Hamlet

Something was definitely rotten in the state of Denmark. The king was dead of a murder most foul, a betrayal from his own brother, young Hamlet was thrown out of the frying pan, which was his father's passing, and into the fire of revenge. On would think that an act of revenge such as this, retribution from an enraged son over the unjust murder of his father, would come so quickly, wildly, and brutally, driven by anger and rage. This simply was not the case in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. As the young prince Hamlet carefully thought out his plans for revenge over a rather large amount of time due to his own apparent weakness, inaction. "The smallest deed is greater than the grandest intention"(Stokes 90). Hamlet was full of grand ideas and intentions on how to kill the King, but he failed to act and to carry out the deed that was his revenge, the destruction of Claudius. Why did Hamlet choose and it was his choice, not to take revenge on Claudius quickly and decisively? Hamlet had his own reasons for inaction; the strategy that he felt best suited his revenge.

"Hamlet was undoubtedly and incredible intellectual and throughout the play thoughts in his mind came too quickly for the actions of his body to keep up with"(Stokes 92). This intellectual quality provided a roadblock for Hamlet taking a quick revenge on Claudius. Nearly all of Hamlet's actions with the exception of his outburst at Ophelia's grave were carefully preplanned and precisely calculated. "His inborn thought process prolonged his revenge, and while Hamlet may have appeared sluggish with inaction, the wheels in his mind never stopped turning"(Stokes 92). Hamlet questioned everything. He may have thought too much for his own good at times, he wrestled with many ideas, thoughts, and feeling over the course of the play, delaying any real action until the time, in his eyes, was right. Hamlet questioned the validity of his own father's ghost.

Hamlet was not sure if the ghost was really his father or if it was the devil trying to trick him to commit a crime. He needed to prove to himself that what the ghost said was true or not. Therefore he is going to stage a play that will reenact the killing of his father to see if the King is guilty.

Hamlet was very much a perfectionist in revenge. He wanted everything to be perfect, and this caused him to take unusual and unique steps to gain revenge on Claudius. Hamlet's play within a play, a brilliant scheme in which he caught the conscience of the King. It was a prime example of the young prince's need for perfection in revenge. The play definitely told Hamlet that Claudius was in fact guilty of killing King Hamlet. Inaction resulted from this perfectionist nature. Hamlet missed golden opportunities, and even passed up a chance to kill Claudius and to take revenge simply because Claudius was praying at the time.

Hamlet did not only want to kill his father's murder; he wanted to send him to eternal punishment of damnation, so he did not want to kill him while he was praying. But, Hamlet leaves right before Claudius says, "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go"(Shakespeare 1507). If Hamlet had known Claudius was not sorry and could not pray. Hamlet could have sought

his revenge right there. The quality of perfectionism, along with his intellectual aspect, caused Hamlet to move slowly and carefully in his revenge, often resulted in periods on inaction.

Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude warrants Hamlet to come