This book report is about whether Hamlet immediately takes the idea of killing Claudius into action or whether he is delaying his revenge. This is done by taking good examples and quotes from the book with page and line number included.
OCR A Level English Literature Hamlet Part B essays
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Hamlet, a man who wants revenge hindered by his
emotions
The main theme of Hamlet, one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, is revenge. Both Hamlet,
Fortinbras and Laertes want to avenge their fathers, but one does it differently then the other.
After Hamlet his talk to the ghost of his father, he wants to murder Claudius, but he delays
his avenge many times. The question is, put Hamlet his idea to murder Claudius immediately
in action or does he procrastinate his revenge?
At first, after his conversation with the ghost, he said this: “The time is out of joint. O cursed
spite, That I ever was born to set it right.” (pg. 74. 189-190) With this sentence, you can tell
that he plans to avenge his father and kill Claudius, but his enthusiasm soon diminishes.
Hamlet said: “The spirit that I have seen may be a devil, and the devil hath power t’assume a
pleasing shape.” (pg. 132. 577-579) He isn’t sure if the ghost is real and that’s one of the
reasons why he procrastinates his revenge. He did a stage play where actors recreate the death
of his father, and he checked if Claudius had some emotions watching it. From that scene you
can see that he hadn’t much confidence if the ghost tells the truth.
Another reason Hamlet is a procrastinator are his emotions. During the play, Hamlet has
many soliloquies, such as to be or not to be, why he asks himself what to do with his anger.
The soliloquies are always before a good opportunity to kill Claudius, so his emotions get the
upper hand. He is namely afraid of the idea that his mother Gertrude doesn’t want to speak
with him anymore if he kills Claudius. One of the only things Hamlet wants is that Gertrude
lives a happy life with him, so he didn’t want to rune the bond with his mother. Hamlet also
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