Hamlets planning and thoughtfulness has worked out and given him more power. To the audience it shows that Hamlet has planned his actions towards proving the guilt of the king and makes them want to know what his next actions will be.
In act 3 scene 3 Hamlet tries to convince himself that he can now take revenge “ now could I drink hot blood” showing even now he is still thinking. This would make the audience confused as to whether he wants to take revenge or not. This is backed up when Hamlet decided not to kill Claudius when he was trying to pray.
The play has made Claudius realise the crime he has committed is to bad for forgiveness as he is unable to pray. “ O my offence is rank, it smells to heaven” This is aid when Claudius attempts to pray but cannot, and comes at the time Hamlet has an opportunity to kill him but chose not to because “ and now ill do it and so he goes to heaven” this could be seen a fair opinion or just another delaying tactic, ether way it is another example of Hamlet becoming a coward and thinking his way out of revenge. It could also be a simple as good play writing by Shakespeare to extend the length of the play and to make it more complex.
In Hamlets next soliloquy he questions his reasons for his inaction “ of thinking too precisely on the event” means he is thinking to much and promises to himself that from now on “ my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth”. This is a clear example that he intends to take revenge so making the audience try to anticipate how he will take his revenge but it also shows that Hamlet is becoming annoyed with his inaction and more the fact that he keeps trying to think his way out of taking revenge, this shows us that he believes that he is over thoughtful in revenge.
The fact that Hamlet is constantly thinking himself of revenge shows a facet of revenge, guilt. He would feel guilty if he killed Claudius without knowing the truth first, it also shows us that during the process of revenge Hamlet is always reasoning with himself whether revenge is correct, an example of this was his choice not to kill Claudius when he was praying, which he felt was wrong as Claudius would go to heaven and not be punished and he would feel guilty for sending him to heaven. This is also linked in with the audiences religious believes, and their quest to know whether Hamlet has a just reason for killing Claudius and breaking one of the commandments and whether he would be punished for this.
During act 3 scene 4 Hamlet killed Polonius who was hiding the Queens room. He showed little remorse of the death of Polonius even though Hamlet had made a mistake by thinking it was Claudius. When he realised this he only said “ thou wretched rash, intruding fool, Farwell” This shows us that a spontaneous reaction that is given no thought hasn’t effected Hamlet or how guilty he feels. This would confuse the audience as he has taken so long to prove to himself that killing Claudius is the correct thing to do, but when by accident he Kills Polonius he puts the blame onto Polonius not himself. This could also be seen as a way of passing the blame on so not to effect his determination to take revenge by giving himself more to think about. The action also shows that he totally believes that Claudius is guilty, as he would have killed him in front of his mother. Hamlet uses his “madness” as the reason for killing Polonius. In act 5 scene 2 “ give me your pardon sir…I here proclaim it was madness” when explaining to Laertes why he killed Polonius. This shows us that he is using his madness as a tool to help him gain revenge by putting down is actions to madness therefore making him appear to others as someone not able to reason with himself and come to correct judgements, which he has shown to use that he can. This therefore shows thought about his choice to be “ mad “ or not in different situations depending whether it would help him or not. This switching between “ Mad “ and not would lead the audience to question his madness and would lead them wonder whether he is possessed by a sprit or is sane.
When the final act of revenge takes place it is the king who intends to poison Hamlet yet he fails and Hamlets mother is the victim. This is the trigger for Hamlet and he takes revenge by making Claudius drink the poison. The death mimics Hamlet seniors making the audience question whether Hamlet is as bad as Claudius. The actions of revenge are quite spontaneous and with so many people around shows Hamlet believed it was the right time. Hamlet also dies and the only two characters alive at the end are Horatio and Fortinbras, both people Hamlet trusted or admired.
Through the play there are many examples of Hamlets thoughtfulness or planning. I believe that Hamlets madness is part of this as he wouldn’t have been able to take revenge without it.
In the play Shakespeare explores what thinking about revenge reveals about human nature mainly justifying our actions before we act them out. By him making Hamlet thoughtful in revenge allows us to see the different facets of revenge from reasoning to guilt and the way the burden effected Hamlets train of thought.
Overall I believe Hamlet was thoughtful in revenge as by doing this Shakespeare was able to show us revenge in all its different lights.
