Hamlet

As one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays, Hamlet provides an exceptional literary example of self-destruction as a result of one's own actions. Throughout the play, Hamlet struggles with the burden of his father's murder and the desire to get revenge against his uncle, the current king. Throughout the play, Hamlet is a conflicted and inconsistent character, who makes choices that cause one to question his mental health or state of mind. At times he appears to be sincerely mad, and in other moments he claims to be feigning insanity in order to pursue his agenda of revenge. Yet, when provided with opportunities, Hamlet hesitates, causing us to question how much he really wants to avenge him. Time and time again, we are presented with Hamlet as a brooding man with a dark turn of thought. Yet his behaviors often are not consistent with his attitudes. While he burns to get revenge for the death of his father, he seems reticent about actually performing the act. At times, we are left to wonder if Hamlet really believes in the justness of revenge, or if he is just assuming it according to his station and place in life. Hamlet's mental instability is the cause of his downfall.

Hamlet displays this mental instability to us in a variety of ways. For instance, Hamlet displays his grief openly, inviting attention and suspicion from those around him. Instead of nursing his grudge against the King in silence, waiting for the right moment to act, Hamlet gives himself over to dramatic displays of emotion that cause the others, including the king himself, to think he is insane. In Act II, Scene ii, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern confer with the king and queen about Hamlet's recent behavior. In this way, we can see that Hamlet has already begun to arouse suspicion through his erratic behavior. In Act III, Scene I, Hamlet accosts Ophelia verbally, calling her virtue and honesty into question. His admonition "get thee to a nunnery," summarizes the essence of his diatribe, and focuses more attention on Hamlet's dark moods and outbursts. In another scene, the king describes Hamlet's words as not seeming to be quite mad, thus the king becomes suspicious of Hamlet and his motivations. It is this sort of behavior that alerts everyone in Hamlet's presence that all is not well with the young prince.

Hamlet's dark moods and outbursts show us that his negative perspective leads him on a downward spiral of self-destructive behavior. His grim outlook on the basic nature of man leaves little room in him for hope or optimism, which colors his perspective and the choices he makes. In Act II, Scene ii, when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are conversing with Hamlet, and Hamlet proclaims "what a piece of work is man!" and further tells them "man delights not me." Hamlet lists the many noble titles mankind has granted itself throughout the ages, and his scorn is apparent when compared to the base deeds and motives that he sees in the world of men around him. Also, Hamlet equates Denmark with a prison, as well as the rest of the world. Here, Hamlet implies that the prison he is experiencing is not a literal one, but an emotional one- he feels trapped by the circumstances of his life, therefore all the world is a prison to him. The sensation of imprisonment weighs heavily on him, and contributes to his feeling that his options are limited, which in turn conveys a sense of hopelessness on him. Burdened by such hopelessness, it is no wonder that Hamlet acts out at inappropriate moments.

Hamlet chooses inappropriate moments to act upon his feelings. Hamlet's inconsistent character causes him to act rashly in moments when his emotion is high, and to hold steady in circumstances where action would be plausible. Before visiting his mother in her closet, Hamlet comes upon the usurper king on his knees at prayer. Instead of taking advantage of the moment and exacting revenge, Hamlet forgoes such an action because he does not want to send the man to heaven. Hamlet would prefer to seek his justice "When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed." Calmly and deliberately, Hamlet leaves the king to his prayers because he does not want to run the risk of sending his father's murderer to heaven (that would be too good for him). In the very next scene, however, Hamlet confronts his mother about her abrupt remarriage. As the emotion builds, Hamlet becomes more irrational. Suddenly, in a fit of pique, Hamlet kills Polonius by stabbing him through the curtain, thinking the old chamberlain was his uncle. Had Hamlet acted upon his vengeful urges just a few minutes earlier, then he would probably never have been in a position or mindset to kill the old man. In each case we see that if Hamlet had taken the opposite action, things could have turned out very differently indeed. Hamlet spends several moments in the play chastising him over these decisions.

Conflicted over the heavy choices laid upon him, Hamlet chastises himself for his own shortcomings, especially cowardice. Hamlet wallows in self-loathing over his situation and constantly judges himself as lacking in the inner resolve to seek proper resolution. In Act II, scene ii, after seeing the actor bring himself to tears over the tale of Hecuba, Hamlet questions why he does not have the same fire and passion over his own circumstances. He feels chagrined that the actor can be moved to such emotion over a fictional character from a fable, while Hamlet has yet to pursue vengeance over the death of his own father. He sees this as weakness and cowardice in himself, rather than questioning the rightness or morality of revenge.