Shakespeare's Hamlet Fails to Act in a Timely Manner

Failure to Act. "Continually resolving to do, yet doing nothing but resolve"(Lecture 12, 2:154-55). These words are those of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and arise from an analysis of the character Hamlet. Many questions arise when it comes to Shakespeare's Hamlet. One major point of analysis is Hamlet's failure to act in a timely manner. In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet fails to act for three reasons: uncertainties whether the ghost brings forth good or evil intentions, fear of repercussions in the afterlife, and cowardice.

First of all, Hamlet fails to act due to a doubt of the intentions of his father's "ghost." This hesitation is well founded since there is no true way of legitimizing the ghosts' intentions or identity. It can be seen that Hamlet approaches this situation in caution when he says, "My father's spirit - in arms! All is not well, / I doubt some foul play. Would the night were to come! / Till then sit still, my soul. [Foul] deeds will rise / Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes" (1.2.254-58). These words show contemplative thought on the issue of what may happen if Hamlet goes to see the ghost. Nonetheless, he goes forth and investigates knowing that the outcome may be dark and unfavorable. What leads him to say during his confrontation,

Angels and ministers defend us!

Be though a spirit of health or a goblin damn'd,

Bring the airs from heaven, or blasts from hell,

Be thy intents wicked, or charitable,

Thou com'st in such a questionable shape

That I will speak to thee. I'll call thee Hamlet,

King, father, royal dane. O answer me! (1.4.40-5)

In an attempt to gain a hold of the situation he says a prayer and questions the ghost upfront about his identity and business rising from the dead. By the end of the interrogation he has already labeled the ghost as his father, rather hastily. One can see that already in the beginning Hamlet begins to let his guard down. The fact that he has officially labeled the ghost's identity as his father's reveals that he has allowed this thought to be entertained, in a sense tricking himself to believe in a skeptical idea. Later on at certain points in the play, he questions the validity of the ghost when he says, "The spirit that I have seen / May be a [devl], and the [devl] hath power / T' assume a pleasing shape" (3.1.578-580). It is at these crucial points that Hamlet can be seen as an indecisive person caught between the ramblings of a dark specter, haunted ghost, or mental exaggerations. These occasional mental checkpoints that Hamlet places up in the long run slow his progress to act. From another perspective one can also see that although Hamlet's arguments and slow reaction to take action on his "fathers ghost" can be viewed as cautionary, they can also be viewed as cowardice since he goes back and forth between positions throughout the play in a sense buying precious time.

Aside from questions about the validity of his father's ghost, Hamlet fails to act due to a fear of repercussions in the afterlife. These fears are contemplated in many of his dialogues and his long soliloquies on mortality. One sees Hamlet fears when he reasons, "O' all you host of heaven! O earth! What else? / And shall I couple hell? O fie, hold, hold, my heart" (1.5.92-4). He questions the worth of the act that he is asked to commit by the ghost; he thinks that if he does avenge his father in righteousness all that awaits him is eternal damnation. It's this pull from both sides of the spectrum that Hamlet feels, a contrast of what is just and what is right, the just being the avenging of his father but suffering eternal damnation, and the right allowing Claudius to live and leave all the rest to God almighty, for eventually all good things must come to an end, the good being life . This in turn leads to another major element of Hamlet and his character. The reflection of suicide and the worth of the human soul, for if the soul in not worth much, then it would be reasonable to just throw it away to avenge the wrongful passing of a loved one. It is this thought and mind set that that is carefully analyzed by Hamlet himself when he argues,

To be or not to be, that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end then. To die, to sleep-

No more, and by a sleep to say we end

The heart - ache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to; 'tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep- (3.1.55-63).

It is in this soliloquy that one can see the very reasoning behind the slow deliberate resolution to follow through with all his plans, the fact that Hamlet must convince himself that the gain is worth the pain, the fact that there is only one life to live before an "eternal sleep." To further understand the point of view Hamlet is coming from, it is imperative that one look back to one of his reflections on the afterlife and death. One such example can be found when he says,

But that the dread of something after death,

The undiscover'd country from whose bourn

No traveler returns, puzzles the will,

And makes us rather bear those ills we have,

Than fly to others that we know not of? (3.1.77-81).

The lines further demonstrate the fear of death and fear of what may come or lack of what may come. As stated, a place where no traveler returns is a fearful place to travel to, the fact that no one knows if there even is an afterlife, or that there may just be emptiness and nonexistence waiting on the other side. It is this thought that further causes Hamlet to slow down and try to absorb the full consequences of what he may be giving up on the word of a questionable ghost. Yet again the audience can be able to perceive that the slow contemplation on death itself is a waste of precious time. An example is the praying scene with Claudius. Had Hamlet not been a coward and not thought too much into the repercussions he would have had the deed done with long ago. This contemplation of death added to further contemplation on the afterlife hint toward the third main reason and root for Hamlets failure to act, cowardice.

Hamlet fails to act in a timely manner due to his characters mortal flaw; cowardice. One instance of this cowardice occurs when he comes back from the meeting with the ghost. He forces everyone that has seen the ghost to, "Never speak of this that you have heard" (1.5.160). It is this fear of what others may say or do that leads him to paranoia and intense secrecy. Another instance where One may come in contact with Hamlet's cowardice is when he says, "Now might I do it [pat], now 'a is a praying;/ And now I'll do't - and so 'a goes to heaven" (3.1.73-4). Once again it is interesting to observe that Hamlet is at an opportune moment to finish the task but hesitates by over thinking the matter. The fact that he wants to damn Claudius and leave no chance for Heavens grace is just cover so that he can buy more time prior to carrying out his plan. Unfortunately for Hamlet the scene in the church would have been the best time to act. But since he over thought the subject, he does not act. It is this scene thatreminds us of Coleridge: "resolve to do but do nothing but resolve" (Lecture 12, 2:154-55). We see just how much of a coward Hamlet can become. Although many can say that his reasoning can be justified, who is he to choose the fate of mortals? He has no say in what happens to Claudius's soul in the end, he also was explicitly told to only kill Claudius and leave the rest to God. Finally, one can see the extent of Hamlet's cowardice in the way he reflects on the creation of the Mouse Trap when he says,

"What's Hecuba to him, or he to [Hecuba],

That he should weep for her? What would he do

Had he the motive and [the cue] for passion

That I have?"(2.2.539-42).

It is here that one can see that he continues to beat himself up over what he has done and not done while at the same time knowing that he does not want to take part in any sort of revenge at the moment or whether he can ever manage it.

The uncertainty about whether the ghost brings forth good or evil intentions, fear of repercussions in the afterlife, and cowardice aid in the inhibition of action that should have been taken sooner in the play. Particularly cowardice, since many of his actions such as contemplation of death, repercussions in the afterlife, and uncertainty in the ghost can be looked upon as feeble attempts to postpone the carrying out of the murder. Reminiscent of what Coleridge stated, he is constantly resolving yet only resolving and not doing. A lot of time could have been saved and many lives could have been spared had Hamlet acted sooner.

Note

Examples are conveniently available in Wofford. See Cooleridge,

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Shakespearean Criticism. 1930. 2 vols. Ed. Thomas Middleton

Raysor. Everyman Library Edition. New York: Dutton, 1960. Based on reports and

Lectures Coleridge gave in 1811-19, supplemented by his notes. qtd in Wofford

Works Cited

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Shakespearean Criticism. 1930. 2 vols. Ed. Thomas Middleton

Raysor. Everyman Library Edition. New York: Dutton, 1960. Based on reports and

Lectures Coleridge gave in 1811-19, supplemented by his notes.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. From The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton, 1974. Rpt. in Hamlet. Ed. Susanne L. Wofford. New York: Bedford, 1994.

Wofford, Susanne L. A Critical History of Hamlet. . New York: Bedford, 1994.