Hamlet's Dilemma

In my opinion, I think Hamlet’s hesitation over killing Claudius was necessary. I don’t think Hamlet treated the act as carefully as he should of, but  overall the smart decision was to wait.  Taking action would stay true to Hamlet’s purpose in getting revenge, and prevent him from later killing Polonius, but the future ramifications would be even worse.

I imagine that the consequences for Hamlet immediately taking action involve either execution or exile. For example, in Shakespeare’s other play, Romeo and Juliet , Romeo’s original punishment for killing Tibolt (Juliet’s cousin) was going to be the death penalty. However, when the people learned that Tibolt killed Mercutio (Romeo’s best friend) first and realized that Tibolt would have been executed for committing this crime anyway, they amended Romeo’s punishment to being banished.  Both Romeo and Hamlet hold a high social status in these plays, but only Romeo had proof of his enemy committing murder first. If Hamlet was to kill the king with no evidence of Claudius killing his brother, Hamlet’s punishment could be more or just as (with extreme luck) dreadful. Also, because Hamlet appears to be going crazy, his credibility is compromised.  It would be difficult for anyone to take his word that his father was murdered by his uncle when he looks like he’s losing his mind. Since he seems so affected by his mother and uncle’s marriage, people could also believe it was just a ploy to get rid of Claudius in order to end their relationship.

Besides the potential cons to taking action, taking time has a few advantages on Hamlet’s side. For instance, Hamlet’s idea about waiting for when killing Claudius would put him outside of heaven wouldn’t have come if he didn’t hesitate.  Taking Claudius’ life wouldn’t have been revenge- Hamlet would have to wait for this moment in order to truly inflict the pain on him that Claudius caused his father. Time also gives Hamlet the opportunity to prove to people that Claudius had killed his dad in order to replace him.  Although Hamlet mistakenly killed Polonius while he was “waiting for the perfect time,” I believe the action was still done impulsively; given the circumstance, Hamlet was probably full of adrenaline and anxiety. I think even more time was needed in order for Hamlet to carry out his plan meticulously. Then, he would be more focused and would have had no room for error.