In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Prince Hamlet discovers that his father King Hamlet was murdered by King Claudius. When Prince Hamlet realizes this, he devises a plan to avenge his fathers tragic death. Unfortunately for Prince Hamlet, there are many mistakes he makes in this scheme. The greatest mistake in Prince Hamlet's plan to take vengeance for his fathers death was not killing King Claudius when the opportunity presented itself. One of the many mistakes in Prince Hamlet's plan to seek revenge was to act insane. By doing so, it caused people to pay more attention to him. If he never would have acted mentally ill, he could have gone about his revenge more quietly, quickly, and efficiently. This was an error in his plan because instead of gaining the leverage he needed over the King to kill him, he gave the King reason to send him away. By Prince Hamlet acting mentally ill, he was constantly having people send spies to watch out for him. What Prince Hamlet did not realize was acting insane would make people always have a watchful eye on him, rather than people not really paying attention to what he did around the castle. One of the many mistakes in Prince Hamlet’s plan to avenge his father was making King Claudius aware that Prince Hamlet knew he murdered his father. “What, frightened with false fire”(Shakespeare III.ii.292)? He accomplished this though the play. Prince Hamlet devised a plan to put a play on so he and Horatio could watch for a reaction from King Claudius to the reenactment of his fathers murder. By doing so, Prince Hamlet allowed the King to realize that it was no longer a secret, and it was only a matter of time until someone found out. Prince Hamlet killing Polonius was another blunder because he was to blinded by his rage to realize that the man behind the curtain was not the King, but rather Polonius. "Mad as the sea and wind when both contend Which is the mightier. In his lawless fit, Behind the arras hearing something stir,Whips out his rapier, cries "A rat, a rat,"" (Shakespeare IV.i.7-10). When Hamlet acted out of rage, he persuaded everybody to think that he was to unstable to stay in Denmark. Because of this, he was sent away to England by King Claudius. The effects of killing Polonius, Ophelia’s father, caused Ophelia to truly go mad and end her life. “But long could it not be Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, Pulled the poor wretch from her melodious lay To muddy death”(Shakespeare IV.vii.205-8). When Prince Hamlet wrote the letter to King Claudius stating that he was coming back to Denmark, he gave up the element of surprise. This was an error in his plan for revenge because now that King Claudius knew of his arrival, Prince Hamlet no longer had the chance to ambush the King and avoid the deaths of himself and others. Also by writing this letter, it gave the King time to prepare for Hamlets return. It also provided time for King Claudius to retaliate and conclude another way to get rid of Hamlet once and for all. Prince Hamlet not killing King Claudius when he had the chance is a fatal blunder in Prince Hamlet's plan because now that he didn't kill him, he would unintentionally cause the deaths of those around him. He did not kill him for the fear of King Claudius’ soul going to heaven, when he believed it should burn in hell for all eternity. "Now I might do is pat, now he is a-praying, And now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven" (Shakespeare III.iii.77-80). Also, because of Prince Hamlet's delay in taking his life, King Claudius now had more time to think of ways to get rid of Hamlet before he could get his revenge. Prince Hamlet made tragic mistakes in his plan to avenge his poor fathers tragic demise. Unfortunately for Prince Hamlet, his mistakes were fatal. Yes, he did manage to kill King Claudius and avenge his father, but in the process not only the King was killed, so was Prince Hamlet. He sacrificed his own life, and the life of others, for revenge.
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