Hamlet Indecisiveness Essay

Perfection is merely an ideology that can never be obtained and is constantly being pulled down by human’s own imperfections. In William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, Shakespeare sheds light on the tragic flaws of heroic characters; the tragedy that befalls Hamlet is the result of his unrealistic idealism, which is the cause of Hamlet’s alienation and indecisiveness.
Hamlet’s unrealistic idealism alienates him, and can be seen through his abhorrence of women’s “frailty” (I,ii,146) which causes his relationship with Gertrude and Ophelia to deteriorate. Hamlet expects his mother to mourn for her husband’s death and to live a life honoring him; however, the queen remarries with Claudius. Hamlet is deeply discouraged by the marriage of his uncle and
Firstly, Hamlet is not willing to take any chances. He places the ghost’s statements in doubt that the ghost “may be the devil who hath the power to assume a pleasing shape”(II,ii,596). Until he has the perfect justifications and reasons for the revenge, he cannot perform the deed; therefore, he sets up a play “to catch the conscience of the king”(II,ii,604) which is merely an excuse for his cowardliness. Furthermore, Hamlet’s reluctance to kill Claudius while he is praying best illustrates the search for ideal opportunity. Hamlet considers the murder as “hire and salary”(III,iii,80) where he is doing a favor for the murderer by sending him to heaven. Hence, he decides to wait for the ideal moment when “there is no relish of salvation”(III,iii,93) in his actions where “his soul may be damn’d and black as hell, where to it goes”(III,iii,95). Hamlet’s refusal to commit revenge pushes him to a deeper predicament where the King directly threatens his life. Ironically, since perfection can never be attained, Hamlet will never be satisfied with anything he does. Just like a writer with deadlines, he will never be able to achieve anything, which is the ultimate cause of his