Shakespeare's Tragic Play Hamlet

Shakespeare's tragic play Hamlet presents revenge as a major theme present throughout the play and illustrate it to plays a crucial role in development of prince Hamlet. Society surround Hamlet is completely corrupted. Hamlet's father was murdered by his uncle Claudius who immediately married Hamlet's mother and usurped the throne. "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" (I,iv,100). This line comes by Marcellus, An officer of the palace guard, foreshadows that Shakespeare gives Hamlet key role of tragic hero who faces the society with full of chaos and corruption. This explains Hamlet's revenge is not only as individual reprisal but also as confrontation with the irrationalities of the society. As moral avenger, Hamlet must find the moral reason to take his revenge. Therefore Hamlet spends much of his precious time in evaluation. In the play, the period of inaction can be explained as Hamlet's own journey to seek moral justification for his revenge.

Hamlet has a dilemma. He is confused that should he trust the ghost's words completely or should he take the time to check the truth of the ghost's words. Hamlet states, "The spirit that I have seen may be the devil, and the devil hath power t'assume a pleasing shape (II.ii.254). To Hamlet, It is wiser to check does ghost who claims to be his father is saying truth or not. If he has been deceived by the ghost, Hamlet's revenge cannot be justified and may turns into lunacy. Also he would appear to be an easily persuaded and manipulated fool. The first two acts allow Hamlet to gather needed evidence against his uncle. Therefore, Hamlet should take revenge in his own methodical and logical way, which many readers might interpret as delay.

Hamlet must prepare for the perfect time to perform his deed. His task is not just murder but cold blooded revenge. He believes revenge is not exacted until the evil deeds of the offender are revealed and the public knows the truth. Under this belief, Hamlet cannot kill Claudius until he can prove that he poisoned his father, King Hamlet. Also this is key reason why he waits Laertes's exclamation of Claudius' guilt in the final act. Also Hamlet is man instilled with Christian belief and moral viewpoint. When Claudius was praying, Hamlet delays again his revenge toward his uncle. "A villain kills my father, and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven. Why this is <hire> and <salary,> not revenge." (III,iii,81-85) Due to his Christian belief, Hamlet strongly believes that if he kills Claudius while praying, Claudius's soul will go to heaven. Therefore, Hamlet is not wasting time, but rather using his time for justification for his deed. Prince waits to add sins and crimes to Claudius' soul and that is the right time to kill him. Hamlet cannot be concluded as indecisive or weak character