Hamlet Essay

The play Hamlet is a true tragedy, the main character possesses a tragic flaw that ultimately brings his death.   Hamlet’s personal shortcoming is his pensiveness.   Being thoughtful is typically a good thing; it’s always important to give great thought to life changing decisions.   Although, in this situation, Hamlet’s pensiveness eventually turns into an obsession that leads to his death.
Before Hamlet is aware of his father’s murder or the ghost, he is somewhat suspicious of his father’s, so called, death.   Once he meets with his father’s ghost his suspicions become much more than that.   Hamlet Sr.’s ghost reveals to Hamlet that he was killed by Claudius, his very own brother.   The ghost also tells Hamlet that he must avenge his father’s death by killing Claudius.   It is after this point in the play that Hamlet’s tragic flaw, of pensiveness, begins to come into light.   Hamlet is so torn because he wants to please his father; yet, he is afraid the ghost could be the devil, trying to trick him into murder.   At first Hamlet’s thoughtfulness on the subject is very reasonable.   Murder is a serious issue, especially when the heir to the crown kills the king.   Early on, I found it very logical that Hamlet wanted to be sure that Claudius did, in fact, kill Hamlet Sr. before taking any action.  
As the play continues Hamlet becomes overtaken with guilt for not avenging his father’s death.   He keeps telling himself that he must be certain that Claudius is a murder, before he kills him.   I suspect that Hamlet is very sure that the ghost was indeed his father, but tries to make it uncertain so he can delay killing Claudius.   Finally, Hamlet has an idea.   When he hears actors are on their way to the castle, he decides to have them act out the murder of his father in front of Claudius.   Hamlet will watch Claudius’ reaction to the play, then make his final decision on the guilt of Claudius.   By this point it is obvious that Hamlet is just stalling.   He is afraid to murder...