Indecisiveness in Hamlet

Shakespeare's Hamlet is truly a great play to analyze. It is also unique in that a play based on revenge we don't see any action until the end. Hamlet has immediate suspicion and proof of his fathers murder and does not act. This poses the question, why does it take so long for Hamlet to kill Claudius? Hamlet's apparent indecisiveness to act is due to his constant habit of over thinking in addition to several conscious and subconscious distractions.

Immediately following Hamlet's conversation with the Ghost, he is determined to fulfill the Ghost's wishes. However, the next time he appears in the play, which is long after the Ghost's visit, he has not yet done the deed. He is plagued by questions of death and the supernatural. What do we know about ghosts? Does the ghost know how he died, or is he deluded? Is the ghost his ally or is he trying to mislead him to his demise? "The spirit that I have seen / May be a devil, and the devil hath power / T' assume a pleasing shape" (2, 2, 627-629).

The largest key to Hamlet's hesitation to take action was his need to find definitive evidence of Claudius's guilt and expose him for what he did. Hamlet continuously doubted himself and whether or not the action that he wanted to take was justifiable. It is not until act three until Hamlet is able to prove that Claudius is guilty. However, while his guilt is obvious to him he is unable to present anything to the people. He wants the murder of the King to be perfect. Claudius has to go to hell. The people have to know about the murderer Claudius. Hamlet spent too much time planning and not enough acting, thus making the King's murder more complicated than it needed to be. After the play Hamlet has the proof he was seeking and still cannot act.

It is also worth examining Hamlet's relationship to Gertrude. Hamlet's hesitation to kill his uncle may be an unconscious fear relating to the Oedipus complex. Because of his close relationship with his mother, which may be to close, Hamlet may be subconsciously afraid of doing what his uncle did, kill her husband and marry her. If he does this he will be no better than Claudius. Maybe a part of him wants Claudius there in order to keep him away from his mother. "we know that Hamlet longs to show her affection; to comfort her and to be comforted by her" (Mabillard). The only time when Hamlet does not hesitate to carry out his moral duty is when he is in the bedroom with Gertrude. Hamlet stabs Polonius instinctively because he is where he truly desires to be, with his mother. This is the only time when Hamlet actually has the courage to try to kill Claudius, thus opening the path to Gertrude.

Hamlet thinks he understands how action should be taken. He considers factors such as rationality, spirituality, emotion, ethics, and so on in his actions. These constant considerations of ideas just added to his problem of over thinking and questing himself. "He is particularly drawn to difficult questions or questions that cannot be answered with any certainty" (Phillips).