The reasons for Hamlet’s
delay in taking revenge are mainly internal. Do you agree? Give reasons for
your answer.
When the ghost was about to reveal the
dark truths to his son, Hamlet almost impatiently said: “Haste
me to know’t that I with wings as swift
As meditation or the thoughts of love,
May sweep to my revenge”
But in actuality the prince of Denmark
dose not fulfill his promise. He lets months go by , and whenever he slips into
a soliloquy he criticizes himself vehemently for the delay he is making. Hamlet
himself realizes that he is guilty of delay.
“How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge!”
Even the ghost was impatient with the son’s delay. In the
closet scene the ghost reprimand the avenger
in the following way:
“Do
not forget; this visitation
Is but to whet thy
almost blunted purpose”
Any delay has two reasons which may be called internal
and external. A person may make delay in doing something due to psychological
problems. In this case the delay is due to internal factors. But the case may be so that a parson is
deterred to do something by forces beyond his control. In this case we have the
external factors contributing to the delay. As far as the question of Hamlet’s
delay is concerned, critics even today are not unanimous about the possible
reasons for his delay
