Hamlet's Delay

Hamlet’s Delay

Throughout reading Hamlet by: William Shakespeare, there is an undying question at hand that has plagued the minds of many scholars. It is the question of what took Hamlet so long to carry out the orders of his father who contacted him from beyond the grave. Scholars such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, August Wilhelm Schlegel, and Hermann Ulrici give their perspective on the internal obstacles Hamlet faced. In contrast to those obstacles, scholars such as J.L Klein, Karl Werder, and Oscar J. Campbell explore the external obstacles that hindered Hamlet from carrying out the orders of his late father. Robert Reed then gives his interpretation on both the external and internal obstacles in hopes to find a common ground in figuring out the true reason behind the delay of Hamlet.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is a critic who explored the internal obstacles that led to Hamlet’s delay. It is his belief that the cause of this delay was due to Hamlet being weak willed. According to Goethe,

He (Hamlet) is called upon to do what is impossible, not impossible in itself, but impossible to him. And as he turns and winds and torments himself, still advancing and retreating, ever reminded and remembering his purpose, he almost loses sight of it completely, without recovering his happiness. (Goethe 91)

By saying this Goethe is further explaining that despite having a clear and concise goal set in front of him, Hamlet is unable to perform due to his own torments and lacking of gull. Due to these reasons, Hamlet constantly torments himself which distracts him even further from the original goal at hand. This is also shown in one of Hamlet’s soliloquies where Hamlet says, “The time is out of joint. O cursed spite, that I ever I was born to set it right (1.5.188-189). Hamlet curses himself throughout the play constantly for his lack of courage and even having the burden to “set things right”. It is almost as if Hamlet resents his father for leading him down such a path. Goethe believes that all this back and forth between Hamlet and himself is what ultimately led to his delay in action.

August Wilhelm Schlegel is another agent in the internal obstacles hindering Hamlet case. He believes that the habit of meditation paralyzed Hamlet’s capacity of action. Throughout Hamlet’s various soliloquies it is clear that Hamlet is continuously plagued by the thoughts of the ghost, the hasty marriage between his mother and the king, who ironically also happens to be his uncle, and his own self doubt. As these thoughts become more prevalent as time progresses, this contributes to the delay in Hamlet’s actions. He is in a constant state of mental turmoil. As said by Schlegel, “The whole is intended to show that a calculating consideration, which exhausts relations and possible consequences of a deed, must cripple the power of acting” (Schlegel 92). In other words, the constant dwelling on his predicaments is what ultimately led to Hamlet’s inability to act in a timely fashion. As said by Hamlet, “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, and thus the native hue of resolution is sick lied over with the pale cast of thought” (3.1.91-93). In this soliloquy Hamlet is further proving his struggle with reason and coming to a resolution due to his constant meditation which in turns paralyzes him from action.

Just as the previous two, Hermann Ulrici believes Hamlet’s delay was caused by his internal conflicts. Ulrici believes that Hamlet’s Christian ethics and moral scruples are a deterrent to a bloody revenge. His Christian beliefs hinder him from hole heartedly believing that something contacting him from beyond the grave could be of good intentions. According to Ulrici, “It cannot be a pure and heavenly spirit that wanders the earth in order to stimulate his son to avenge his murder” (Ulrici 100). Hamlet even goes back and forth with the idea of killing the king because it is a sin to put one to death with one’s own hand without a trial and justice. It would also be morally wrong to kill one’s own kin. Hamlet continues to dwell on his religious belief with spirits and says, “As he (the devil) is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me” (2.2.631-632). Despite Hamlet’s father giving him orders that seemingly add up, Hamlet continues to delay the action at hand via procrastination to rid him of guilt and doubt brought on by his morals and religious beliefs.

Robert Reed answers these critics with his own take on the internal obstacles Hamlet faces. Reed sees as a basic weakness in all the above arguments that these men have ignored or minimized the external