Hamlet: Shakespeare’s Weakest Character

Hamlet is undoubtedly the most famous play penned by Shakespeare. It is a tragedy written around 1601 or 1602. The tragedy made Shakespeare very prominent in his time and even up to the present.

Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark, the title character, and the hero of the play. Hamlet is the lead character of the play which is named after him. He is around years old at the time of the play. Hamlet is the son of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet. The present king who happens to be his mother’s new husband is his uncle Claudius.

At the start of the play, Hamlet is not a commanding figure. As a matter of fact, he is depicted as weak and vacillating. This may not be the best description of the leading character but Hamlet does appear to be confused at the start of the play.

Hamlet is a loner, bitter, and distrustful. He hates his uncle because he is aware of what his uncle did to his father. He dislikes his mother intensely because of her decision to marry his uncle right after his father passed away. Hamlet is actually an introspective young man who studied at the University of Wittenberg. He is indecisive and hesitant but sometimes can be impulsive in his decisions too.

His confusion becomes truly apparent when his father’s ghost appeared before him to tell him that Claudius poisoned him. Hamlet was at first passive after being told of the truth of the death by the ghost of his father.

Hamlet is very mysterious person. It is hard to fathom his character. You cam sense as you read the play that there is more to Hamlet that what meets the eye. This mystery is evident in the way he speaks. The reader always has a nagging feeling that he is implying something more than what he is actually saying. It could be that Hamlet, himself, is not aware of what he is doing but he comes across as such.

At the start of the play, we come to know that Hamlet’s stint at the University of Wittenberg is rudely interrupted by the painful news that his father passed away. This sudden turn of events could have turned Hamlet into the introspective and philosophical person that he is. He often ponders on complicated questions that do not lead to certain answers.

Hamlet’s strength of character is put to test when he learns that his uncle murdered his father. Hamlet, instead of acting on what he knew for certain, spends his time laboring on how to prove that his uncle is guilty before taking actions. The knowledge of the tyranny done to his father further fuels Hamlet’s quest for more introspection on the basic questions of life such as if there is truly an afterlife, if suicide is permissible, so on and so forth.

The most tangible step taken by Hamlet is to pretend to be a madman. This situation offers us a better glimpse of the man. Hamlet is a cautious young man who is reluctant to get into trouble. This is probably the first idea we can form of his character. But as the story progresses, we get to know another side of Hamlet’s character. That is, he can be an impulsive, irrational man too.

The irony of Hamlet is he spends a lot of time thinking over what course of action to take yet he is capable of acting impulsively at times. When he finally acts, he is fast and does not think much of his actions. This argument is best exemplified at the time when he stabs someone behind the curtain without even taking the time to know who the person is.

It turns out to be Polonius, the father of his intended Ophelia. His impulsiveness leads to the death of an innocent man. He is like a madman, sometimes irrational and wild in his speech and actions causing distress to other characters.

Hamlet does not only ponder his inner sentiments, he is also concerned with the state of Denmark and his family. His discontent goes beyond self-reproach. It is directed to the world, in general. He particularly dislikes his mother for marrying his uncle sooner than expected. He also turns down Ophelia, his love interest. He seems to distrust women in general. He is also constantly contemplating death even suicide and its consequences.

Hamlet’s weakness in character becomes very apparent in the scene where he quoted the most famous line in the English language in Act III, scene i (58) “To be or not to be.” In this scene, Hamlet was contemplating suicide and was weighing the consequences of his action.

He ponders “which is nobler? To suffer life, “[t]he slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” or to seek to end it? As Hamlet ponders on this question, he realized that it leads to more questions rather than answers. Hamlet restated his question by adding dreaming to sleep. He says that the dreams that may come in the sleep of death could be intimidating so much so that they “must give us pause.” To state it simply, Hamlet contemplates that the bigger question in suicide is what will happen to him in the afterlife if he chooses to commit suicide?

He answers his own question by saying that no one is wants to live except that “the dread of something after death” forces people to accept suffering rather than end their lives and find out later that they are in an even more desperate situation. Hamlet believes that the uncertainties of the afterlife caused extreme moral concerns that stop one from action: “conscience does make cowards of us all . . . thus the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought.”

This scene is important because it reveals the quality of Hamlet’s mind. He is deeply passionate by nature. He could be impulsive, rash and thoughtless but at times could be logical, wise, reasonable and noble. Hamlet is like a clash of the new world and the old world. He tried to end his inner struggles by turning to religion to seek valid reasons to either commit suicide or find the strength to kill Claudius. When religion does not suffices, he uses philosophy by asking the immortal line “to be or not to be” to be able to come up with the right answer but still find the reasons insufficient.

The scene emphasizes the clash of ideals Hamlet holds and the harsh realities he faces. It is the old versus new values or faith versus doubt. These words emphasized Hamlet’s inner struggle to cope with two opposing forces which are preserving moral integrity and the need to avenge his father’s murder.

The old or conservative values are represented by Hamlet’s bid to retain moral integrity, clear conscience, spiritual faith, wisdom, justice, nobility and rationality and will. The new or modern values are exemplified by apathy, cynicism, imprudence, disbelief, recklessness, vengeance and impulsiveness.

Another weakness that Hamlet exhibits is he seems totally self-absorbed to the point that he does not see the threats that plaque Denmark’s security and stability both from within and without. His focus on his woes seems to distract him from all other considerations outside his personal needs such as his duty as the future king of Denmark.

Ernest Johnson once said, “the dilemma of Hamlet the Prince and Man” is “to disentangle himself from the temptation to wreak justice for the wrong reasons and in evil passion, and to do what he must do at last for the pure sake of justice.… From that dilemma of wrong feelings and right actions, he ultimately emerges, solving the problem by attaining a proper state of mind.”

The universal appeal of Hamlet is based largely on the fact that we can all empathize with his struggles and ideals. Each of us, at one point or another, has to face the dilemma of making a crucial choice between two conflicting needs. Hamlet’s dilemma on how to deal a corrupt world at the same time preserving his moral integrity is a classic example of the choices every human being has to make. His conflicting thoughts, agitated reactions and unstable character may make him weak but at the same time perfectly human.