Moses Sumbukeni
Explore the various reasons for hamlet’s delay
Shakespeare presents the subject of hamlet’s provocation in a way that many different reasons could be suitable and debateable at the same time. Through the whole play, Shakespeare makes it clear that hamlet delays the intended murder for reasons such as preventing Claudius from going to heaven, waiting for the right opportunity to strike, hamlet trying to get proof that his ghost’s father is right and possibly that he wants to kill Claudius and lie with his mother.
In the early stages of the play, the audience is introduced to the death of hamlet’s father “the king” and soon afterwards his mother marries Claudius. Hamlet’s father’s ghost appears suddenly to hamlet and tells him to kill Claudius, the man responsible for his death but spare his mother. However hamlet delays because he is uncertain if his father’s ghost is real or the devil sent to deceive him and damn his name as quoted “ that spirit I have seen maybe the devil, sent to damn out of my weakness and melancholy.” The term “maybe” clarifies that hamlet has doubts about the true form of the ghost and therefore he needs solid proof and believes that the devil exists with bad intentions of making people sin. However, hamlet clearly fears weakness and melancholy or he does want to be taken advantage of. At this point in time, he shows how smart he is by saying“I will have grounds more relative that this, the play is the thing.” This quotation suggests that hamlet decides to search for his proof to make sure that he is right and fair but at this time, his mind is troubled because he does not know the truth yet but is eager to find out by making the players play his father’s death where in that process he will observe Claudius’s reactions. It’s fair to say that hamlet is a religious person and his religious beliefs that ghosts are agents of the devil are the ones which make doubt his father’s ghost and therefore delay his revenge.
