A Time to Kill

In class we talked about how Hamlet seems the most hesitant to avenge his father. This intrigued me. As stated in class Laertes comes to kill someone the very day he finds out his father is dead. Fortinbras is willing to go to war for the sake of his father's death, even after the man responsible has been killed. And yet it is said that two months pass between the death of Hamlet Sr. and Claudius. I found an explanation for Hamlets hesitation that I really liked. However, before I get to that I want to explain something else. I have already confessed that I have trouble reading the lines when it comes to Shakespeare let alone reading between the lines. I understood before that Hamlet was only acting crazy so as to be able to get away with things that he otherwise would not have been able to. The death of Polonius is an example of this. I understand that he meant to kill the king not Polonius, but the point is that he got out of the situation not only because he was the Prince but also because they all thought he had a couple loose screws. The point of stating the above is that I am explaining why I needed help reaching the following conclusion. On to the explanation! They wrote it so well that I am going to quote them:

          "To fully understand Hamlet’s inaction, it is important to look at revenge. In Richard III revenge is not                  exacted until Richard is dead and his fowl deeds found out. In Othello, Iago will not be revenged until Othello is      completely destroyed. In Merchant of Venice Shylock wants to humiliate and then kill Antonio. Thus revenge is not exacted until the evil deeds of the offender are revealed and the public knows the truth. Only then does the thought of death come into revenge. Under this light, Hamlet cannot kill Claudius until he can prove that he poisoned the late king. Thus the first two acts are not only for the reader to understand Hamlet, but to allow Hamlet to gather needed evidence against his uncle. 

It is not until act three, when Hamlet has not been able to prove his uncle is a murder that he decides to force Claudius’ hand. Hamlet comes up with the idea of the play to prove whether or not Claudius is guilty. But the play also causes another problem. Hamlet discovers Claudius’ guilt but has no evidence to present to the people. Thus, when Hamlet sees Claudius praying he stays his hand until he can absolutely prove his guilt. Another reason why Hamlet stays his hand is because Claudius is praying. It is Hamlet’s fervent belief that if he kills Claudius while he is praying he might go to heaven. Which makes the final lines of that scene so ironic. After Hamlet has left, Claudius says, “My words fly up, my thoughts,/ remain below:/ Words without thoughts never to heaven go”(lines 97-99). Claudius does not think that his words are reaching God. Thus if Hamlet would have killed Claudius, he still would have gone to hell. "  http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=24201

This may be old news to all of you but it was a bit of a wake up call (no pun intended) to me!