Hamlet Log 1 Hamlets ultimate goal is to avenge his fathers death by killing King Claudius but this end

is starting to seem more and more unlikely. As the play progresses, Hamlet is on the brink of being moved to England to be assassinated but is no closer to accomplishing his mission. In fact, he has done everything the ghost told him not to do and nothing he was supposed to. Hamlet is too much of a coward to kill the king and he seems to be slipping into a real madness, in which case his plan has already failed. Hamlet starts his mission by creating the impression that he is going insane in order to protect himself after he kills the king. From the start, he goes about his task in an indirect way; he starts with thinking of a way to protect himself after the event instead of focusing on how he is going to kill the king. This theme of using indirect methods to do things is consistent throughout the play. He spends so much time creating this illusion that his actions go past what is necessary and start to question his sanity. Things like him toying with Ophelia and his many crazed speeches to no one but himself serve no apparent benefit to Hamlet. This behavior coupled with the fact that he is seeing a ghost that nobody else can see and this ghost is causing extreme behavioral changes point to genuine insanity. Even if all his erratic behavior is just an elaborate act, it isnt getting him anywhere. Hamlet has already established that he is without a doubt disturbed in the eyes of the king and queen yet he does nothing after this. He keeps up his crazy act but starts to question his motives. His use of

Horatio to verify his opinions of the reaction of the king to the play shows an uncertainty of whether what he is doing is worth it. This is a surprising step for someone who has already made such a huge effort to display his insanity; it shows he is having doubts at a very late stage. On the other hand, it could be seen as smart since he is checking himself and making sure his emotions dont get in the way of his decision-making but for someone who is so vested in his mission, it is not a good point to start having doubts. His questioning of his motives and his spurning of the perfect opportunity show that Hamlet has not worked up the will to actually kill the king. He repeatedly bemoans his cowardice when he sees courage in others such as, How stand I then, That have a father killd, a mother staind, Excitements of my reason and my blood, And let all sleep, while to my shame I see The imminent death of twenty thousand men, That for a fantasy and trick of fame Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause My thoughts be bloody, or be worth nothing (IV.v) Here he sees 20,000 men laying their lives down for an insignificant piece of land that means nothing to them while he, with all the reason in the world to kill, cant bring himself to kill one man. Though he recognizes this deficiency in his intent, the knowledge doesnt seem to change anything as he has noticed this before: Whats Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,/ That he should weep for her? What would he do,/ Had he the motive and cue for passion/ That I have?... Yet Ican say and do nothing; no not for a king/ Upon whose property and dear life/ A damnd defeat was made (II. ii).

Though he keeps asking himself why he cant kill even with all this justification while others have more courage for much more insignificant matters, he never does anything about this. This lack of decisive action is what leads me to believe that Hamlet is not capable of killing the king and completing his mission. The whole time Hamlet is contemplating why he cant kill the king and reassuring himself that he will do it next time, his window is closing in two ways. First, he is being sent to England where he will presumably be killed. Second, his act is starting to look more like a real case of insanity, at which point he wont be able to think clearly enough to kill the king. He will therefore have failed the ghost in all ways by not avenging him, ruining his mind, and attacking his mother.