Anatomy of a Critical Essay

Introduction

So why won't Hamlet just do it? What flaw in his character leads to his tragic demise? Throughout the play, Hamlet has several opportunities to take revenge on Claudius, yet he does not take advantage of them. Some people say that it is because he is a procrastinator, or that he is a coward, or that madness destroys his life before he seeks revenge. But I see more than these reasons. To me, Hamlet's "hamartia" is the overconfidence he has in himself to go through with the revenge.

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One of the earliest indications that Hamlet may be just a little too sure of himself is when he first sees and talks to the ghost. In a state of great excitement, Hamlet declares himself ready to revenge: "Haste me to know't, that I with wings as swift/ As meditation, or the thoughts of love,/ May sweep to my revenge" (I, v, 29-31). Hamlet is so overwhelmed he agrees to seek revenge before the identification of the murder is made and the details of the crime are provided. The arrogance in Hamlet's character is further shown soon after the ghost leaves. Even though Hamlet has told the ghost he would revenge whoever was the murderer immediately and he has sworn that the ghost's "commandment all alone shall live/ Within the book and volume of my brain" (I, v, 102-03), Hamlet develops the idea to act crazy: "to put on an antic disposition" (I, v, 172). Why act crazy? Why not directly kill the King (as Laertes threatens to do to Hamlet in revenge later in the play)? Hamlet's first act in carrying out his revenge really delays the enactment of that revenge. His choice to delay wasn't due to fear or procrastination; he acted crazy because of his comfortable sureness--his pride in his craftiness--to revenge.

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In addition, we can see more evidence of Hamlet's overconfidence in the scenes revolving around the play within the play. Despite the fact that two months delay and pretended madness have lead him to doubt the ghost, he latches onto his little plot to test Claudius and the ghost with sureness and a kind of giddiness. When he asks the player to play The Murder of Gonzago, we hear command and quick determination in his voice, "Well ha't [the play] tomorrow night" (II, ii, 511). His confidence in his plot is clearly seen in his soliloquy right after the players have left: "I'll observer his looks/ I'll tent him to the quick, if a' do blench/ I know my course" (II, ii, 571-573). Hamlet bravely is sure that this elaborate and indirect plot will lead him to kill Claudius if he sees he is guilty. Interestingly, Hamlet fails to kill the King when he does show his guilt during the play. Why doesn't Hamlet do the bloody deed? Because he is sure of his ability to do the killing when he wishes. This overconfidence in his craftiness shows itself in the rapidity with which he re-adopts his pretend madness when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern return after the play to speak with him. Guildenstern asks Hamlet to put his "discourse into some frame, and start not so wildly from my affair" and says his "courtesy is not of the right breed" (III, ii, 290-1, 296). Hamlet confidently sinks back into his crafty method of carrying out the revenge. In the same scene, Hamlet's true lion nature comes out when he admonishes Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: "'S'blood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me" (III, ii, 347-350). This is not wimp speaking. This is no madman. This is the powerful voice of confidence.

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Further evidence that Hamlet's tragic flaw is his overconfidence can be seen when he fails to kill Claudius when he was praying. Hamlet sees his opportunity and confidently says, "Now might I do it pat" (III, iii, 72). But Hamlet doesn't kill the king at that moment. Instead, he chooses to wait for a better moment: "Up sword, and know thou a more horrid hent/ When he is drunk asleep or in his rage,/ Or in th' incestuous pleasure of his bed" (III, iii, 87-90). Hamlet arrogantly and surely presumes that he will do the revenge in a better way than the one presented to him.

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4th Body paragraph: Fourth Primary Support

Lastly, although Hamlet struggles with his procrastination, he can't escape his arrogance and manic confidence in his ability as seen in the episode surrounding his exile to England. He first shows this confidence when he informs his mother he will be sent to England. Speaking about his friends who will escort him to execution in England, Hamlet says, "But I will delve on yard below their mines/ And blow them at the moon:/ O' tis most sweet / When in one line to crafts directly meet" (Iv, i, 212-214). Hamlet is confident he can outdo this plot against him, and even believes leaving England in this way will help him with his revenge. This almost insane cockiness is further seen when the King informs Hamlet a bit later that he is to be sent to England. Hamlet's simple reply is, "Good," and then he proceeds to say "Farewell dear mother" (IV, iv, 44, 46). The king corrects him, but Hamlet pushes his twisted point by citing the biblical principle that married couples are one flesh. Since Claudius is the brother of the former King Hamlet, Claudius is in an incestuous relationship with his wife because she was one flesh with Claudius' brother. To flant that point before the king is passive agressiveness in the extreme and comes from a wreckless self-assuredness. Even Hamlet's famous statement upon his return, "The readiness is all" (V, ii, 205) which seems to indicate acceptance to act, is tinged with a strong element of his overconfidence that whenever the opportunity for revenge presents itself he will be able to perform it.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, it is Hamlet's overconfidence that he can do the revenge that causes his tragic death and downfall. Even in his speech near the end where he tells Horatio that "the readiness is all" can be seen as evidence that to the very end he knew that he could do the revenge whenever he wished. His overconfidence made him sloppy and drew others who didn't deserve to die into the net of his revenge as well. If only he had channeled his conceitedness from the start into a quick and direct revenge (like Laertes'), then perhaps no one but the King would have died.

Conclusion restates the thesis