The Importance Of Decisions In Hamlet

The play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, involves many difficult decisions the main character contemplates in order to please his own motives. Throughout the text, Hamlet makes rash decisions in order to complete his most important task: the strive for revenge. Hamlet 's actions and emotions primarily revolve around the death of his father. This causes many people to believe Hamlet is insane. However, Hamlet believes he is fine and with his ludicrous plans and actions, he is determined to find Claudius guilty. Hamlet is greatly in control of his own actions because of his tendency to over analyze situations. Shakespeare uses indirect characterization to develop Hamlet 's actions and thoughts in different situations. Multiple times we …show more content…
The constant decisions Hamlet goes through shows that he is a cautious and hesitant person. Hamlet’s hardest decision is arguably the decision to kill Claudius. Revenge took control over Hamlet 's motives. Since revenge was Hamlet 's main priority, the decision to wait longer and not execute the plan shows a large amount of self control on his part. Hamlet comments, “To take him in the purging of his soul/ when he is fit and season 'd for his passage?...This physic but prolongs thy sickly days” (Act III, scene iii). Therefore, Hamlet contemplates whether he should kill Claudius or wait; he measures the effects of what his actions could lead up to and uses his judgement to act upon a situation. In this circumstance, Hamlet decides not to kill Claudius because Claudius was repenting; Hamlet knew that if he were to kill Claudius, revenge would not be satisfying because Claudius would have gone to heaven. Therefore, Hamlet took the repercussions into consideration and acted upon his …show more content…
The play states, “Thou turn’st mine eyes into my very soul/ and there I see such black and grained spots/ as will not leave their tinct” (Act III, scene iv). Some people might argue that Hamlet is not in control of his actions, rather he is influenced by the commands and advice of an apparition he sees. Hamlet tries to convince his mother of the wrong she has committed mainly because his father asks him to. Hamlet is shown to follow the advice the ghost provides. For example, the ghost tells Hamlet, “Do not forget. This visitation/ Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose” (Act III, scene iv). To extend, Hamlet follows the commands of the ghost supporting the claim that Hamlet is not in control but is influenced in his actions. However, although the ghost controls Hamlet to an extent, Hamlet is the person who decides whether he should trust the ghosts input. Therefore, hamlet is in control of his own actions because he chooses who to trust based on his knowledge. The reason Hamlet decides to trust the ghost is because the ghost is one of the only characters who shares the same motive as Hamlet and is also truthful. Ultimately, Hamlet convincing Gertrude of her guiltiness is an action of his own because he chooses who to trust through careful