“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare characterised Hamlet as a daring, loyal, brave and intelligent character who is overwhelmed by his own moral sense of behaviour. The tragic hero is defined as one whose downfall is brought about due to their tragic flaw. In the play Hamlet’s inability to act on his father’s murder, his mother’s marriage, and his uncle assuming of the thrown are all evidence of his tragic flaw of procrastination, which act’s as an major cause to Hamlet’s downfall.

Later in the play when that his own uncle could kill his father leaves Hamlet enraged and confused. Although Hamlet knows something is wrong in Denmark, his doubts made him to question everything that the ghost has told him. In this scenario that calls for quick decisive behaviour, Hamlet is too busy thinking in fact he start’s overthinking. In Act III example of this scenario can be seen when Hamlet has his knife over the head of Claudius, ready to murder him, and at the same time he tries to talk himself out of it. With so much thought flowing through his head Hamlet writes a play in which the actors enact the same story the ghost tells Hamlet. His plan is to study Claudius’s reaction to the play to determine his guilt and then relate his actions towards it. Even after Hamlet decides his uncle is guilty, Hamlet fails to take immediate action. This would have been a prime opportunity to confront Claudius, but Hamlet seems more interested in appreciating himself for his ideas than seeking revenge for his father’s death. Apart from this throughout the play Hamlet is deeply hurt by his mother’s decision to remarry his uncle. In Act 1 Scene 2 the reader’s realises that his actions cause Hamlet to curse women all together. In the first Act, Claudius and Gertrude question Hamlet’s depression.

They push Hamlet where they wanted him to accept his father’s death and move on with his life. While Hamlet should admit his hatred of their marriage, he hide’s his feeling making sure he doesn’t go against anyone’s opinion. Meanwhile Hamlet is suppressing his feelings, he becomes more enraged at their attempts to calm him sown. At the same time Gertrude is also aware of Hamlet’s feelings for Ophelia and uses this as an excuse for Hamlet’s actions. Hamlet has ample time to confess the cause of his madness. Unfortunately, Hamlet allows his mother to think he is madly in love rather telling her truth about what exactly is going on.

After Hamlet had performers enact his play and sees guilt in his uncle’s face and finds him guilty for his actions, Gertrude sends for Hamlet. Instead of doing physical damage to his mother, he insist on her confession. If not for Hamlet’s procrastination, her confession could have taken place earlier in the play. This could save him from a great deal of pain and leave his thoughts for other problems.

Hamlet s biggest obstacle in avenging his father s murder is Claudius being crowned king. With Claudius being in such a powerful position, Hamlet has to be cautious in his actions. Hamlet not only has to kill his father s murderer, but the king as well. The church was against the wedding from the start and would side with Hamlet. Instead of Hamlet denouncing his mother s wedding and the crowning of his uncle, he is silent. During the play, Claudius shouts “Give me some light. Away” and Hamlet was sure of his uncle s guilt (Act III, Scene 2, Line 152). This was the perfect time for Hamlet to face Claudius. The king was in a venerable state and could have been easily dethroned. Unfortunately, Hamlet decides to speak to his mother instead, thus putting Hamlet in an emotional state of mind and giving Claudius time to regroup. Although Hamlet seemed to be superior in all other characteristics, his one flaw cost him his life. Inevitably, it cost the lives of many others as well. If Hamlet could have taken immediate action, many deaths could have been avoided.

Although Hamlet succeeds in his quest for revenge, his procrastination proves to be his flaw in every event. Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his inability to act to avenge his father’s death, although it must be said that he has valid concerns that prevent him from knowing how to act as he makes clear when he discusses the nature of ghosts that can be sent to ensnare…