Hamlet’s Procrastination or Delay in killing King Claudius

Procrastination in Hamlet - 1 -

Hamlet’s Procrastination or Delay in killing King Claudius 1. Shakespearean tragedy

A Shakespearean tragedy may be defined as a story of exceptional calamity leading to the death of a man occupying a high position or status. A tragedy by Shakespeare is concerned principally with one man, and is a tale of suffering and misfortune leading to his death, and of some others also. The hero must be a man holding a lofty position and commanding respect; and the suffering or misfortune must be of an exceptional or extraordinary kind so as to produce strong tragic feelings, especially of pity, awe and terror.

2. Appearance of GhostIn the opening scenes of the play, the Ghost of Hamlet’s late father reveals to him

the true means by which Senior King Hamlet had died. The Ghost tells Hamlet that his father’s death was caused by Claudius pouring poison into his ear. He exhorts Hamlet to avenge the murder. Hamlet’s initial response is to act on the Ghost’s exhortation quickly. Hamlet says;

"Haste me to know’t that I with wings as swift… May sweep to my revenge."

Yet by the end of the same scene, his reluctance to murder King Claudius is evident. Hamlet says;

"The time is out of joint, O cursed spite, that I was ever born to set it right."

Many theories have been put forward as to the reasons for Hamlet’s delay in avenging the King from hereon in. One theory suggests that Hamlet wished to determine the nature of the Ghost before acting, for he says in Act II, Scene II that

"The spirit I have seen may be a devil."

3. Meeting with OpheliaWhen he meets Ophelia after seeing the ghost, his dress is disordered apparently a

cover to demonstrate his ‘antic disposition’ which he has put on deliberately to but his expression reveals much more than cunning disguise or play-acting. Ophelia is shocked by it as Hamlet himself is after seeing the Ghost:

“As if he had been loosed out of hell,To speak of horrors”

4. Internal & External CausesSome critics justify Hamlet’s delay in killing the King Claudius by two main

causes, the internal causes and external causes. The internal cause is within Hamlet’s character and the conflict between his moral scrupulous nature and the act of revenge. The external causes are the difficulties that he encounters.

5. The external causesThe external causes of Hamlet’s delay are the physical difficulties in situation. Claudius is not a weak king. He is a shrewd man who does everything to protect his life from unforeseen attacks. He is not only surrounded by couriers but also strongly protected by his Swiss body-guards. However, even after the ‘play within a play’ through which Hamlet has obtained his ‘proof’ as to the nature of the Ghost and confirmed that Claudius is guilty, Hamlet says

Compiled By: Sh. Muhammad Aamir Saeed M.A. English, IELTS, DIT0300-4362818, 0345-7493749


"I’ll take the Ghost’s word for a thousand pound,"

But fails to act and can only contemplate the event.

Similarly, when Hamlet happens upon Claudius praying, he does not take the opportunity to kill the King; rather he makes excuses, saying he does not want Claudius to go to heaven. However, this is little more than a delay tactic, and Hamlet also does not make any further plans to kill the King.

“When he is drunk asleep or in his rage, Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed, At game swearing or about some act;”

6. Internal causesInternal causes which make Hamlet delay in his action are within his own character. Some attribute the cause of delay to his cowardly nature which dares into act for fear of consequences. There is ample proof to show that Hamlet is not a coward and is capable of fearless acts of heroism in the face of danger and difficulty. When the ghost beckons Hamlet to follow him and Horatio and Marcellus try to restrain him. But he threatens them saying “Unhand me gentleman, By Heaven, I’ll make a ghost of him that lets me.” These brave words cannot come from a frail and weak person.

7. Incapacity for quick decisionsThe tragedy of Hamlet does mainly to a defect in his own nature. This defect is

his incapacity for quick decisions . This is due to an excess of thinking and reflection. The energy that should have been spent on action is spent on the process of thinking. Hamlet is by nature given to reflection and meditation. He thinks too much after the ghost has revealed the fact of Claudius treachery. Hamlet determines to avenge his father’s murder. But after that instead of becoming a man of action, he becomes a man of no action, exhausted by the energy of his own thoughts and feelings and Hamlet confesses it:

“And thus the native hue of resolution,Is sicklied over with the place cast of thought”

8. Fate or Destiny’s roleIt has been pointed out above that although a defect of character is chiefly responsible for the tragic end of the hero, that defect is not solely or wholly responsible for it. Fate or destiny also plays a part in tragic dramas of Shakespeare. Hamlet certainly produces a feeling in us that there is some mysterious power working in this universe and that this power upsets human hopes, plans and calculations. The very appearance of the Ghost in this play is a situation for which fate is responsible. The appearance of the Ghost, therefore, arouses the sense of mystery and creates a feeling that fate is playing a deliberate part in human affairs. The fact that Hamlet is required to perform that task when he is temperamentally and constitutionally incapable of it.

"The time is out of joint, O cursed spite, that I was ever born to set it right."

9. Closet Scene/Reappearance of GhostFinding Hamlet irresolute, fate again intervenes, so that Hamlet again sees the Ghost, this time in his mother’s closet, and is told by it that it has come to “whet thy almost blunted purpose”. Finally the sense of fate in this play receives further emphasis by the words of Hamlet in Act V, when he says:

“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends”

10. Sensitive & Introverted young man



The most plausible explanation is that Hamlet is a sensitive, introverted young man, who is naturally prone to melancholia. The Ghost’s revelation and also the fact that his mother has remarried to King Claudius, intensify his already melancholic disposition. His mother’s remarriage is an abomination in Hamlet’s eyes. This is because the marriage was soon after his father’s death; King Hamlet was "But three months dead." This shows little sensitivity to those who are grieving and also implies that their relationship was initiated before King Hamlet died. Secondly, the marriage was against Christian law, which made it a sin. Hamlet says to his mother in Act III: 4,

"Have you not eyes? You cannot call it love. O shame! Where is thy blush?"

These successive shocks deepen Hamlet’s depression. In Act II: Scene II Hamlet says to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,

"I have of late…lost all my mirth."

He falls deeper and deeper into the slough of fruitless brooding. In his first soliloquy he says;

"O that this too too sullied flesh would melt."

Thus, the task is too onerous for the fragile, melancholic Hamlet.

11. Hamlet as a philosopherIn addition, Hamlet was a philosopher rather than a man of action, unlike Claudius and Laertes. He himself sees that one of his problems is to "think too precisely on the event." He is intellectual and reflective, preferring to ponder rather than take action.

Hamlet also delays killing the King because he is unsure of the morality of carrying out such a task. This factor is important as Hamlet is a very idealistic and moralistic person. Revenge was prohibited by ecclesiastical law, but the duty of ‘personal honour’ prevalent in Elizabethan times often won through. In the play, Hamlet debates the morality of revenge, saying that

"Is’nt not perfect conscience and isn’t not to be damned to let this canke of our nature come in further evil."

At this stage it is clear that Hamlet is having serious doubts about killing the King. After all, to kill an anointed King, even in an act of revenge, was considered a serious offence. Furthermore, as Hamlet points out in the above quote, he would be carrying out the very act he was condemning. In addition, in regards to his mother’s sin, the ghost had told Hamlet to "leave her to Heaven." This creates a moral dilemma for Hamlet because if it is God’s duty to deal with his Mother’s sin, surely the same applies to Claudius.

12. ConclusionIn conclusion, Hamlet delays in killing the King because of his own character; he is a philosopher and is of a melancholic disposition. External events in the play do not contribute to Hamlet’s delay, but are rather used to Hamlet’s advantage as excuses to further delay avenging his father’s murder.

Points to Remember

A Shakespearean tragedy may be defined as a story of exceptional calamity The problem of delay on the part of Hamlet to have his revenge looks so complex In the opening scene, the Ghost of Hamlet’s late father reveals the true



o The end of the same scene, his reluctance to murder King Claudius. Many theories have been put forward as to the reasons for Hamlet’s delay When he meets Ophelia after seeing the ghost critics justify Hamlet’s delay in killing the King Claudius by two main causes The external causes of Hamlet’s delay Hamlet happens upon Claudius praying-does not take the opportunity to kill Internal causes which make Hamlet delay in his action within his own character

o Hamlet is not a coward and capable of fearless acts of heroism Hamlet delay due to a defect in his own nature- incapacity for quick decisions Fate or destiny also plays a part in tragic dramas of Shakespeare

o Hamlet again sees the Ghost, this time in his mother’s closet The most plausible explanation- Hamlet a sensitive, introverted young man


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Hamlet’s Procrastination or Delay in killing King Claudius