According to Garth Stein, “The true hero is flawed. The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles.” Sadly, Prince Hamlet from the Shakespearean tragedy “Hamlet” was unable to overcome his flaw, causing his downfall at the end of the play. Hamlet's tragic flaw is procrastination, as seen by his inaction toward Ophelia, King Claudius, and Gertrude. Hamlet said that he loved Ophelia, however, he never tried to do anything about it and procrastinate, instead of fighting for their love when she stopped talking to him. Hamlet openly states that he loved Ophelia not that he loves her or if they could get back together “I did love you once.”( 3.1, 125) However, he never stated it or tried to show …show more content…
And because of this Hamlet and his mother’s relationship was destroyed due to hamlet not telling her what was going on and why he had been so cold with her. Which caused their trust in each other to decrease significantly. Hamlet could have confronted Gertrude and talked to her about what Claudius did and tried to show her that what she did was wrong, however, he does not do that until it is far too late. “A bloody deed-almost as bad, good mother, as kill and king and marry with his brother.”(3.4. 34-35.) He was trying to allude to what Claudius did but he never told her what happened and what he thought happened which caused a large amount of distress between the two and caused damage to their relationship in the long term. An argument could be made that he was waiting for the perfect chance to kill King Claudius and tell Gertrude, however, this is not the case. Hamlet never in the books tries to make an effort to kill Claudius, he only tried to kill him when it was handed to him with a silver platter for the second time. He was ecstatic when he thought that he killed Claudius instead of the Laertes, however when he had the chance moments before he chose not to take it. “On the simplest level, the delay is caused by the need to test the validity of the ghost's message and to determine Claudius's guilt. But the …show more content…
The best example of procrastination being Hamlet's tragic flaw can be seen in his inaction of killing King Claudius and waiting for the perfect opportunity, which did not present itself until it was too late to matter. “Now might I do it now he is a-praying, And now I’ll do ‘t. That would be scanned: And so he does to heaven, A villain kills my father, and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven. (3.3. 79-83.) Hamlet walked in on Claudius praying that he had the perfect opportunity to kill him and avenge his father, however, he chose not to do that and instead waits for a better opportunity to present itself. Hamlet only acts when it is too late since he knew he was going to die when he killed Claudius. “Laertes tells Hamlet that he has only half an hour to live. On knowing this, irresolute Hamlet acts, he does not have any time now. He swiftly throws the poisoned rapier into the heart of Claudius and forces him to drink the remaining poison.” However, Claudius’s death is irrelevant now, as all of the main characters are dead and Hamlet completed his revenge at the cost of his own
Even after everyone around him has moved on, Hamlet is still grieving. Hamlet’s reaction to his mother’s betrayal further proves that he is most passionate about his family. If he didn’t care about them, then his mother’s remarriage so soon after his father’s death wouldn’t have bothered him, but it clearly does. Hamlet believed in the love between his father and mother, and seeing Gertrude
The temptation of murder is thrown at Claudius towards the end of the play. This is revealed when he says “A chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping, if he by chance escape your venomed stuck, our purpose may hold there. —But stay, what noise” (4.7.155-159). In these lines, Claudius comes up with a plan to kill Hamlet when he returns. He is determined to keep the truth a secret as long as he lives.
Clarisse Santos S. Stamp ENG4UQ 12 July 2023 Title Every individual encounters difficulties that alter their viewpoints on life and their willingness to navigate these pressures. Therefore, it is essential to recover and acclimate oneself in the presence of tragedy in order to develop a sense of strength and resilience. This trait of resilience is demonstrated through the play of Shakespeare's Hamlet, which follows Prince Hamlet; he struggles with the death of his father and the abrupt marriage of his mother to his uncle, and is given the responsibility of getting revenge for his uncle’s transgressions.
Queen Gertrude is the Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, the widow of Old Hamlet and the wife of Claudius, brother of her dead husband. Gertrude is ignorant and a woman who means no harm but because of her actions it contributes greatly to the terrible events that occur throughout the play. In this play there’s many conflicts, one of the first conflicts was when Gertrude married King Claudius two months after Old Hamlet’s death. Gertrude is ignorant because she’s not aware of anything happening. For example she’s not aware that King Hamlet’s murder was by his own brother Claudius, even though they were some hints out there to show that it was King Claudius who killed Old Hamlet.
As he makes his manipulative actions, Claudius tries to hide Hamlet from the truth of the murder so that he can remain in power for as long as possible, at any costs possible. This is important to the play because we get to see how Claudius proves his intentions
Hamlet does delay his task to avenge his father but, he does at the right time and he does it properly. Before killing Hamlet needs to confirm if Claudius is a murderer and if he can trust a ghost. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet is told by the ghost of his father that Claudius killed him, shortly after the ghost tells Hamlet to avenge his father’s death. Hamlet believes the ghost and considers killing Claudius but, Hamlet double checks himself to make sure Claudius actually did kill the king by exposing his guilt after he sees a play similar to Claudius’ situation. This all is to make sure that Claudius actually killed
When Claudius was confessing about his sins, Hamlet had the perfect opportunity to kill him right there. But, right before he stabs him, he stops and thinks, “I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven, why this is hire and salary, not revenge” (Act 3 Scene 3). Before hamlet kills Claudius, he realizes something. He realizes that if he kills him them and there, he would be doing him a favor. Claudius was confessing at the time which means he was sorry for what he did.
Hamlet is smart for this act of deception since Claudius was on the verge of sending him off and this would ruin his whole plan to kill Claudius. This keeps him home and Claudius doesn 't suspect a thing. For Hamlet to act this way takes commitment, and shows how serious Hamlet is about avenging his father. He holds his tongue despite the inappropriate behavior from Claudius and his mother. Hamlet disapproves of Claudius’ behavior not only with his mother,
Hamlet eventually kills Claudius like his father told him to, but only did it after his mother, Gertrude, drank the poison that Claudius meant to give Hamlet. This is a result of external action from all the sorrows that was building up in Hamlet’s life. This brings us to our next character, Gertrude, Claudius’s wife and Hamlets
Hamlet was intelligent and careful yet slightly unsure of himself. The reasons behind his delay show that Hamlet was smart and cautious; thinking things through before he acted. This also shows that Hamlet was patient and did not rush into conclusions or actions. “Contagion to this world. Now could I drink hot blood and do such bitter business as the day would quake to look on.
Throughout the conversation and various parts of the play, Hamlet expresses his disgust for his mother 's actions. He insults her by comparing his father to Hyperion and Claudius to a satyr. He tells Gertrude not to sin by sleeping with him and tells her she is nothing but lustful for marrying a man like Claudius when he says, “That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,/ Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose/ From the fair forehead of an innocent love/ And sets a blister there, makes marriage vows/
When he learns Claudius is responsible for the death of his father, he intends to reveal this newfound information to not only Gertrude, but the rest of the characters. He is smart enough to know that she will not believe him based solely on his encounter with the ghost, and must create a trap where Claudius will reveal his guilt on his own. When the players arrive at the castle, he alters their script to mimic the king’s murder and “catch the conscience of the king” (II.ii.567). During the performance, Claudius shows signs of guilt and worry, making Hamlet’s plan a success and proving his
In act one Gertrude marries her dead husband 's brother Claudius, Hamlet is not very happy that his mother did this. Hamlet feels very betrayed by his own mother because she remarried so quickly. He feels as if this is an unforgivable
He was thinking about if he should just kill himself or if he should continue through with killing Claudius. He looks at both options all the way, if he kills himself he is scared “for in that sleep of death what dreams may come” (III.i.74), and if he lives he would still have to still claudius. He is scared because he doesn 't know what will happen to him if he dies.
In William Shakespeare’s story Hamlet, the title character allows the problem of procrastination to behave irrationally. Hamlet becomes obsessed with avenging his father's death but keeps thinking of reasons why he should wait before killing Claudius - But then chastises himself for failing to do it. Hamlet comes up with the idea of having a play that is similar to the event that the ghost of his father told him about. According to how king Claudius reacted, Hamlet knew that the ghost was telling the truth.