"Hamlet is ultimately selfish by taking revenge in his own time as he causes much unnecessary death" By referring to at least 2 sequences from the play explain whether you agree with it or not.

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“Hamlet is ultimately selfish by taking revenge in his own time as he causes much unnecessary death”  By referring to at least 2 sequences from the play explain whether you agree with it or not.

Hamlet’s procrastination can be seen as his downfall, and to a further extent it can be seen as selfish as it resulted in loss of life.  I however strongly disagree with this accusation, as I personally feel that Hamlets procrastination is what makes him what he is and separates him from the standard Revenge Hero an Elizabethan audience would expect.  

  It is through he postponing of events that Hamlet manages to “Know thy self” such to the degree that he can put his conscious at rest.  By comparing Hamlet at the beginning to at the end one can see the change in character Hamlet has undergone, this change would not have been possible had he not take time out to console in himself.   By examining to sequences this contrast can be clearly see, first one can see the scene after Hamlet’s first confrontation with the ghost.  Here Hamlet adopts a most different approach from the average Revenge Hero, to begin with Hamlet distrusts the ghost seeing him as a “goblin”.  A typical Revenge Hero would have not questioned the ghost and have gone half-wittedly to commit the revenge. Hamlet however is very unsure, and this can be seen through his speech, he uses short uncertain phrases “O all you host of Heaven”.  This uncertainty is further seen as Hamlet instead of seeking revenge by the sword, as was expected of himself he decides to “My tables, meet it is I set it down”.  This is very definite of Hamlet’s character as he loves words and knowledge, and so he would rather first write down his problems than go straight out and tackle them. This would explain why he takes his own time to deal with the revenge.  There is also the religious reasons for taking his own time, which are also apparent in the scene with the ghost.  Here Hamlet learns how his father was killed, and that he is in purgatory, as he didn’t have time to pray and thus the king died “with all my imperfections on my head”.  This is a recurrent theme, as Hamlet doesn’t want to rush into the murder and then condemn himself to a life in a “prison house” that is hell.  This is further amplified as his father tells him what hell is like .  It is because of the state Hamlet is in originally that he must take his time before he commits himself

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Hamlet’s state of mind is further seen in his encounter with Fortinbras in Act Four Scene Four.  Here Hamlet is still unsure of his actions and is fairly weak minded.  This is best through the fact he admires Fortinbras’ ability to execute without doubt as he goes to war over such a small plot of land, seeing himself as a “dull revenge”.  This brings about Hamlet’s soliloquy in which the audience is given a direct view of Hamlet’s thoughts.  This in turn shows us his state of mind.  He realises that thought and conscious separates man from “beast” and therefore ...

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