Delay in Revenge Takes Men to Fall In Practical life

By JH Sayyar

Hamlet is a famous play of Shakespeare and is read by most of the world people after the Bible according to a latest survey. It is considered one of the complex plays due to Hamlet’s delay in taking revenge and his antic – disposition. Macmillan says, “This universe is the enigma of God and Hamlet’s antic- disposition and delay in action is the enigma of Shakespeare. It is most difficult for readers and critics to trace out the real causes of Prince Hamlet’s delay in action. Here Hemingway says, “ Hamlet is the mystery and Brutus is the puzzle. Shakespeare rewrite the tragedy of Brutus and called it the tragedy of Hamlet.”

The other group of critics thinks that Hamlet’s delay in action is due to his skepticism and skepticism is the product of philosophy. As we see Hamlet is the most brilliant student of philosophy at Wittenberg University. In spite of confirming the real causes of his father’s murder he fails in taking revenge and always thinks doubts in these words:

“The spirit that I have seen

May be a devil and devil hath power

To assume a pleasing shape, yea, and perhaps.”

The third group says that Hamlet’s delay in action is due to his situational madness, philosophical thinking, and love for Ophelia and fear of his own death stops him to take action.” The fourth group says,” Hamlet’s mother makes hasty marriage and the appearance of the ghost makes delay in action.” But pondering over the text that shows that the main cause of delay in action is his skepticism.

It is a fact that revenge makes a man mentally blind but with Hamlet the case is entirely reverse. He does not lose his temperament even in tough condition. He thinks in these words:

“She married, O, most wicked speed to post

with such dexterity, to incestuous sheets

It is not, nor it cannot come too good

But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue.”

When he makes intention to kill Polonius so he was saying prayer at the time. However he did not kill him in spite of having a golden chance. If he kills him he will go to heaven and he does not want to send him in heaven without perdition. It is a pure Christian thought pertaining to philosophical thinking. On the other hand the corruption of the whole world of the drama puzzles Hamlet. Therefore he exclaims in these words:

“To be or not to be, that is question

…to die… to sleep…

To sleep- perchance to dream

For in the sleep of death, what dream may come.”

On the other hand Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and his mother all are spying Hamlet. In such circumstances his madness is natural but transitory, not real and permanent. Now he thinks what he should in such condition while he was alone and all his actions are being watched.

So he was right to say, ‘ to be or not to be, that is the question.” When Hamlet is busy making a private meeting with his mother and Polonius tries to spy them. Considering him to be the King he kills him knowingly but his guess proved wrong and it was the second cause of Hamlet’s delay in taking revenge. For he believed in Christianity that the reward of sin is death, Killing Polonius he repents of his sin in these words:

“I do repent but heaven hath pleased it

To punish me with this, with me

That I must be there, scourge and minister

The death I gave, so again good ought

I must be cruel only to be kind

The bad begins and worse remain behind.”

After killing Polonius his internal conflict increases more. He considered him the murderer of Polonius, when he got senses so at once the ghost appeared before him and said him to take action. Her mother’s hasty marriage and the ghost appearance again and again makes him semi mad. Because Hamlet wanted to kill the both but the ghost forbade him to do so. Because the ghost warns him about her other in these words:

“Leave her to heaven

And t those thorns that in her bosom lodge

To prick and sting her.”

Therefore, Hamlet thinks why the ghost forbids him to do so. Then after a short time the ghost re- appears and says Hamlet in these words:

“Do not forget this visitation

But look, amazement on thy mother sits

O stop between her and her fighting soul

Conceit in weakest body strongest works

Speak to her Hamlet.”

Again he looks in puzzling situation and he orders to play within the play to justify the ghost’s words in which he will judge the King’s and the Queen’s expressions of their faces while watching the play. But the ghost creates a new conflict in the mind of Hamlet not say anything harsh anything to her mother but hurry up to take revenge from Claudius.

It is also the third main cause of delay in action. The play proves Claudius to be the guilty of his father but he could not kill him but was killed. Lock son writes in his new book, The Design of Hamlet’s Mind, “ The second time appearance of the ghost creates doubts in Hamlet’s mind some that it is not his father’s ghost but a devil misguides him to do wrong things.”

Actually all the characters are in defensive position but non-is in attacking position. If Hamlet thinks of taking revenge from the both but the ghost forbids him to do so. Polonius could not kill Hamlet openly due to the fear of his mother and the public popularity of Hamlet.

To sum up, at the end there was nothing appears. We can say that much ado about nothing. Hamlet was the victim of the natural laws because nature is active and like active thing not dead like Hamlet so the thing that is still is dead in the eyes of natural laws and that law declares the thing dead. We call it death. In this respect all the characters were inactive in taking action.

Natural justice is imposed on all the characters. Delay and madness were the causes for the public and the shallow minded people. Because Hamlet says to, “Horatio, there is a divinity that shape our trends.” What is means we can do by our own will. If we propose God dispose. Therefore, what can a man do in such situation, nothing, and nothing like me.

Therefore, at the end Hamlet puts all the blame on the nature that shapes our trends. Actually nature gives chances to do something but all the brave themselves avail of chances and get success and all coward themselves cannot avail the chances and fall to the ground like Hamlet in the play Hamlet.