Play Hamlet example essay topic

The play Hamlet is seen as a story about indecisiveness, and therefore about Hamlet's failure to act appropriately. It can be argued that Hamlet is on the edge of sanity during some of the most intense moments in the play. He hears from the ghost of his father that he was murdered. But then Hamlet derives his own plan to act insane in front of the others to search for the answer.

At times it seems that morals and conscience are lost within his act, and in the end death catches up with him. Considering this, one must pose the question: what kind of king would Hamlet have made? If Hamlet had survived the events of the play and succeeded Claudius to the throne of Denmark, he would have made an incompetent king. This is justified by the following reasons; he lacks decisiveness on important decisions, he spends relatively little time looking out for others, and he will never recover from the betrayals he endured through the events of the play. Hamlet is characterized for is inability to act, and when he does act, it is with surprising swiftness and little or no premeditation. It is odd that he would spend so much time contemplating his own existence, but after only hearing someone's voice through a curtain he would wildly thrust his sword through.

Throughout the play there is a contrast of Hamlet's long, inconclusive soliloquies and his rash and impulsive actions. The king of a nation must have the intellect to reach a conclusion, and the patience to carry out a plan effectively. Hamlet has trouble even coming to a decision in the first place. When he is alone in the castle, he says to himself: 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 them. ( , i, 63-67) In this quote, Hamlet contemplates whether or not it is morally legitimate to end an unbearably painful life by suicide. First of all, after thirty or so lines of deliberation, he still hasn't found his answer.

Secondly, how could Hamlet become a leader who looks out for the lives of others when he is debating the value of his own existence? Another example of Hamlet's indecisiveness is when, after the performance of the play-within-the-play, he learns that Claudius did in fact murder his father. Once again alone, Hamlet says: 'Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world. Now I could drink hot blood, And do such bitter business as the day Would quake to look on ( , ii, 381-385) Hamlet speaks of his most evil intentions, and says that the time is right and he is ready to kill Claudius.

In the second act, Hamlet speaks to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, explaining the melancholy that has afflicted him since his father's death. He engages in metaphorical speech, building up an elaborate and glorified picture of the earth and humanity before declaring it all merely an embodiment of dust... this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave overhanging firmament, this majestic al roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appear eth nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. (II, ii, 313-318) Hamlet examines the earth, the air, and the sun. He says the earth is a barren site and the air and sun are nothing to him but polluted and diseased vapours. What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension, how like a god, the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals - and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? (II, ii, 318-324) He then praises human beings' noble reasons, infinite abilities, admirable appearances and movements, actions angelic, and godlike understanding.

But, to Hamlet, humankind is merely dust..